A question for the Professional Pilot.

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Scott@KTYR

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Scott@KTYR
I know anyone in this forum wants to talk about flying. But I ran across a professional pilot who flies international flight for years. It was a casual social even and I wanted to talk aviation with him. All my questions fell flat. He did not want to talk at all about flying.

So here is my question, are there Professional Pilots that see flying as a JOB and do not see it as wonderful opportunity to fly for a living?

Or is it just me and that guy just did not want to talk to me?:D
 
We all strive to be professional pilots. Some people just don't like to talk about their jobs. Do not regard this one "career pilot" as indicative of the profession. There are certainly some who got in it purely for the glory or money (which is largely illusory in this day and age). There are plenty of pilots out there who will be glad to talk to you. Quite a cross section here (and you couldn't get us to shut up if you tried).
 
Some do some dont, I feel sorry for the ones who just view at as work, many other trades where it's easier to make the same money or more with less $$ in education, less responsibility, fewer regs, no medicals or check flights.

I'll talk planes after work, just something I enjoy, still fly for fun too.

The day this stuff feels like work, I'll stop and do something else, almost a decade into it and I don't see that happening.
 
Yes, plenty like that. It's just a job, and when they walk away from the airport, they don't want to think about it again until they go back to work. Plenty of others for whom it is the principal interest in their life both on the job and off -- like the US Airways captain who saw me wearing my AYA ballcap in the terminal and started talking to me about Grummans as well as his Bonanza. And still others somewhere in the middle.
 
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Some time ago, I saw a funny picture comparing a hobby pilot to a professional pilot. One of them had a bumper sticker "I'd rather be flying" and the other one "I'd rather be fishing".
(I tried searching but Google failed me)

I think it sums up what you saw. :)
 
I talked to the pilots of Jeff Dunham's plane when it came in for hours about their job and how they got started and what their career plans were. Even gave me some great advice and a business card from him - gave him my number and he said if he heard of any good starting opportunities that he'd give me a call.

I couldn't even get a conversation started with Jerry Springer's pilots. The only thing I really talked to them about was fuel and how they wanted a discount of like .25c a gallon to fuel up.

I also talked for a long time to an active airline captain who owns a T-6 and flies it on his off days when he can get to it. Seems as always there are different people and they see their job in different ways. :dunno:
 
I asked a professional pilot what he would do after retirement. His answer?

" I'm going to move 100 miles from here and stick a propeller in my front yard. When someone asks me why I have a propeller in my yard, I'm going to pull up that propeller and move 100 miles from there and stick the propeller in my new yard. When someone asks me why I have a propeller in my yard, I'm going to pull up that propeller and move 100 miles from there, and stick the propeller in my new yard.
I'm going to keep doing that until someone asks "what is that thing you have stuck in your front yard" :D
 
It's also possible you simply caught the guy at a bad time. That Lego video isn't too far off - we spend a LOT of time talking about the job while at work, and away from work there's a tendency for the conversation to steer towards aviation in social situations when people figure out what I do. It's definitely a profession that generates lots of questions from people. So while you try to be a good sport about it, sometimes you're simply too exhausted to give well meaning questions the answers they deserve.

It can also depend on the kinds of questions. Yes, I would love to talk all about that RV you've been building. No, I'd rather not talk about how crappy airline service has become, and I have no idea what my airline did with your luggage in Detroit last Fall. :wink2:
 
You didn't say if the professional pilot was corporate or airline... In the corporate world frequently the pilots have signed non-disclosure agreements and can't talk about where, what, who, etc.
 
Speed said:
You didn't say if the professional pilot was corporate or airline... In the corporate world frequently the pilots have signed non-disclosure agreements and can't talk about where, what, who, etc.
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He worked for an airline.
 
Well right now I'm sitting in a nice first class seat on my way to go fly the sim for two days then home for a couple of days and then over to Frankfurt for a three day trip. I love my job and I love flying everything from powered parachutes and gyrocopters up to the 777 I fly at work. I have noticed that some people are never happy no matter what.
 
