When I first started working for USAir in 1999 -- my first major airline job and the brass ring I had been working towards for my entire life -- I was based in LaGuardia on the DC9 flying the shuttle. (It was an interim airplane between the 727 and A320 that they had there). DCA-LGA-BOS-LGA-DCA-LGA-BOS-LGA... all day. Every day. Unless you were sitting in a chair on airport standby.
It felt a lot like being a bus driver. Words are an interesting thing. Improper use... or use without thought can hurt even when they don't intend to. I think this may have been one of those cases.
Yes, flying for a living requires years of training and a high degree of knowledge, skill, and understanding. We operate these machines in a hostile environment - not only environmentally but also regulatory. The complexities of our job go far beyond the ability to safely fly the airplane. But, make no mistake, at the end of the day we are public transportation.
You in your airliner. Me in my business jet. Our only function is to act as a time machine. We reduce the amount of time it takes to get passengers and/or freight from point A to point B. The same trip could likely be made on bus, or train, or ocean liner, or dogsled. They choose aviation because it saves them time. So in that respect we ARE bus drivers.
But should that realization decrease your pride in what you've accomplished? Or your passion for the work that you do? I don't think so. I have no doubt that there are workers in every industry who share that passion. There are Greyhound bus drivers who are proud to drive their bus. There are cashiers who take pride in the "employee of the month" title and who strive for excellence every day at their job. How many semi-truck drivers are proud of the awards they receive after a million miles without an accident? They don't care that people look down upon them because they have pride in themselves.
A few months ago I was flying to Orlando with my family when I got to chatting with an RJ pilot on the train between terminals. He saw my FSI luggage tag and asked what I flew... who I flew for. I told him and he asked me when I was going to start applying to the regionals. His view was that a Learjet was a stepping stone to the regional jet. I didn't tell him that I made about four times his salary, or that I had flown the RJ years before, or even that I probably had more total time taxiing than he did flying. I don't need to prove myself to a stranger (except for you folks on JC). I just shrugged and said "maybe one day". Because i've been in this industry long enough to know that maybe one day I will find myself in that situation again. I hope not. Continuously going backwards in your career is a huge blow to the ego - believe me, I know. But, at the end of the day I fly airplanes. It's all i've ever done and with a little luck it's all I'll ever do. I move people between point A and point B in a metal tube, at high speed.
I'm a bus driver ... not that there's anything wrong with that.
