Don't tell me you do this job for the money

[timmay]

What can I say? It was a dream, I had always wanted to do it.
I enjoy the job. The actual flying, from door close to door open, is simply the best (LOL! I can't believe I just did that).

So the flying itself is great, fulfulling, and fun.


I do have a professional degree, and could always fall back on that, and make more than I would at my regional. I took a huge paycut to come here. But that's ok, I'm young, and money isn't an issue so far.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's opinions and stories.

These are the reasons I left the airlines. I was top 20 percent when I left in 2004 because I knew there was no hope of regaining pay and workrules from pre 9/11. There are too many attitudes like above.
Dont get me wrong I LIKE flying as much as the next pilot, but I am not willing to do it for the wages the airlines are paying today.
I got lucky and found a corporate job that is better than anything I could have hoped for when I started flying and once this job is gone I am on to my second career. I can't even imagine going back to a "major" putting up with commuting, scheduling, and worst of all the pay.
The only hope for this industry getting back to where it was will be when people aren't stupid enough to pay 75k for training only to make 60k as a regional captain. We were close to that point a few months ago but the furloughs and bankrupcties have pushed it back a couple of years. When we get to that point wages and work conditions will have to improve.

 

[AVRO_FO]

Finding happiness in this industry is about having equal parts luck, research, and a good attitude.

The luck part is obvious: some guys just happen to find that up-and-coming dream job at just the right time; others end up going through a dozen airlines throughout their career. I guess you just make the best choices you can at the time and hope for the best.

As for research, it's a shame more people don't try to figure out exactly what they're getting into before plunking down 50-100k. I suppose I was "fortunate" in that I started flying in the early 90's, when the industry was in a previous slump. Nobody was getting hired anywhere, and you were to be worshipped if you got a job in the right seat of a Metro. I thought I would be lucky to get hired as a CFI, if I played my cards right. And now I'm a jet airline captain, and I would say I am happy. Some of the students I taught during the late 90s' hiring boom told me their plan was to work for about 3 years at a regional and then move on to their major job. They didn't bother to look at the history of this industry and I would bet that every one of them is miserable right now. So it is amazing how expectations can color your perception of how good or bad you have it.

Finally, attitude is everything. I love the quote that says life consists of "10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it." You can choose to be miserable for what you don't have by looking at those with greener grass, or you can choose to be happy by looking at what you do have. You can be miserable that your job is difficult and you are only making as much as a C210 driver of days past, or you could think that it's cool that you have what it takes to safely take care of many thousands of passengers in challenging conditions.

If you think happiness can be found in money, think again. I've worked at jobs that made more money, and I wasn't nearly as happy as when I was flying in my 152.

If you think truckdriving, or whatever, will make you happy, by all means go for your dream, but do it with open eyes.

You mention history in your reply and I agree. I fell in love with flying a small child watching crop dusters near where I lived. My dad would take us out to the airport so we could watch planes fly. I was hooked then. Later in life I would live under the final approach path of my local airport and planes were always flying over. I soloed 18 years ago next month and at present am working on my glider rating so I will never quit flying.

Now, as for making money and being happy or miserable. The BUSINESS of the airline industry has a way of sucking all the joy out of flying. You are a pawn for the union, a target for management, the traveling public thinks you are overpaid and hell bent on making them late just to prove a point in your labor negotiations, food vendors serve you up expensive food that is going to kill you, if you commute you are always on pins and needles as to if, when, how and what time you will get home. You mention that people should do research before they get plunk down the money for the ratings and I agree. A post like this serves as a contrary view of the glossy ads you see in Flying Magazine that show the now maligned frosted tip, iPod demographic sitting in the right seat of a CRJ in less than 6 months. I used to read Len Morgan in Flying and think "ah, it can't be that bad". He was writing about the issues of the day in the industry and if you go back and read those today, as I have, he was not painting a very pretty picture of the industry he was in.

An airline flight deck is a very interesting place. Everyone you fly with has a different view of life, experiences, goals and ambitions. Some are happy and some are miserable. You will find that in any industry as it is just a part of the human existence. What I am railing against under the theme of "don't tell me you do this job for the money", is the kind of person I sat next to that thought they were some how going to win against management. My financial illustrations are antecdotal but they go a good distance to prove that overall wage rates are never going to be where they were. The Railway Labor Act, Chapter 11, ALPA and it's agenda and sometimes the actions of the rank and file have created the situation we are in now. I chose to get out of it, because I DO LOVE TO FLY BUT HATE THE BUSINESS OF THE AIRLINES. I got all wrapped up in contract negotiations, did my little part and all but in the end, the ALPA leadership and management had a press conference saying how happy they were that they had an agreement. Mind you we were pressured to pass by a resounding margin a resolution of no confidence in that management group.