All of the professional pilots I've spoken to still have a passion for flying and still love what they do. Of course they have some aspects of the job that they don't like but I think most people have a few things that they don't like about their job. I've never met a professional pilot who wouldn't answer my questions or not talk about aviation if I bring it up
 
My friend's dad when I was first taking flying lessons was a 747 captain for TWA on the STL-HNL route. He would fly from LAX to STL to pick up his plane, and then fly his route. I asked him one night over a cigarette if he still flew for fun, or recreation, his answer turned me off from professional flying ever.. "if i ever see another airplane again, it'll be too effing soon".
 
Like anything, it depends on the personality of the person doing the job. For me, I still love going in to work, and I feel pretty fortunate to be able to do this for a living. I also love doing the GA thing on the side - that's when I get to fly on my own terms, and fly the way I want to fly. :)

I sometimes share the flight deck with some pretty miserable people, and they'd be like that no matter what they were doing with their lives, I'd bet.
 
Can't speak for the professional pilot but can speak as someone with 30+ years in the auto industry. After work I don't talk cars, don't go to car shows and don't get excited about new model launches. For me, a car gets me from A to B and nothing more. I suspect the same may be true for this pilot with whom you spoke.
 
overdrive148 said:
I also talked for a long time to an active airline captain who owns a T-6 and flies it on his off days when he can get to it. Seems as always there are different people and they see their job in different ways. :dunno:
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A few years ago I struck up a conversation at the gate with a deadheading Southwest pilot. I asked him what his hobbies were, and it took him about five seconds to whip out his wallet and show me a photo of his Cessna 195.

It was a beautiful airplane. Polished aluminum with red and white trim, just like God meant them to be. I could tell by the light in his eyes that he loved flying.

I bet he never failed to look at sunsets and mountains while in the air.
 
pilot_dude said:
Can't speak for the professional pilot but can speak as someone with 30+ years in the auto industry. After work I don't talk cars, don't go to car shows and don't get excited about new model launches. For me, a car gets me from A to B and nothing more. I suspect the same may be true for this pilot with whom you spoke.
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Some people get into trades for the wrong reasons, some just get into something for stability and money.

Honestly I couldn't work a job just for the money, just too passionate to settle like that.

I've seen nurses like this, a RN is a great vocation, good pay, sched, job availbility etc, so many people become RNs, very easy to tell the ones who did it for stability and money compared to the ones who have a passion for it.

One lives the job (because to them it isn't really a job), the other punches the clock and goes from worker mode to personal mode and never in the middle the two modes shall meet.
 
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James331 said:
Some people get into trades for the wrong reasons, some just get into something for stability and money.

Honestly I couldn't work a job just for the money, just too passionate to settle like that.

I've seen nurses like this, a RN is a great vocation, good pay, sched, job availbility etc, so many people become RNs, very easy to tell the ones who did it for stability and money compared to the ones who have a passion for it.

One lives the job (because to them it isn't really a job), the other punches the clock and goes from worker mode to personal mode and never in the middle the two modes shall meet.
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I am passionate and take my work responsibilities seriously. For 10 hours a day. After that I'd rather talk motorcycles, flying, farming, etc. For me it allows my brain to disconnect which is imperative to success.
 
I've been getting paid to fly airplanes for almost 30 years. I still love flying, the time off and the money, in reverse order . That said, if someone would pay me a quarter of a mil to sit home, or even if I could afford to retire right now at 50, I would seriously contemplate it.

While I don't do any flying (other than RC) outside of work, I could see myself building an RV or something down the road after I retire.


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3393RP said:
A few years ago I struck up a conversation at the gate with a deadheading Southwest pilot. I asked him what his hobbies were, and it took him about five seconds to whip out his wallet and show me a photo of his Cessna 195.

It was a beautiful airplane. Polished aluminum with red and white trim, just like God meant them to be. I could tell by the light in his eyes that he loved flying.

