Yeah, it has got to be be much more rewarding sitting behind a keyboard and programming more or less useless apps. The dude never had the passion and ultimately it's not a job for him. Best of luck with the fun in China and programming hello kitty apps.

Ive seen this posted on several online platforms and the responses - especially from pilots - surprise and disappoint me. What has he actually said that is so wrong? I agree that his 99.9% comment was somewhat misplaced but I'm sure we've all said things that we may later on regret. Never flew with Simon but know several that did. Pragmatic and thoroughly decent bloke by all accounts- so 'for the sake of his first officers' I find pretty unnecessary. Good on him for going against the grain and leaving BA. Until you have been there and flown BA SH LHR rosters don't comment on flying ' 4 days in a row'. Fly for any UK SH company and you'll know that isn't the case. Wasn't his video just his opinion? Wasn't it just him trying to show that you don't have to continue in a job you aren't happy in?

Social media is a free-for-all. BA have smart pilots now that are encouraged to use it. They post with input from BA- did they put 120k of their parents money into something just 'for likes and followers' as well?. Social media is part of everything we do, like it or not. Its effects are both positive and negative, but that isn't a discussion for here. The world has moved on and youtube/facebook/instagram/twitter form a huge part of people's lives.

We should all know how tough flying can be on us. Be it health/family e.t.c so why when someone paints a fairly accurate story do we jump on him? Suppose it ruins the stories of the 'great lifestyle' e.t.c we all like to tell our friends/family.

Good luck to him. I hope the move works out and he finds the new role a bit more fulfilling. A bit of decency and unity might go a long way in stopping the race to the bottom, especially at BA.

Nope I have to say I can't agree. He clearly had a big dig against the pilot profession, as he felt no longer any achievement / motivation.
Go to his Youtube videos, it's all about changing career and not being afraid of new challenges, he does mention various IT projects, however he is a fraud in this video, as he is actually presenting as he is quitting aviation, instead of saying he has left BA to go China so he can make more many, or do you think he will feel that he has achieved more flying in China? What utter nonsense and tosh, the guy is a Walther Mitty!

Is it less boring, repetitive and unrewarding job flying in China?

That's what I react on, if he actually left the aviation career completely, than I would not have said anything. But he has not changed anything, just same s... just in China for double the money. So he does not come out as genuine for me, as he is trying to pretend to be someone he is not.

I agree with most of the post above.

I do respect people who want to change their career, even if they are Captain in BA, AF, ... Not every job is for everybody. For an aviation career you need to be really passionate and as for every job, it is always hard to tell what is truly the job when you are still in training / university ...
More chance for a 20 years old cadet, who went straight to pilot school, then straight right seat A320 to be totally bored at 30 ... The way of doing in USA with flight instructor, regional, main line, ... make the job more interesting in my opinion and give people more chance to find the job does really suit them.

​​​​​​I have friends in aviation flying as bush pilot in Canada, I can guarantee they would never be happy to be FO in whatever airline, even if it is the "normal" way to move your career foward.

Now I disagree when people say the job today is boring with no personal rewards ... I know (sadelly) lot of people who manage by themselves to make the job boring. Using max automation for example, clicking switchs and not trying to challenge themselves ... Yes, I do understand they find the job boring with not challenge at a personal level.

No later than yesterday, I was really happy to do as almost everyday, a nice visual approach with all automatic off and my new FO next to me to say it was really cool to watch and he d like more captain to encourage to do that ...
I speak about this, because this is one of my "reward" for delay, other inconvenience from the pilot job, the wake up at 3am 5time in a raw ... and it is why I really love my job.
When I go to holiday I m really happy to disconnect from work but if I don't fly for 2 weeks, I m really looking forward to be back in the sky !

From what I know in BA, the airline is too strict for me about how you can fly the plane and use of automation, even if TC are good, personally in BA I would find my job boring, so BA is just not for me, does not mean it is not for many other people ... Because we come back about we are all seeking for different "reward" in our job.

If you are really unhappy in your job, do a career change, maybe you will be happier staying in aviation but doing something else, flight instructor or whatever ...

Take care

The older one gets and the more “life” taken on, like a family requiring you to “bring home the bacon”, the more difficult radical career change becomes. Consequences of errors become more seismic with age due to less recovery time before retirement.

If one is young, energetic and footloose such changes are much easier and more practical. But even then there’s no guarantee one won’t end up in yet another line of work he finds soul killing. Grandpa always said, “Ya don’t know it ’til ya live it.”.

People sometimes take confidence in a non-aviation educational credential as a safety net. That too seems to have diminishing utility with the passage of years.

In my salad days with a US legacy, I’d often fly with captains who’d say something akin to, “If I couldn’t make this kind of money flying I’d earn it elsewhere because I’ve got a degree in XXXX engineering from Super Tech University.”.

Problem with that was it was an undergrad degree, they never worked a day in the field, the last time they worked an engineering problem it was on a slide rule, they had no contacts or continuing education in the field…and might not have earned what they thought they could.

I certainly can’t make a case against more education but think its utility is inversely proportional to the passage of time.

I respect those who have the guts to take the big step of abandoning aviation if they feel they’ll be better off by some measure. There are surely examples of success doing that.

It seems the BA pilot isn’t a career changer but rather an employer changer.

The guy in my OP actually hung up his wings. I wonder if we’ll see a future post saying he’s reconsidered and is plotting reentry. ;)

I wouldn't want to criticize the guy. Some guys have side businesses while flying but I don't know how many get beyond the hobby status.

I've never known a pilot who just voluntarily pulled the plug on his flying career. It's a variation on a theme and an interesting thing to learn about.

I never had the guts to try it...nor a reason actually. I thought about the "what ifs" but only came up with a lame plan that I fortunately didn't have to test in the real world.

I've heard of a few who've voluntarily given up a place in the RHS of a jet for the opportunity to drive a train, haven't met them myself though most have ended up at one or two train companies which pay above average, generally Jet FO/Turboprop CPT money for a 35 hour 4 day week working 1 Sunday in 4.

I'm looking at making a move in the opposite direction though the more I read in the T&E forum on here, the more I wonder if I'm absolutely mad. There's one airline I can think of in Europe for English speakers which actually seems to enjoy proper legacy T&Cs (and doesn't really get heavily criticsed on here) plus maybe a few others which are decent. The rest seem to be totally unsustainable from a work/life balance perspective based on what's been said.