If you had to choose

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evapilotaz

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If you had a choice between being a airline pilot or your current profession what would you choose?

Just wondering what your answer would be.

Given what I heard about being a airline pilot is not all that great.

I enjoy my IT profession but there are days I cannot help but wonder if instead of sitting in my office at my 7am - 4pm job, I would stepping into a cockpit instead. :dunno:
 
Making the decision today, I'd keep the job I have.
If could make the trip back in time about 40-50 years, I might have chosen to be the airline pilot. Things have changed.
 
I love flying for fun and not having a compelling reason to fly.
Flying for a living might take some of the fun out of it for me.
I travel around eight weeks a year; a week or two at a time.
I suspect being away from home longer than that would take some of the fun out of it for me.
I admire people who make their living flying.
It is always fun when I get a check for aviation.
I like what I do for a living and don't work much.
 
It would totally depend on which airline and what position. To be a 777 Captain with one of the majors would be pretty nice. Flying copilot on a regional, I don't think so.
 
I have a pilot friend that fly's FO for a regional airlines. He hasn't flown for himself for fun in over 20 years. Basically he told me the profession killed his love of aviation.
 
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Current profession. Being an airline pilot would initially be fun, but I like sleeping in my own bed every night.
 
Today? Keep current job.

Jet Age where flying for personal transportation was uncommon and a big event and you dressed well for it? Sure, I'd want to switch.
 
My job allows me to afford plane ownership so I would stick with it.

I have a buddy whose father is a 777 captain for a major. He is well paid and enjoys the work but hates flying outside of work (no ga). I wouldn't want flying to become that for me. I know there are alot of airline pilots who fly there own planes so it could go either way. Still, I would keep my current job.
 
I loved everything about computers when I was in high school and college. And that's back before they were cool. It's funny how making it a career for several years can suck every ounce of enjoyment right out of something. I eventually moved on and after a few years I could at least start to see how I thought it was enjoyable at one time.

There was a time there was nothing more I wanted on earth than to fly helicopters for a living. A couple of wise GOMers talked some sense into me. Told me their regrets, and that I should stay put and fly for fun. I'm old enough now to know that I appreciate their sage wisdom.
 
Could I magically be #1 on the seniority list the day I started?

If not, I'll keep my current job.
 
I would like a different current profession
However, I would not what to fly for work. I think it would take some of the magic out of it.

That flying David is doing in Alaska... That would be a cool gig.
 
Current position. I actually walked away from an airline position/career for it, but was in it prior as well. I'm a maritime captain and run in the yacht industry these days.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I would like a different current profession
However, I would not what to fly for work. I think it would take some of the magic out of it.

That flying David is doing in Alaska... That would be a cool gig.
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There are always pipeline gigs in your area, I enjoyed flying pipeline. The pay sucks, but it's better than regional or CFI most of the time. If you pick up the contracts and fly them, it a very good business indeed.
 
Gerhardt said:
I thought you liked moving freight. Huh.

I have to ask. What is it specifically that you don't enjoy?
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The company is cool. I am manage software engineers though.

It has been one of the better IT gigs I have had because container shipping is pretty interesting actually. The company will be out of business in the next couple months though.

IT in general is getting old. At this point, I am in it for the money and flexibility. It has gotten so automated / plug n play that the part I enjoyed early on is a dying art.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
IT in general is getting old. At this point, I am in it for the money and flexibility. It has gotten so automated / plug n play that the part I enjoyed early on is a dying art.
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I enjoyed the analysis and coding of well-planned projects. What I didn't enjoy was:

1. The drama. I still work for the same company but in a different dept. But the drama in our IT dept. is as bad as any soap.

2. No project was well-planned. I worked in one area, with a specific set of skills. And out of the blue I'd get a call, "Hey, Bill's team is running behind and needs a hand. I know you've never worked with xxx (insert software/language here) but you'll pick it up quickly."

3. The juggling of hot coals. I'd be in the middle of a Priority #1 project and my phone would ring with a request to drop what I was doing and start a new top-priority project. True story, back in the late 90s I was pulled from my area and given a handful of year-2000 assignments. I'm about to wrap up our payroll system when I'm told to drop it. It seems that we'd been sitting on a regulatory requirement for more than 3 years and the state was finally done with our excuses and gave us 3 months to get it done. The penalty was $10K/day after that. I had no idea how the system worked, any of the languages used, nor did I have any documentation of the system. "I can't help you with the documentation, but here's what you need to know about the languages."....and five 3-inch binders were given to me. So I'm on the phone with the state one day and the lady says she enjoys working with me and would like to get together with our team sometime to help us out.

"You're talking to the entire team."

She was livid. They'd been granting us extensions all this time thinking we were taking them seriously when clearly we were not.

So we get to the drop dead date and I'm just at the point of final testing. Bah, just put it in, we need you back on year-2000.

4. January 2000 I'd just left the dept. when a series of changes were announced. Sr. Analysts I'd worked with for years were demoted to jr. grade programmers. And some new kids fresh from college came in at the analyst level.

It wasn't the work that killed my enthusiasm, it was the environment. Maybe that's where you're coming from. Except you're one of "them". :D
 
Current job. I can understand why there are those that look at airline flying as the pinnacle in aviation but I've never really been a fan of that type of flying.

