B52GUNNER
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- Dec 4, 2002
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/10/21/pilot.secrets/index.html?hpt=T2
(CNN) -- You hear their voices over the airplane speakers and you sometimes catch a glimpse of them as they inspect a plane before departure, but for the most part airline pilots remain a mystery.
Regal in their uniforms, locked in the cockpit, you know your life is in their hands -- but what are their lives really like these days?
Not so glamorous and often grueling, it turns out. Reader's Digest asked 17 pilots from major airlines and regional carriers to divulge some of the realities of their jobs, and many of the comments are chilling.
"The truth is, we're exhausted. Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break. That's many more hours than a truck driver. And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can't pull over at the next cloud," a captain at a major airline told the magazine.
Another pilot said bad accommodations also make it hard to get enough sleep.
"When you get on that airplane at 7 a.m., you want your pilot to be rested and ready. But the hotels they put us in now are so bad that there are many nights when I toss and turn. They're in bad neighborhoods, they're loud, they've got bedbugs, and there have been stabbings in the parking lot," said Jack Stephan, a US Airways captain.
(CNN) -- You hear their voices over the airplane speakers and you sometimes catch a glimpse of them as they inspect a plane before departure, but for the most part airline pilots remain a mystery.
Regal in their uniforms, locked in the cockpit, you know your life is in their hands -- but what are their lives really like these days?
Not so glamorous and often grueling, it turns out. Reader's Digest asked 17 pilots from major airlines and regional carriers to divulge some of the realities of their jobs, and many of the comments are chilling.
"The truth is, we're exhausted. Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break. That's many more hours than a truck driver. And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can't pull over at the next cloud," a captain at a major airline told the magazine.
Another pilot said bad accommodations also make it hard to get enough sleep.
"When you get on that airplane at 7 a.m., you want your pilot to be rested and ready. But the hotels they put us in now are so bad that there are many nights when I toss and turn. They're in bad neighborhoods, they're loud, they've got bedbugs, and there have been stabbings in the parking lot," said Jack Stephan, a US Airways captain.
