Would you do it all over again?

[SennaP1]

If all the Hell No's would kindly stand up and walk out of the room please (quit)....

 

[John Pennekamp]

Absolutely not. I wish I'd gone to law school.

Airplanes are fun, but you can fly an awful lot of them on your terms when you are a REAL professional and paid accordingly.

The golden days of the airlines died with TWA and they are never coming back. We're nothing more than computer babysitters and overpaid bus drivers now.

This industry has lost most of the luster that attracted us greybeards back in the 60s when we were kids. Back then if you flew for a TWA or a PanAm you were like a god. Airline pilots used to be respected and compensated accordingly. That's all gone now, and regardless of ALPA's ranting, it's never coming back.

 

[SSDD]

ABSOLUTELY I WOULD. I may do a couple of things differently, but flying beats just about any other career. Those people who say they'd go to medical, or law school, are making the same mistake they made in choosing aviation. They're looking at the glamour, rather than the reality. For avery successful heart surgeon there are thousands of family practicioners struggling with the HMO's, and struggling to pay their insurance premiums. For every successful TV lawyer, there are thousands chasing traffic tickets, and personal injury cases.

I'd bet that a lot of those people are wishing they'd gone to flight school.

 

[hoover]

I had a fairly successful career. I was never layed off, never had to take a pay cut, always changed jobs at my choosing, and got offered a job with a major airline. And I am still on my first wife. But knowing now what I didn't know then, I would not do it again. I guess I just found a better way to live.

 

[79%N1]

No!!!!!

 

[gunfyter]

Hell No!

I would have studied hard and become a GOOGLE Billionaire....

Better yet I would have taken the $60k it cost to go to private university in the 70's and invested it all in BRKa. Would be worth over $4 million today. Then I would not have to hurt my brain with all that studying.

 

[pdub20s]

If all the Hell No's would kindly stand up and walk out of the room please (quit)....

I agree....Make room for the folks that want the jobs

 

[Princedietrich]

I would do it all over again, certainly. But there would be some things that I'd change.

I'd party a lot harder during my 4 years at college. I would tell that guy in Cleveland to kiss off. I would chat up that cute blonde flight attendant. I would beat that guy silly with a Caravan right rudder pedal.

Other than that, I'm happy with where I've ended up.

 

[TNHillbilly]

Sure I would, I just wish I would have started flying when I was 12. I just can't picture doing anything else. I just happen to be in the situation where I live at my base and I"m home everynight. I love it. The 16 to 18 days off aren't bad either when all my friends are getting up mon-fri and working...
I have a college degree totally unrelated to aviation so I could go do something else if I wanted, but flying is fun, and I work at a crappy airline. I can't imagine how fun it will be to work at a real airline.

 

[oldxfr8dog]

Hell, YES!
I've watched icebergs calve into the sea over Greenland, seen the Amazon rainforest on fire stretching for miles from 350 at night, been unable to maintain altitude due to ice over the mountains and felt the rush when I finally landed, then beat the ice off my light twin full of mail and took off again, felt the wheels touch on a 6,6,6 approach, looked down at the Suez and pyramids, drunk margaritas on the beach when mechanical'ed in Cabo, flown medical supplies into war zones where the airport looked like a "Max Max" movie, flown HRs in singles, and seen meteor showers on a black night at 370, with the lights turned down.

I'll bet the guys that wouldn't do it again don't even reduce their ROC to 50' fpm when they break out on top of a solid deck.

What? You'd be happier in a cubicle?

 

[vectorvictor]

Sure I would, I just wish I would have started flying when I was 12. I just can't picture doing anything else. I just happen to be in the situation where I live at my base and I"m home everynight. I love it. The 16 to 18 days off aren't bad either when all my friends are getting up mon-fri and working...
I have a college degree totally unrelated to aviation so I could go do something else if I wanted, but flying is fun, and I work at a crappy airline. I can't imagine how fun it will be to work at a real airline.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have a degree completely unrelated to aviation. I had a non-aviation career and I HATED it. Getting up everyday and getting it from the man. Now at least I get to sleep in on tuesday mornings and laugh at my friends who have real jobs. The part I like the best is that once I'm home...I'm home. I don't take my job with me into my house or into my personal life. Once you are out the door there is no stress to bring home. Thats the priceless part.

 

[fatdumbandhappy]

Hell Yes, Have you ever looked in the back of the airplane and seen all those stressed out business types who are working 60+ hr a week, plus they probably worry/work on there day's off (deadlines,promotions,etc.). At the end of the day I close up my flight bag and my only worry is knowing my next show time, thats it.

 

[Propsync]

I doubt it. I wouldn't say hell no, however. I guess for me it took several years to really figure out what its all about. Have I had fun? Yup. Has it been a challenge? You bet. Are there many other interesting and rewarding careers out there? More than I can think of. I'm staying at Skyway long enough to see if staffing gets better so I can have it a little bit better on reserve. If it doesn't, I'll probably just quit. With age 65 looming, I don't feel moving on and then staying at the bottom for five more years is worth it. Reserve, commuter, and furlough are three things I won't be able to handle. I figure I'd have to stay in it until 65 just to make it worthwhile. I'm more than a bit pessimistic about things, I don't see through my eyes that this career will be worth it for me in the long haul. For those that can't see themselves doing anything else, good for you. I just don't have that drive and desire to fly all of the time.

 

[AirCanon04]

I have to be realistic for me, I cant see myself doing this job 10 years from now, let alone doing this until I am 65, so sadly...no way....

 

[601Pilot]

Hell, YES!
I've watched icebergs calve into the sea over Greenland, seen the Amazon rainforest on fire stretching for miles from 350 at night, been unable to maintain altitude due to ice over the mountains and felt the rush when I finally landed, then beat the ice off my light twin full of mail and took off again, felt the wheels touch on a 6,6,6 approach, looked down at the Suez and pyramids, drunk margaritas on the beach when mechanical'ed in Cabo, flown medical supplies into war zones where the airport looked like a "Max Max" movie, flown HRs in singles, and seen meteor showers on a black night at 370, with the lights turned down.

I'll bet the guys that wouldn't do it again don't even reduce their ROC to 50' fpm when they break out on top of a solid deck.

What? You'd be happier in a cubicle?

That's a hell of a regional you fly for; who was that again?