Would you do it all over again?

[pilotyip]

It has been a fantastic adventure, I would change little. My son is a pilot and my grandson is waiting to solo on his 16th B'day.

 

[30West]

I think I would have done the same thing, except I would have worked a little harder on cheating at Powerball.

 

[JettBoii]

I would not do it again. I have my resignation letter typed up and the box with my pub's/pins addressed to ASA sitting in my office. As soon as I find another job or go back to my old one I am done. I tried it and don't like it. Fun plane to fly; nice people to work with but no money and a ugly schedule.
I wish I would have started this when I was in my early 20's not mid 30's. Oh well.

 

[Guitar Guy]

I have an engineering degree and from my group of friends who are still doing that work, I can tell you that most of them would love to change places with me. Perhaps some people have a vision of greener pastures on the other side, but depending on the sort of engineering you do and who you work for, the big salaries and great benefits aren't there anymore.

As for me, I started flying at a regional in late 2000. My goal was to fly for the majors but in the wake of 9/11, that changed. Nowadays, I'm working for a fractional and pretty happy. So yes, I'd do it again and ditch an office job for flying.

In all honesty, for those of you who don't like flying, put the effort in to find a career that you prefer. Life's too short to spend it bitter and resentful.

 

[pgcfii2002]

I would have married a rich woman to pay for all my flight training.

 

[ATRCA]

Regardless of how you feel about flying now, would you get into aviation again if you knew what was in store? Especially if you started in the early 90's or 2001 or any other stellar stretch of aviation hiring. Yes, No, or Hell No

No way! Flying should be for fun, its no career. I don't care what anyone says.

 

[AWACO]

NO HELL NO! Im at my last attempt at being happy in this biz

 

[Nindiri]

Absolutely yes. It's an easy job, pretty good money, no stress. Life is good.

What other job would pay me $100K to fly jets 14 days a month and non-rev to Europe on my off days?

 

[oldxfr8dog]

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

I've flown for many different companies. I was referring to quitting the career. Hey, if you have the time to be hired by a regional, you have the time to be hired by the companies I worked for.
Was a regional YOUR only job?
Who pissed in your Cherrios?

 

[Salty Pirate]

Absolutely yes. It's an easy job, pretty good money, no stress. Life is good.

What other job would pay me $100K to fly jets 14 days a month and non-rev to Europe on my off days?

This is how I decided to quit. Think about it, count up the amount of days that you will see your wife, family, kids, friends, dog, cat, gay lover, or whatever, and cut that in two. That is what it means to be a pilot. Now do you think that you are paid enough to make that sacrifice. Because that is what it is. Are you willing to see your loved ones half an much in order to push the autopilot button. I know that when it all ends and I am on my death bed I won't wish that I had spent more time away from the people that matter most. Oh and how many trips did you make to Europe last year.

Buy an experimental for $20,000 and go do loops until you puke.

 

[Nindiri]

This is how I decided to quit. Think about it, count up the amount of days that you will see your wife, family, kids, friends, dog, cat, gay lover, or whatever, and cut that in two. That is what it means to be a pilot. Now do you think that you are paid enough to make that sacrifice. Because that is what it is. Are you willing to see your loved ones half an much in order to push the autopilot button. I know that when it all ends and I am on my death bed I won't wish that I had spent more time away from the people that matter most.

I actually see them more. Instead of coming home tired at 6PM 5 days a week just in time to see the family for a couple hours before bedtime, I get half or more of the month off to spend with them. Works for me. If you're happier with the traditional everyday work schedule, fine for you too. Personally, I'm way to lazy to work a real job.

Oh and how many trips did you make to Europe last year.

8

Buy an experimental for $20,000 and go do loops until you puke.

No thanks. Why should I waste my own money on an airplane when I can get paid good money to fly someone else's airplane. I can always rent the Decathlon when I want to do loops. As I said, life is good.

 

[gliderguider]

How many of the Hell No's have worked a job outside of aviation to see how it really is? My guess is that many (not all of course!)of them work for XYZ regional which is their first real job after the parents wrote the checks for flight school. Even though I am just a CFI, I can say this is the best job I've had. I used to work a lot of crappy jobs like being a janitor in a flooring store to pay for flight training. I can spend a whole day instructing and never look at my watch except to make sure I'm not late for the next student. Not too many days at any other job could I go more than 5 minutes without checking my watch.

 

[pilotyip]

I like what I see here, a lot of guys who like their jobs, positive vibes

 

[Saabslime]

I would say probably not although I waiver on that from time to time.
At first, getting a real job at a regional was a dream come true. Then, like most things, the novelty wore off and I started resenting the pay, schedule, commute and what it was doing to my family and social life.

So I worked like hell to move on to a major where I thought everything would be different. Better pay, schedules, and I was moving to my domicile in a city I'd always wanted to live in so no more commute. For a while everything was perfect but just like before, the novelty of flying the "big" jets to the "cool" places was gone and it became nothing more than a paycheck.

For me, I actually envy my friends who have the 9-5 and can make plans to do things more than a month out at a time. I miss the social life that comes with the office type job. Most of the time I feel like I'm working with complete strangers and 4 days isn't really long enough to develop any real friendship. Once in a while I'll see a familiar face in the crew room but the people I do know well commute and so we never get the chance to do anything together. I guess I just feel like I had more friends when I wasn't a pilot for a living.

 

[Salty Pirate]

I would say probably not although I waiver on that from time to time.
At first, getting a real job at a regional was a dream come true. Then, like most things, the novelty wore off and I started resenting the pay, schedule, commute and what it was doing to my family and social life.

So I worked like hell to move on to a major where I thought everything would be different. Better pay, schedules, and I was moving to my domicile in a city I'd always wanted to live in so no more commute. For a while everything was perfect but just like before, the novelty of flying the "big" jets to the "cool" places was gone and it became nothing more than a paycheck.

For me, I actually envy my friends who have the 9-5 and can make plans to do things more than a month out at a time. I miss the social life that comes with the office type job. Most of the time I feel like I'm working with complete strangers and 4 days isn't really long enough to develop any real friendship. Once in a while I'll see a familiar face in the crew room but the people I do know well commute and so we never get the chance to do anything together. I guess I just feel like I had more friends when I wasn't a pilot for a living.

I agree, after 6 years of flying I hadn't developed a single relationship with a co-worker because you always cash them in at the end of the month. I would rather have co-workers I don't like, at least we have something to fight about, as opposed to never really getting to know anyone. It has be about 9 months since I left the game and I don't even think about flying anymore. It's sad that after 3 years working at a regional there is one person I contact regularly, and he and I were friends before I started at the company.