1. Don't care for dual pilot ops
2. Too much automation today
3. Majority of the routes are boring A to B
4. Aircraft handles like a ton of bricks
5. Gone from home too much with travel / layovers
6. Too many furloughs
7. Unless you bypass the regionals, pay is crap

I think the view would be nice and I suppose the responsibility / pay as a captain would be nice but I'd still stick with where I'm at. Single pilot, hands on, maneuverable, off airport (LZs), NVGs, very little planning (red tape), EMS helicopter operations. It's a job where you can easily find an area you want to live and be home every night. Only FW I can see myself going to would be single pilot EMS King Air stuff. Even then it would have to be at the right place and right pay.
 
Being retired,and happy,the choice is clear,an airline pilot.
 
Current job. I'm home every night, spend most of the time on swing shift which means I don't have to wake up early, get to work outdoors and never know what will happen next. Plus they pay me to go to the range and shoot.
 
MAKG1 said:
I like trying to solve problems on a daily basis, that aren't trying to kill me.
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Mine are an 80/20 split, most aren't life concerning issues, some are, and sometimes it's a challenge for life. In those times it's best to just fold, abandon your plan, and do what nature allows you as the path of least resistance.
 
I'd take my current job, even with all it's dysfunction. I feel like I'd lose the fascination with flying that I have if it was something I had to do.
 
I have these what if moments from time to time. I wanted to fly for a living right after high school 1989. My parents discourage me from flying saying flight school is too expensive. Talked me into joining the military instead. That is where I started in IT.
An IT career fell into my lap. No regrets not being an airline pilot. I'm home almost everyday except I do travel some. I think my home life would suffer if I was gone a lot being a airline pilot. Maybe the family would get use to it.
 
My dad is an airline pilot and wouldn't trade it for any other job. He still loves flying, especially instructing and keeps all his CFI's active. When my siblings were little, he was gone from monday to friday. Now he barely does any flying and mostly flies on reserve. The home life can be rough in the beginning, but once you build up seniority, its really not a big deal. FWIW, my dad has never missed a birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc
 
evapilotaz said:
I have a pilot friend that fly's FO for a regional airlines. He hasn't flown for himself for fun in over 20 years. Basically he told me the profession killed his love of aviation.
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My friend's dad was a very senior capt with twa on a STL to PHNL route. He would fly out of LAX or SAN to STL to go to work. I was sitting smoking a cigarette with him one night right after i started flying, and asked him if he still liked to fly for fun, his answer was "if i never see an airplane again it'll be too effing soon."
 
sferguson524 said:
My friend's dad was a very senior capt with twa on a STL to PHNL route. He would fly out of LAX or SAN to STL to go to work. I was sitting smoking a cigarette with him one night right after i started flying, and asked him if he still liked to fly for fun, his answer was "if i never see an airplane again it'll be too effing soon."
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Wow.

I have just asked my current self to kick the living hell out of my future self if my future self ever feels that way about flying. Interesting due to the way time works, my past self agreed with my new current self.

But that's all in the past.

That's sad.
 
jordane93 said:
My dad is an airline pilot and wouldn't trade it for any other job. He still loves flying, especially instructing and keeps all his CFI's active. When my siblings were little, he was gone from monday to friday. Now he barely does any flying and mostly flies on reserve. The home life can be rough in the beginning, but once you build up seniority, its really not a big deal. FWIW, my dad has never missed a birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc
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I've had a wonderful career in aviation, flying everything from corporate, charter, airlines (domestic and international) and teaching. I keep all of my CFI's active. Over my airline career I kept very active in GA either restoring airplanes, owner single's and twins and even helicopters. Even my time in the FAA was enjoyable as I got to help others in aviation.

No complaints here, I'd do it all again. :thumbsup: :D
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Wow.

I have just asked my current self to kick the living hell out of my future self if my future self ever feels that way about flying. Interesting due to the way time works, my past self agreed with my new current self.

But that's all in the past.

That's sad.
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I decided then and there I wanted nothing to do with pro flying. Maybe CFI when i retire.. but past that, no thanks
 
RotorAndWing said:
No complaints here, I'd do it all again. :thumbsup: :D
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My dad says the same thing. He gets paid to sit at home and be on call. If his currency runs out, he heads down to ATL, does some landings then comes back home and sits on reserve. I asked when he's going to work and he says. "why would I work when I can sit at home and make the same amount of money!" But when he does fly he really loves and wouldn't think of doing anything else.
 
I could have gone down the airline path easily, just not the flying I got into the profession to do.

I'm non-sched single pilot IFR right now in a sweet turboprop, working with great people and I have both autonomy and good guidance, company looks out for us.

Good pay, good sched, home every night.


If this were the golden Pan Am days, or flying those clippers to HI, yeah I'd have gone the airline route, now it's just not for me.
 
The hangar I worked in at LGB was also the hangar the QBs held their gatherings in when someone flew west. Lots of old generation airline pilots, the last of the "A Scale" guys from before deregulation. They mostly tried to steer me away, basically predicting the industry race for the bottom and the loss of respect between the new MBA management managements and crew vs when aviators and engineers owned the airlines they built from the ground up. They said that generational change in the business model did more damage than deregulation itself. Just a complete change in ethics and moral.
 
James331 said:
I could have gone down the airline path easily, just not the flying I got into the profession to do.

I'm non-sched single pilot IFR right now in a sweet turboprop, working with great people and I have both autonomy and good guidance, company looks out for us.

Good pay, good sched, home every night.


If this were the golden Pan Am days, or flying those clippers to HI, yeah I'd have gone the airline route, now it's just not for me.
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Yours sounds like the kind of professional flying I would have enjoyed most, if I had had the opportunity.
 
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