Someone said above that it is a great job when the door closes and I agree. You said to take pleasure in knowing that you have what it takes to do a job rather than be miserable that a 210 driver got paid as much 24 years ago. These things speak generally to a work ethic, one that you would have whether you are an airline pilot or not. I feel like I have a strong work ethic and passion for what I think is right and wrong.

In the end, it wont be a post like this that makes up someones mind. I ignored some words in the past that help fuel questions in my mind about what life would have been like if I hadn't plunked down my money and got the job just to see if it would be different for me. I am happy that things worked out for you. So long as there is an air transportation system in our country, it is in my best interest that smart, well trained, well fed, financially secure, well rested men and women crew these planes.

 

[Jon Rivoli]

Weather you are happy or miserable is a choice you make.
Seniority is everything.
Commuting sucks.
Seniority is everything.
Real jobs are over rated.
And, seniority is everything.

 

[pdub20s]

Finding happiness in this industry is about having equal parts luck, research, and a good attitude.

The luck part is obvious: some guys just happen to find that up-and-coming dream job at just the right time; others end up going through a dozen airlines throughout their career. I guess you just make the best choices you can at the time and hope for the best.

As for research, it's a shame more people don't try to figure out exactly what they're getting into before plunking down 50-100k. I suppose I was "fortunate" in that I started flying in the early 90's, when the industry was in a previous slump. Nobody was getting hired anywhere, and you were to be worshipped if you got a job in the right seat of a Metro. I thought I would be lucky to get hired as a CFI, if I played my cards right. And now I'm a jet airline captain, and I would say I am happy. Some of the students I taught during the late 90s' hiring boom told me their plan was to work for about 3 years at a regional and then move on to their major job. They didn't bother to look at the history of this industry and I would bet that every one of them is miserable right now. So it is amazing how expectations can color your perception of how good or bad you have it.

Finally, attitude is everything. I love the quote that says life consists of "10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it." You can choose to be miserable for what you don't have by looking at those with greener grass, or you can choose to be happy by looking at what you do have. You can be miserable that your job is difficult and you are only making as much as a C210 driver of days past, or you could think that it's cool that you have what it takes to safely take care of many thousands of passengers in challenging conditions.

If you think happiness can be found in money, think again. I've worked at jobs that made more money, and I wasn't nearly as happy as when I was flying in my 152.

If you think truckdriving, or whatever, will make you happy, by all means go for your dream, but do it with open eyes.

Well put my friend

 

[twott driver]

Too stupid to do anything else??

 

[pdub20s]

Weather you are happy or miserable is a choice you make.
Seniority is everything.
Commuting sucks.
Seniority is everything.
Real jobs are over rated.
And, seniority is everything.

Did you mention seniority?

 

[AVRO_FO]

Did you mention seniority?

Seniority...hmmm...I think I have heard of it. The closest I ever got was bidding number 4 in base once. If there ever was a time that I felt happy in the business, that was probably it. Within a matter of a few months though I was one of the last groups to hold onto the Avro in DTW and was heading back to the Saab.

Real jobs do suck but they leave you feeling more in control of what is happening to you. The ability to take your skills and move laterally or vertically isn't something you will ever see as an airline pilot. New job means bottom of the list and probation.

 

[Raskal]

...If you think happiness can be found in money, think again. I've worked at jobs that made more money, and I wasn't nearly as happy as when I was flying in my 152.

If you think truckdriving, or whatever, will make you happy, by all means go for your dream, but do it with open eyes...

It sounds sappy, but I left a job I still haven't gotten back to the pay of in order to do the local fbo/student/part-time job then CFI for a while then fly king-airs and so on. I hate it and I love it, maybe I'm bi-polar, but I can't see going back unless I simply can't do this anymore.

 

[labbats]

Speaking as someone who "started all over" and made this a second career....

I don't know if I would do it all over again, but I do know that it's not greener on the other side. At least here when I drop off my kit bag I drop off all my cares and concerns and focus on my friends and family. That's reason enough to stick around and something you can't appreciate if you started out flying as a first career.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Good post, Avro.