Does it ever feel like a job?

[DLconnection]

To those of u who have been flying for the airlines for awhile....Does flying ever get to the point where it actually feels like a job. Where u don't feel like going into work. I know that some companies are better to work for than others, but I am talking about the job itself. Do u ever get bored up there? Especially with all of the new automation. Looking at it from the other side of the fence right now, I can't ever see flying a jet as being just a job. Some people pay big money just to fly as a hobby. But like all things.... things become old. Like I said, for those of u who have been in the business for awhile... what are your opinions on this topic?

 

[NEDude]

I haven't been at this too long but so far for me it does not feel like a job. I have noticed an interesting trent though. People who have been flying all of their professional career, never having worked at anything else, tend to view this more as just another job than those who have spent a lot of time doing other stuff. I have also noticed that those who got into this because they wanted a high paying career and a prestiegious job tend to view as just a job as opposed to those who got into it because they have always wanted to fly.

Personally I have worked in software development, marketing and sales before I got into aviation professionally. So compared to those other jobs, aviation is far different and far better. I have also always wanted to fly since I was three and four years old and when my parents would take me out to Dulles airport to watch the planes.

So I guess it depends on your background. But ask me again in twenty years.

 

[AWACoff]

Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. It is a job afterall so the answer is, yes, it does feel like a job sometimes. Preflighting in a pouring rainstorm, dealing with irate pax, 16 hour duty days, etc. Those things aren't considered fun in most people's book. On the flip side, I couldn't imagine working for a living (like I'm doing now while furloughed). That's why I became a pilot. Oh, and it's the most fun you can have with your pants on (assuming they don't happen to come off in cruise...hmmm).

 

[VelcroJetDriver]

It suddenly becomes a job when you upgrade

 

[skydiverdriver]

I love this job. The only times it feels like a job is when I get some anal jerk captain. Everything else is great.

 

[601Pilot]

Feels like a job???

About the only time it feels like a job is
getting up at 4:30 AM after the 3 hours of
"sleep" during a nap (CDO) trip. Anytime else
it's great!

 

[Twotter76]

Some of the captains I fly with seem to view it as such but I suspect that is because they have not been given the chance to bid different aircraft for the last year or so. Personally I consider myself fortunate to have this (and I use this term VERY loosely) job. Doesnt seem much like work to me. I still look forward to going in each day.

Twotter76

 

[F.Gump]

I had a couple of "professional" type jobs before jumping into this industry a couple of years ago. If you watch American Beauty and Office Space, I couldve easily turned out like those guys.

This gig certainly has its moments but nothing like the corporate world. I havent been able to supress the smile after busting out of a layer of fog with the sun just popping out on a calm morning yet.

 

[LR25]

It feels like a job on those 5AM reports, 8th leg of the day, so on and so on.

But even after the 5am reports and once you get going on a long day, there is nothing I would trade for it.

It all makes sence to me when you come over the interstate early in the morning, say MIA, and there is grid lock on the highway, it always puts a smile on my face no matter how tired I am.

LR25

 

[Vrefus]

It's the coolest job in the world with the best scenery. The downs to it are the O dark thirty wake-ups, the long duty days and then management sc*&#ing with the operation and trying to make life miserable for everyone. Other than that, no complaints.

 

[Timebuilder]

In broadcasting, I sat in a small room with a view of a parkinglot, hated the people I worked for, and went home talking to myself. There were happy times, but they seem few and far between in retrospect.

Now I sit in a jet cockpit, with a view like no other (save from space), like the people I work for, and go home awed that I could be doing something I love that makes me feel like a kid again.

Like the above replies indicate, it's a matter of motives. I'm not in this for the top money, as time and age will prevent that. I'm doing this because I enjoy it, and I think I'll enjoy it until they throw dirt on me.

