As an FO who takes his job quite seriously (I check detailed weather before getting to the airport, loads, delays, arrive to the plane early, get everything setup if the Captain isn't there yet, everything I'm supposed to do and more) I think I can say that I work as hard as any of the people here. Though I am not the person that signs for the airplane, the company, the FAA and more importantly, the families of the passengers that I carry certainly hold me responsible.
I am pretty senior, don't sit reserve and get pretty good trips. I have had my fair share (even now sometimes) of 16 hour days, bad weather, low fuel, etc., etc. I know how tough and important this job is. I take it quite serious and strive to be a professional in my appearance, my job performance and how I deal with both fellow pilots and passengers.
That being said, this is the easiest job I have had in my life, period.
I would seriously ask those of you who say otherwise whether or not you have ever had a job outside of aviation with any real responsibility? I know we have highly specialized training that takes many years and many thousands of dollars to develop. I know that we are responsible for many lives. I know that we are pretty much unique in that if we switch jobs for whatever reason (furlough, bankruptcy, etc.) that we have to start over at the bottom.
Still, this is an easy job.
Just because I think it is easy does not mean that I am happy about the erosion of pay, QOL and even jobs. I am not. I support (both with my own vote and talking with fellow company pilots) much better work rules and pay. Even though I do love the fact that I get paid to fly, I work to make sure we are compensated properly.
Another thing: While I understand why people do it, comparing pilots that carry passengers to physicians is just wrong. At least in terms of the life and death issue. First of all, only surgeons and anesthesiologists literally hold a patient's life in their hands. The rest just manage your health. Sure, they can miss something, misdiagnose or otherwise make a mistake that results in death, but those instances a pretty rare as a percentage.
So are airline accidents.
To a small degree, the comparison of non-surgical specialties to us is similar, but not the docs who have your chest cut open or are responsible for your breathing and vital signs during surgery. We barely understand the human body (though we think we do). Medicine is constantly undergoing research and Physicians learn better techniques all the time, but we only understand a small percentage of how our bodies actually work. Things can and do go wrong with even the simplest procedures.
Certain Docs quite literally hold a patients life in their hands.
Yes, flying through the air is inherently dangerous. Modern aviation is quite safe, however. We understand pretty damn well how airplanes fly and how to operate them safely. As I said earlier, it requires professionalism, years and years of experience and at times, second by second dedication to the task at hand. But there is another big reason that passenger planes don't crash. We have a built in mechanism for protecting our passengers:
We don't want to die either!
We will do everything possible to keep our own asses safe. If passengers die, odds are we will too. Sure physicians have the risk of guilt over losing a patient, paying higher malpractice insurance or maybe losing their license, but not their own lives. Pilots are paid to fly a plane and keep people alive, but will do so to a large degree because they themselves want to live. Physicians are paid to LITERALLY keep you alive.
Now I'm not saying they should make more or less than we do or that their job is more or less important than ours is. I'm just pointing out that it really isn't an objective comparison. Flame on.
On the other hand, a doctor in a Bonanza (or a VLJ) is another story entirely
-JP
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