Grove said:
Last week three of my friends that are at three different regionals all told me they are ready to get out of the flying business. One is at SkyWest, one Air Wisconsin, and one at Horizon. Just like most of us, they all three spent ridiculous amounts of money, time, and effort to get to where they are.
Predicted happiness. Happens all the time. We see a hot car, or a cool airplane, or a gorgeous babe...and we predict what it would be like to have it. We picture ourselves with it, and build an emotional expectation based on the sensation of happiness.
If the sensation doesn't meet the prediction, we experience an emotional let down. The "anti-climax" of achieving the goal. (And to be successful as aspiring pilots, we have to be goal-oriented. It's one of the things that all of us as pilots have in common)
If the let down is persistent, we either lose focus, sublimate the sensation (hobbies, other diversions) or get depressed.
We have several pilots at our airline who experienced an externally-induced onset of this condition. It was caused by 9/11 and/or the bankruptcy. Both of those "external" events (meaning they weren't caused by the pilots themselves through an unrealistic expectation) dramatically changed the way the pilots percieved themselves and their profession.
For most of us, part of the cache of the profession is that it is not common. There are more lawyers in Manhattan than there are professional pilots in the US. These three guys spent the time and money to achieve something unique. Maybe they ascribed too much happiness to the achievement of that expensive and time-consuming goal.
Grove said:
I asked the first one why he no longer likes the job and he told me, "Well, it's not that I hate the job, it's actually pretty fun and i never feel like i'm going to work, but my girlfriend said she can't have a relationship with a guy that's away from home 3-4 days a week." Uhm, what?
Tilt!
Time for a new squeeze. That Klingon princess has predicted happiness with a non-pilot. Good for her! I know a lot of "house boys" who'd dig doing Quarterly Reports for
Acme Widgets in a comfy cubicle so that they'd be home every night at 5pm for
Her Serene Highness.
Right now there are thousands of heroic women waiting for their warriors who are overseas on our behalf. This gal needs to get some perspective.
Grove said:
The second one said he can make more going into business working a desk. And you didn't know this before the $35k and 3 years instructing?
I bet he can! Good for him. I hope he digs "casual Fridays" and office politics. My desk jockey neighbors gather at my house a few times a month to hear stories about a job that is more interesting (even long Flint layovers!) than managing the "Franklin Account". "
Really? You mean the radar couldn't see through the storms? Then how did you know you could land in St. Louis?"
Grove said:
The third one said he's just plain bored. *shrug*
And he wouldn't be bored cold-calling potential clients?
Riiiiight!
I suppose there are porn stars that are bored with their jobs. Cops that envisoned something more exciting. FAIPs who predicted themselves intercepting MiGs over Baghdad instead of intercepting radials over Enid. If you can't keep yourself focused and entertained driving an airplane, then you owe it to yourself to find another job.
Grove said:
Someone enlighten me. I know the airlines aren't glamorous. I know the pay isn't a Fortune 500 CEO salary. I know i'm broke now and I will be for several years into my flying career. But what gives? With any job you have to make sacrifices. I am just constantly being suprised by people up and leaving the industry altogether.
thoughts?
Find a job you love to do. If you don't love flying, don't do it.
Instead of "Take Your Kid To Work Day", maybe we need to start a "Take A Dreamer To Real Work Day". Spend a day over someone else's septic tank and you'll learn why their grass is greener.