 

[rightrudder]

After nearly three years of flying for airlines, and commuting the entire time, I would say yes, it feels like a job. It's a really cool job, but nonetheless, it is a job, with resonsibility, obligations, etc.
It feels like a job when we have no staged overnights, get in at 10 pm and out at 7am. I enjoyed it more when we had a little time to ourselves on overnights to explore, relax, etc.

The one nice thing about this job is that once I finish a trip and go home, I can leave it all behind me.

I too was once an office drone, but the nice thing about the office is you go home everynight, have weekends and holidays off, and a schedule like your loved ones and friends. I also had a much easier time getting vacation.

That being said, I wouldn't trade my job as an airline pilot for my old desk job, it certainly is a lot more fun, and of course, everyone thinks that being a pilot is cool.

 

[Future SNA]

Love and Hate relationship

I love flying more than anything, but as of now, it feels like a job, and unfortunately, it is still quite early in my career. The day I get my first flying job, read OTHER THAN FLIGHT INSTRUCTING, I will be tickled to death. I have just around 850 dual given, pretty much all in a C-172, and the few times I've gotten to do a photo flight, or something like that recently, were I AM ACTUALLY FLYING, it reminds me of why I got into this profession. I love flying, co-piloting a jet is fun, piloting a 172 is fun...putt putt putting around in a C-172, left turn this, climb that, well.....that is not fun, it was once, but isn't anymore. I think the saying goes, "it isn't a 135 minimum's requirement, it's more of flight instructing MAXIMUM", or the maximum amount of instructing your body can take without eating itself. But still, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 

[ATRCA]

I would always rather be at home that at work. It is fun, but is also a job.

So yes, it feels like a job all the time.

But then I look at my paycheck and realize, its not a job!?, most people get paid for their job. I get a stipend, not a paycheck.

 

[Sleepyhead]

it will feel like a job when you
get your furlough notice!

 

[charley varrick]

Occasionaly, as mentioned before, waking early, sweating my arse off in a 110 degree cockpit, getting extended when I was supposed to meet with my family who came into town, hanging around in a dead downtown Waterloo, IA on Christmas AND Thanksgiving, etc., it "felt" like a job.

Then I was furloughed and got a "real" job.

I ache to have the aforementioned downsides back. For me, I now know with surety that it was not a job.

 

[buzzer]

Been at it for 14 years. Best job in the world. For some it gets old but not for me. I'm a Captain at a Major and find that the time off and money allow you to do other things outside of flying. Now work, as much as I love it does get in the way of the other things I do. I don't get bored flying on long flights...just bring reading material. It's not the most stable industry and anyone at any airline could lose thier job.

 

[skyward80]

I'm not in the airlines, but I hope to be some day soon. I think that anything you do can turn into a job. I used to work for an airline training academy which promised an interview. Currently, that company is hiring strongly to put people in RJs. I gave up my interview their because I started to hate my job. The pay was low (by that I mean, 7 days a week and netting less than $850), the company had zero respect for its employees... bleh. So I switched companies. Now, I earn more and work less than the friends I have in the airlines. Viewing flying as a job or a love depends a lot on the company you work for and your mindset. For me, I'd rather die than do anything else. I love getting in the Bonanza or the Seminole at 4am and watching the world come alive beneath me as the sun rises. What's better than flying? Nothing.

Happy Landings.

Cool quote: "Once you have flown, you will walk with your eyes turned skyward... for there you have been, and there you long to return." --Leonardo da Vinci

 

[skyslug]

I love it and wouldn't want to work in the real world! Some mornings on the way to the airport for an early show I end up in rush hour traffic and just giggle. These folks have to go to work, I get to fly a plane! It's all in your mindset. I chose to make my work enjoyable, and it is!

However, there is the occasional crew or situation that brings you back to reality but that's far and few between.

 

[Rudder120]

although i've been on furlough for a while, it always felt like a job when i was loaded up for the lake or golf course and crew scheduling calls to tell me i'm the jumior man.