Want to be an airline pilot, read this!!

[av8er2]

I started flight training about 10 years ago. I loved getting into flying just as much as anyone else. I thought I had found the dream job that I would love going to every day. I now have come to the conclusion that I was wrong. I have been at a large regional airline for over 5 years and I have been one of the lucky ones on upgrades and timing.

I never though I would feel this way about the airlines, but it is no fun. Now I know why all the major airline pilots I have know through the years sounded so tired of the airlines. I have only been in the airlines for 5 years and I don't know if I can take it any more. It is just not much fun anymore. This is all due to our badly run company and management. A new contrat would help a lot.

I like the flying part, but all the BS that comes with the airlines is getting old.

It is very hard to have a solid family being a pilot. I now understand why the divorce rate is so high for pilots and it is joked about so often. I can't believe after 5 years with a company and upgrading as soon as I could, I have the worse schedule at the company and it is so hard on my family.

I would of been better as an FO. But then again that makes me mad that if I want a good family life, I have to take a pay cut and not advance my career to stay as a FO. Why should I have a family buster schedule just because I upgraded as soon as I could.

When the $$ increases because of upgrading, that is the time most people start getting married and having kids. I sure this does not happen to our great management team when they take a promotion.

Why does it have to be this way? I guess just because it is the way it has always been and it will never change. I am not going to stick around to find out.

I am planning for the future and I don't think being an airline pilot will be part of it. My wife and kids are way more important then flying for a industury that seems to try to destroy families.

I know this sounds so negative and I never thought I would feel this way. Our terrible contract continues to beat me down with my 10 days off and terrible schedules.

I am just giving all you new pilots an idea of what it will be in a few years for you. Sure you can say, "I will feel different, I love flying so much". But when you get married and have kids, flying will be a lot different. It will be a JOB in a run down industry. I know you will feel this way because 90% of the pilots I know feel the same way.

The problem is that there will always be some new person willing to do it for less. It sounds like the airlines will always be trying to take money away from their pilots.

I spend most of my free time trying to figure out how to get out of this industry and find something that is more family friendly. I sure wish things would change, but I think the airlines are really heading down the toilet.

Also, if you are thinking of going to a big expensive school for training, DON'T!! You can get to the airlines by going to the local airport and learning to fly. Then flight instruct, fly freight and so on. I got here for about $25,000 in training cost.

ASA is 600/100 now so you don't need the big schools. The regionals will be hurting for pilots for a few years due to the industry going down the toilet. ASA has a lot of pilots leaving and it is only going to continue because of the way they are treating people.

Spending $100,000 to get here is stupid. This is an industry that will pay you poverty level wages first year and give you no job security. Then even after a few years you still can barely start a family.

Good luck to all, flying is great, but listen to what the pilots with experience are saying on this board, because you will be saying the same thing in a few years.

 

[Standby 1]

Personally, I applaud you for putting your family first. I wish you a long and happy marriage with plenty of well-adjusted children! After all, when we're 80 years old, sitting in our rocker on the front porch and looking back over our lives, it ain't the airplanes that will be important.....it's our family.


Best of luck to you!




.

 

[flyboyzz1]

Not to be a jerk here but I say leave. If you don't like your job... well that is too bad but I don't want to hear about it. I know many people (some just starting some high up at Major airlines) who love their job. If you go in thinking your going to be rich fast or things are going to be easy for you you are stupid. I just cant stand people who complain about their jobs. You have the option to do something about it... until then... keep it to yourself and I'm going to live my dream and like it.

But hey thats just my thought

 

[Biatch5]

Not to be a jerk...

Too Late

DORK

 

[flyboyzz1]

Too Late

DORK

Funny... C172 Heavy?

 

[Reebo]

Welcome to this thing called LIFE! Some days are better than others, but its what you make of it that counts. Think about this, giving up flying doesnt gaurantee a happy marriage. Your wife may leave you one day, how happy are you going to be then? You sound like someone who wants instant gratification. LIFE is a journey full of ups and downs. Just because aviation is in the pits now doesnt mean it will be that way in 5 years. Did you think that your career would allow you 20 days off making 12 grand a month after 5 years? If you did you didnt have very realistic expectations and probably picked this career for the wrong reasons. Remember, Rome wasnt built in a day. You CAN have a flying career and a happy family if YOU work at it. Nothing will be easy but neither is LIFE.

 

[pilotyip]

You sound like a commuter, is that correct? If your family matters your job comes first that is how you support them. By working steadily at a job, you set an example of life is about. Most likely that example will a model of succcess for your kids. Fly because you like to.

 

[bafanguy]

av8er2,


You're certainly entitled to your point of view and I'm sorry to hear that you see a major life parameter in that light after all the work you did to get where you are. But, maybe seeing it early in the game is a positive. Contracts (and all that comes with them) come and go...sometimes better; sometimes not. It's a pretty serious decision you're talking about so make sure you get advice from people whose opinion you can trust and talk to everyone you can about it. You might even get a valid opinion here.....nah.

What's Plan B ?

 

[MTpilot]

What the hell did you think it would be Jacka$$. Boo Hoo, my dream came true and it sucks. Shove it.

 

[comander]

thanks for sharing av8er2 , I guess it is difficult to have a job like yours and be home with the family often, I have thought of it always ,I at this moment would love much more to be flying in a airline or a corporate job than having kids. I am married but I think I would give that up also just to be a pilot. It might change as you say when/ if I get there but thats why I dont plan on kids . as for not going to a academy thanks for the advise I guess you can do it at your local airport. Or maybe buying your own cessna and then selling it ha?

 

[AA717driver]

Bafanguy nailed it. Part of why I've not been slitting my wrists is that I married a woman who can deal with the ups and downs. She still doesn't like it but that's what she married--the man and the job.