I bet he never failed to look at sunsets and mountains while in the air.
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Love stories like that. On the flip side of the coin, on a flight out of LAX, I talked to a deadheading Southwest pilot who told me to never fly for a living, because it was an awful job and that he wishes he wasn't stuck in it. :dunno:
 
overdrive148 said:
Love stories like that. On the flip side of the coin, on a flight out of LAX, I talked to a deadheading Southwest pilot who told me to never fly for a living, because it was an awful job and that he wishes he wasn't stuck in it. :dunno:
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What a whiny looser, then quit and do something else, don't talk about it be about it.
 
I wake up excited to go to work...

I'm on here when I'm bored...

Usually go to the bars with a bunch of pilots...

To each his own
 
There seem to be a good number of professional pilots on this forum, which in itself would appear to be evidence that there are some for whom it is more than just a job!
 
Palmpilot said:
There seem to be a good number of professional pilots on this forum, which in itself would appear to be evidence that there are some for whom it is more than just a job!
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Yep!

I hate flying with the ones where it's just a job to them. They tend to be so-so to mediocre flyers.
 
I wish I could say flying airplanes makes all the ills go away, but a toxic personality-driven and hostile work environment has personally soured my present job for me.

Leave it to the military to turn what should be the coolest job in the world into a dreadful daily endeavor. To be fair, these dynamics can be present in any occupation, flying or not. I miss my prior job, I don't remember laughing so damn hard in my life. Those guys made that job seem luxurious. Hindsight is 2020 indeed. I'd dig ditches for a living if got to work with those guys again.

The airline pilot occupation strikes me as much more anonymous in nature and thus unlikely to facilitate this type of ambiance. BUT, it is a very easy job compared to the aggregate demands of tactical military flying, and at least in the legacy/mainline ranks, still pays a lucrative wage. It's the perfect job to become anonymous, and there's certainly an understandable allure to that particular approach to working life.
 
Scott@KTYR said:
I know anyone in this forum wants to talk about flying. But I ran across a professional pilot who flies international flight for years. It was a casual social even and I wanted to talk aviation with him. All my questions fell flat. He did not want to talk at all about flying.

So here is my question, are there Professional Pilots that see flying as a JOB and do not see it as wonderful opportunity to fly for a living?

Or is it just me and that guy just did not want to talk to me?:D
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Didn't read other responses, so here is a fresh opinion:
Yes, I have a passion for flying. I would expect most on this forum do, otherwise they wouldn't be here.
That said, I LOVE my time away from the airplane. It's not always enjoyable to go to work. We are on someone else's schedule, flying in un-fun weather, at times we just want to be doing other things. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy flying, but it does mean there are *times* I would rather be doing something else.
I would love to own a small airplane to get the $100 burger, but that's not reality right now. In fact, I haven't flown a single engine airplane in almost 25 years.
 
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Kritchlow said:
Didn't read other responses, so here is a fresh opinion:
Yes, I have a passion for flying. I would expect most on this forum do, otherwise they wouldn't be here.
That said, I LOVE my time away from the airplane. It's not always enjoyable to go to work. We are on someone else's schedule, flying in un-fun weather, at times we just want to be doing other things. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy flying, but it does mean there are *times* I would rather be doing something else.
I would love to own a small airplane to get the $100 burger, but that's not reality right now. In fact, I haven't flown a single engine airplane in almost 25 years.
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All of this is very true. Flying a heavy airplane to a specific destination at a specific time(usually extremely early in the morning or really late at night), with some complete strangers as crew, is definitely not the same as taking your personal RV-8 for a $100 hamburger with 3 other RV buddies in formation.

Sometimes you get put with a crew you can't stand, go to a destination you really don't want to go to, or in weather that makes you less than comfortable. Plus worrying about being on time.
 
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Gucci Pilot said:
All of this is very true. Flying a heavy airplane to a specific destination at a specific time(usually extremely early in the morning or really late at night), with some complete strangers as crew, is definitely not the same as taking your personal RV-8 for a $100 hamburger with 3 other RV buddies in formation.

Sometimes you get put with a crew you can't stand, go to a destination you really don't want to go to, or in weather that makes you less than comfortable. Plus worrying about being on time.
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As a good friend of mine says "That's why they call it work."

Any job I've ever had, no matter how much I liked it, included parts that I didn't enjoy.


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