Piloting career regrets?

[swc12nap1]

I am still contemplating a career as an airline pilot instead of going to graduate school or med school. I am currently working as a research associate in a biotech industry. I have read all the good side of piloting career. However, everyone of us know there is no such thing as a perfect career and it just all depends on the person's aspirations. I would really appreciate people who could share their stories--more imprtantly regrets, bad stories, etc.--on piloting that would allow us to know what to expect in this kind of career. Thanks for your time, folks!

 

[wil]

I finished at 1 am this morning. Due to maint on my commute home I did not make it until 3:30pm. I have one day off and back to reserve on wed. My life as a commuting junior Captain stinks.
I would not trade it for the world!!!!!!!!! Sunday night ATL-DFW Flight 4998 under my command. Smooth air and a canopy of stars that make you realize how lucky we are for the view!! It really is a cool job- the wife wants to move to Dallas so I can't wait to end the commute!!

 

[350DRIVER]

However, everyone of us know there is no such thing as a perfect career and it just all depends on the person's aspirations.

I think what you have said sums it up pretty good. Hopefully whatever one chooses whether it be in aviation or in some other field is that the positives will outweigh the negatives. If I had to do it all over again I probably would have pursued becoming either a Thoracic Surgeon or a Cardiovascular Surgeon which was my first interest and it is still something that continues to interest me to date but unfortunately I used the years of schooling as an "excuse" not to pursue it. I enjoy flying but think it would be nice to be able to fly for pleasure and for "fun" versus having to do it as a "job". I also would have taken my time and would have waited until I was older to get into the business since I truly feel that I would have enjoyed the "ride" a little more and it probably would have given me a better sense of appreciation for what this industry is all about.

What can you expect in this career.?? Good things and bad things Hard to say with regards to being an "airline pilot", at 24 I am a 135 captain moving into the 121 world so I will tell you at some point down the line. I have been 135 for more than 2.5 years and it surely was not all "fun".


Whatever you decide to do just make 100% sure that it will be what will make you happy.

good luck

3 5 0

 

[Timebuilder]

I was on track for medicine, and tutored some seniors in the bio class I took at age 14. I wish I had continued on, since a successful doc can fly if and when he wants.

You have to really love aviation to plan a career here. Much of the sheen is off the apple these days, and I feel it will not return. As the number of regional jobs continues to increase and the number of major jobs stabilizes at a smaller number, the possibilities of making the kind of money that has traditionally attracted many to aviation become smaller and smaller. Can you make a living? After several years, yes. Will you live in the big house outside Atlanta, making 300 thousand a year? Probably not.

Why not get a successful practice going, and buy a small jet so someone here can help you to fly it? That might be your best option.

 

[flint4xx]

Go to med school, then buy a Bonanza.

 

[bobbysamd]

Aviation career

I left a good job in the city, working for the man every night and day . . . .

Creedence Clearwater Revival, circa 1968.

. . . .which is what I did fifteen years ago. Not that my job was all that good . . . but I had started flying several years before and I had grown dissatisfied with what I was doing for work. Aviation beckoned, driven in large part by a (purported) pilot shortage. I had two friends who were about my age get jobs with the commuters, so I thought if they could do it, so could I. So, at age 37, I changed careers. For details, search my other posts.

The long and short of it is my timing and luck were bad, so the only thing I did as a professional pilot was flight instruct. I was (and still am) disappointed that I did not reach my goals, but, for the most part, I enjoyed it. What surprised me, though, was that my job was not perfect at all. I put up with plenty of pettiness and stupid politics during nineteen years in broadcasting (right, Timebuilder?). I found that professional aviation was remarkably the same as broadcasting in terms of politics and pettiness.

I eventually came to the conclusion that one will encounter nonsense in any job or profession - and that no job is perfect. I don't know much about the innerworkings of the medical profession, but I'd bet that doctors encounter plenty of politics as they work their way through med school, internships and residencies, and maybe after they enter private practice.

Bear in mind that professional aviation is extremely competitive. Despite what you may have heard from Kit Darby and others, there is no pilot shortage. Not only that, professional aviation is vulnerable to economic slowdowns. When airlines are not hiring, or, worse, are laying off pilots, the effects are felt down to the grass roots. Although I've heard stories about HMOs and hospitals furloughing physicians, one ordinarily doesn't hear about physicians losing jobs.

Finally, bear in mind that aviation pays extremely poorly until and if you hit the major leagues, i.e., the major airlines, good seniority at the regionals, and good corporate jobs. I emphasize "if." If good money fast is what you're after, you might be better off becoming a physician, because the odds are long of it happening for you quickly in aviation.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck with whatever you decide to pursue.

 

[Typhoon1244]

My low point came when I ran afoul of a FlightSafety/Vero Beach check airman who found fault with everything I did. I had never failed a stage check until he came along. I suppose it was just a personality conflict...I wasn't one of those aggressive golfing, beer-drinking types. After a couple of flights, this guy had me convinced that I couldn't fly.

I almost quit.

I ended up being assigned other check airmen for subsequent stage checks, and the rest is history. Instructing at FlightSafety led to flying for ASA, and I couldn't be happier with the job I do. But that one guy almost convinced me to look for a new line of work.

(I don't want to mention his name, but his initials are "Kevin Pence.")

 

[Timebuilder]

The long and short of it is my timing and luck were bad,

I should stuff my pilot shirts in my rollaway and wrap the thing in duct tape and give it that inscription in magic marker!!!

I put up with plenty of pettiness and stupid politics during nineteen years in broadcasting (right, Timebuilder?).

Ah, the stories we could tell...

 

[bobbysamd]

FSI stage check pilot aside

(I don't want to mention his name, but his initials are "Kevin Pence.")

This individual must have been there after my tour at FSI, which was 1991-'92.

A good example of what I wrote above about aviation being very political.

 

[WrightAvia]

Piloting career regrets?

Not even a scintilla.

I will tell you this much. If you can't find happiness in a job short of your dream aviation job, no matter however long term, short term or permanent that may be, you will really really be hating life when your buddy that did finish med school is marrying your college sweetie and living in the big house with the fancy cars in front of it.