Do you still love to fly?
Military, yes, very much so. Not since doing it commercially for a major airline.
Do you hate your job?
Hate is too strong a word. Flying commercially is drudgery only made worth it by the formally good compensation. Now that's gone, it's just a job.
How much are you away from home?
17 days a month.
What does your spouse think?
Tolerates it.
Would you do it again?
No. In retrospect, I had much more rewarding career, both emotionally and monetarily in another field. Airline flying seems lucrative and fun from the outside, but now, it's deteriorated to drudgery and abuse. Too many pilots willing to undercut compensation. Pensions soon to be gone. Have zero feeling of "profession" anymore. Just a job with a declining future. No respect from management, coworkers, or public. Zero sense of brotherhood from fellow union members. Senior pilots control the union and work on self-interest only.
Do you feel appreciated at work? (or just a number)
You're kidding, right? This is an airline we're talking about. You take your "appreciation" home in your wallet, and the wallet's about 25% thinner than it used to be . . . . . and getting worse. Words about "improving corporate culture" are straight out the the CEO standard PR playbook. They don't mean a thing. Stopped going to company "meets with management." It's all just propaganda. Actions speak louder than works. Still waiting for some action other than compensation cuts.
The good thing is that I'm paying a lot less taxes, not buying new cars, not buying a new computer every few years, stopped flying recreationally because it's gotten too expensive, and stopped buying a lot of economy supporting consumer goods. And stopped supporting the billionair rats that run Walmart and are ruining my hometown. Getting some perspective back. Resigned from the Republican party and am ambivilent to elections in November. Just a contest between a couple of rich privileged ivy-leaguers . . . one a Texan multi-millionaire good-ol-boy and the other an elitist billionaire liberal. Quite a choice.
Do you feel safe?
With equipment, yes . . . at least for now. If company outsources maintenance to hack contractors employing cheap unlicensed mexican immigrant labor, obsolutely NOT. As company mechanics suffer continual blows to morale, I think maintenance will suffer as well. With regards to security, NO. Polically correct government isn't willing to do what's necessary to secure the air transporation system. 60% of it is a PR exercise for the "battle-of-the-blonds" reporter dolts on the morning talk shows. 40% is real.
Is it stressful?
From an overall standpoint, yes. Once the gear is in the well, it's business as usual. The economy is so miserable under the republicans that decent jobs are scarce, families need two incomes, and even more so when trying to change careers. The piloting vocation keeps you in a very narrow range of skills mostly unsuitable for moving out of it. Luckily my son is intelligent and has seen first hand what a miserable vocation flying is and has zero interest in flying. He wants to be a "professional" at something . . . and commanding an aircraft is just bus driving today. It save me from kicking his butt into next month.
Military, yes, very much so. Not since doing it commercially for a major airline.
Do you hate your job?
Hate is too strong a word. Flying commercially is drudgery only made worth it by the formally good compensation. Now that's gone, it's just a job.
How much are you away from home?
17 days a month.
What does your spouse think?
Tolerates it.
Would you do it again?
No. In retrospect, I had much more rewarding career, both emotionally and monetarily in another field. Airline flying seems lucrative and fun from the outside, but now, it's deteriorated to drudgery and abuse. Too many pilots willing to undercut compensation. Pensions soon to be gone. Have zero feeling of "profession" anymore. Just a job with a declining future. No respect from management, coworkers, or public. Zero sense of brotherhood from fellow union members. Senior pilots control the union and work on self-interest only.
Do you feel appreciated at work? (or just a number)
You're kidding, right? This is an airline we're talking about. You take your "appreciation" home in your wallet, and the wallet's about 25% thinner than it used to be . . . . . and getting worse. Words about "improving corporate culture" are straight out the the CEO standard PR playbook. They don't mean a thing. Stopped going to company "meets with management." It's all just propaganda. Actions speak louder than works. Still waiting for some action other than compensation cuts.
The good thing is that I'm paying a lot less taxes, not buying new cars, not buying a new computer every few years, stopped flying recreationally because it's gotten too expensive, and stopped buying a lot of economy supporting consumer goods. And stopped supporting the billionair rats that run Walmart and are ruining my hometown. Getting some perspective back. Resigned from the Republican party and am ambivilent to elections in November. Just a contest between a couple of rich privileged ivy-leaguers . . . one a Texan multi-millionaire good-ol-boy and the other an elitist billionaire liberal. Quite a choice.
Do you feel safe?
With equipment, yes . . . at least for now. If company outsources maintenance to hack contractors employing cheap unlicensed mexican immigrant labor, obsolutely NOT. As company mechanics suffer continual blows to morale, I think maintenance will suffer as well. With regards to security, NO. Polically correct government isn't willing to do what's necessary to secure the air transporation system. 60% of it is a PR exercise for the "battle-of-the-blonds" reporter dolts on the morning talk shows. 40% is real.
Is it stressful?
From an overall standpoint, yes. Once the gear is in the well, it's business as usual. The economy is so miserable under the republicans that decent jobs are scarce, families need two incomes, and even more so when trying to change careers. The piloting vocation keeps you in a very narrow range of skills mostly unsuitable for moving out of it. Luckily my son is intelligent and has seen first hand what a miserable vocation flying is and has zero interest in flying. He wants to be a "professional" at something . . . and commanding an aircraft is just bus driving today. It save me from kicking his butt into next month.