So not all of us grabbed the brass ring. No one guaranteed us that we would grab it. There were many times early in my career at a major that I hated being gone or hated the piece of crap contract we worked under. I hated the violations by the company and the fact I couldn't leave because no one else was hiring at the time (except UAL and I was "overequipped" at the time). I hated being 35 years old before I broke $40k/year.

It got better and it got worse. Then, it got a whole lot worse. Now, it's better. But I don't expect it to last. It never does.

But, I'm a pilot. That's all I've ever wanted to do and I'll do it as long as I can or until I have enough money to retire on--whichever comes first. Good luck.TC

 

[Snakum]

While I agree with some here that the original poster may not have had very realistic expectations. And while Captialism can be a beeyatch at times. The fact remains that you pros have seen a slide in $$ and conditions that were, I'd imagine, completely unforseen. I honestly don't know how you younger guys do it. If I was just starting a family there's no way I'd plan on the airlines as a career. I've read too many horror stories here. In fact, even though my kids are almost grown and on their own, I'm still pursuing the Corporate track. You 121 guys have to put up with even more uncertainty than I do these days (and corporate is VERY uncertain ). I admire the guts of any young guy trying to raise a family and stay married while working at a regional airline. My hat's off to you!

But as some here have said ... you either buckle down and make it happen ... or you get out. If you're this upset about the whole thing, maybe you have a degree or a skill in some other area you could put to use? It sounds like that's what you probably are ready to do.

And about fewer pilots being available in years to come ... no way! There will always be some azzwhole who'd pimp his sister to score a few hours in the right seat of a King Air or Citation, or break out daddy's checkbook for a B1900 or CRJ. I'm sure my boss gets plenty of offers from wannabe FOs to fly for free (I made the offer too, but for single-pilot trips only), but when an FO is required for a trip he pays one. Integrity in spades. The job is getting crazier and crazier ... but it's still something that many, many people are even crazier about doing, and so there will always be more applicants than jobs. We'll never see 1963-like hiring again. Not in our lifetime, anyway.

Minher

 

[SkyBoy1981]

You sound like a commuter, is that correct?

Excellent point. The QOL difference between those of us who live on base and those who commute is huge. It seems that every disgruntled pissed off pilot that I fly with is a commuter. Good luck to the original poster though, sounds tough...I hope it all works out for you soon.

 

[C425Driver]

Av8er2,


I was also feeling the same way about my airline career. After 10 years at the airlines, 5 of them as a pilot, I decided it was time to get out. I now have a better schedule, make more money, and do some part-time flying on the side and I'm much happier for it.

Flying for a career isn't for everyone and the only way anyone can possibly know if it is right for him/her is to live the life for a while. I weighed the pros and cons of staying or leaving and it was clearly best for me to leave. It was not an easy decision to make, but when I did a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I have no regrets about being an airline pilot but it was time to move on.

Good luck to you!

C425Driver

 

[FN FAL]

Av8er2, I hear ya.

When I was in ground school for the Avro at Mesaba, we had to go over to the big classroom where the Saab class was, so that we could spend an hour or so with the ALPA union guys.

They bought lunch and it was a lot of fun getting brought up to speed on the union stuff, but we were a few minutes late getting back to our conference room for the remainder of that days Ops manual training. The director of training came storming into our classroom and started yelling at us for being late and quite frankly, his tone and language was not professional. He had veins popping out of his forehead and most of the young dudes in the classroom were recoiling from this barrage. It was all I could to keep my mouth shut and not jump across the table to web hand this fat toad in the throat.

Later on, I got treated to his training department's crap training program and the writing was on the wall, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

What I saw in my short time there, was a TAF of what my life was going to be like working there...so, once again...I empathize with you.

 

[GravityHater]

Someone said to me once....

"You get to fly and you get to work fantastic equipment.
Expecting anything beyond that is going to disappoint."

T or F?

 

[Crizz]

Av8er2, I hear ya.

When I was in ground school for the Avro at Mesaba, we had to go over to the big classroom where the Saab class was, so that we could spend an hour or so with the ALPA union guys.

They bought lunch and it was a lot of fun getting brought up to speed on the union stuff, but we were a few minutes late getting back to our conference room for the remainder of that days Ops manual training. The director of training came storming into our classroom and started yelling at us for being late and quite frankly, his tone and language was not professional. He had veins popping out of his forehead and most of the young dudes in the classroom were recoiling from this barrage. It was all I could to keep my mouth shut and not jump across the table to web hand this fat toad in the throat.

Later on, I got treated to his training department's crap training program and the writing was on the wall, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

What I saw in my short time there, was a TAF of what my life was going to be like working there...so, once again...I empathize with you.

When was this?

 

[semperfido]

I like the flying part, but all the BS that comes with the airlines is getting old.

.

unfortunately, you will find this the case in most any job. that is the "work" part part of the job. the flying is the fun part. i could retire if i had a buck for every time i heard the phrase " i can't believe we are getting paid to do this". i even remember it being said at an airline twenty years ago. over time things change- not always for the better. keep looking.

 

[FN FAL]

When was this?

About a year before 9/11.

 

[TIGV]

I'll be freeing up a slot here pretty soon, 15 years in, over 8000 hours 2 type ratings, 4-year, you name it, I got it, think someone wants it? Heck no and probably won't for another 5 years, so cheerio, it's been fun.

I'm thinking the above won't get me a reasonable wage and/or a reasonable retirement by the time I see the " big " iron, or is that " shrinking iron ".

So I'm forging ahead with my own business and freeing my slot for someone else, wish me the best and I'll wish you guys the best with al lthat flying 'n stuff.