What is it like being an airline pilot captain for a major international airline?
- Thread starter ktsai91
- Start date
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Thanks man. I went with flat fenders right away because I was concerned about clearance. I've got 37s on 20x10s and thought they'd rub so I went flat fenders and a stubby bumper mod. I've got plenty of clearance now.
You've got 3? Haha nice. What size tires you running on your rubicon?
My buddies Rubi sitting on 40's
AA34
Well-Known Member
Great to hear that story. How old were you when you left the operator position?
I'm 30 and have made $200-$250k/year the past few years in sales but every other day I'm about to quit and finally get my CFI. The pay cut and worry that I'm too old to have a good airline career have kept me put. One day...
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Have any of y'all under 30 who hate your job but don't want to make the slog to an airline considered ATC? No experience required!
learhawkerbe400
Well-Known Member
Looks sick. Always someone bigger lol.
adk
Steals Hotel Toilet Paper
I had two friends pass the ATSAP and get offered a class date in OKC back in 2015. They were both regional pilots, and both backed out due to the FAA's ridiculous methods of assigning facilities.
A300Capt
Freight Dawg
That's some pretty good coin for a 30 yr old in "sales".
Before you dump the current job for becoming a food stamp level CFI, have you considered doing both? Can you maintain your current employment and do the CFI on the side until determining whether or not you can or even want to move up to the next level?
Devil's advocate:
Not to be a Debby Downer but more of a realist after 30+ yrs in the biz. Being a pro pilot (airline, corporate, whatever..) we are all one failed medical, terrorist attack or failed checkride away from being unemployed. It can happen THAT quick. I've seen it all too often. Almost happened to me. Do you really want to go from the relative security of the salary your making now to possibly being an unemployed CFI, let alone, making it to the airlines?
If you can keep your current job while still doing the CFI thing on the side that would be the better option.
Now for the pros:
If you're that miserable in your current job that money doesn't matter, you're still young enough to enjoy a long airline career. Airlines are begging for qualified candidates which are becoming harder and harder to find. Fewer military pilots, fewer civilian pilots and less folks wanting to get into aviation combined with airline expansion around the world. This is really a great time to get into aviation. Better than I've ever seen in my career.
Just be careful giving up what you currently have in hand for something you don't. Gawd I'm getting old and more conservative.....
Good luck!
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Now every commuting pilot will have to remain awake in the back while in uniform or suffer the wrath of social media.
Ugh.
AA34
Well-Known Member
First of all, thank you for the insight. It is sincerely appreciated!
I have definitely thought of doing both. However my schedule during the week is very busy and unpredictable leaving just the weekends. Which might not be the worst thing. Just would take longer, and I worry about passing up seniority down the road to hang on to income now. Or missing whatever part of this current hiring cycle I MIGHT be a part of.
I'm not miserable at my current job. The pay is nice it's just that flying is something I've always thought I would eventually transition to. I have a family member that flies for FedEx who is encouraging me, I'm just afraid his view of what my journey would be is a little too rosy seeing as how he has already "made it".
CFIscare
Well-Known Member
I completely get it. Can you fit said family in an Integra comfortably on a road trip with all the luggage? Can you fit the wife and kids along with the grandparents in a hatchback when they visit? Can you go to Ikea and not have to worry about having room for the new furniture? I get it, SUVs (or minivans) aren't for everyone, but the extra space usually gets put to good use more often than you might imagine. Besides, for me, the extra comfort is more than worth it. For most cars, not only am I not very comfortable, but whoever sits behind me won't be very comfortable due to the lack of legroom.
Low&Slow
Ancora imparo
Wow, sales! I tried that once. Let's just say, it's not my bag, baby! Some people love it though.
I was in my mid-40s when I changed careers after about 15 years as an operator. Probably too late for me to make it to a international wide-body left-seat now, but that's okay, I don't intend on going 121 anyway. Probably 135 or maybe 91. Maybe 61 or 141 even! Haha!
I just want to be happy and have a chill job somewhere beautiful and work with cool people I get along well with. I'm an easy-going, laid-back kinda guy and want a career to match.
My job right now is like that, but it won't last forever. Cool boss, great coworkers, low stress, easy pace, fun job with lots of satisfaction at the end of the day/week. Decent pay too. Not gonna get rich here, but the bills get paid. I'm happy, and that's really much much more valuable to me than having a bunch of zeros in the bank or a bunch of stuff.
Not saying a person necessarily has to choose one or the other, but in my case, that's how it has worked out so far. When I had money and things, I wasn't usually a very happy person. Now I have a little bit of money, and just a few things but I'm happy almost every day. Maybe happiness has more to do with how you spend your time and who you spend it with, than how much money you have? If you are able to have it all, then congratulations, you've won life's Lotto! Haha!
Anyhow, 121 sounds like too much stress. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat! Not me anyway. I'm getting close to retiring and want a vacation job to work in my retirement. Haha!
Last edited:
I know.
It's the Mommy Cold War.
"we have three kids, we need an Escalade otherwise I won't look like good (successful) parent"
///AMG
Well-Known Member
I think you would be retarded to jump ship, making hard 6 figures at this point, for a 121 second career. Yes, you can get back there years down the road, but for what, and how many hundreds of thousands of lost income in the process? Save some money, buy cool personal flying toys, and don't worry about all the things that aren't fun about professional flying. We all had childhood dreams of doing this in some shape/form, but there comes a point where you have driven too far down a different road to justify a u-turn, and I think you might be at that point. There are still offramps continuing forward, and I think in your case, they might be getting a cool plane and beating the piss out of it in the GA world.
Low information people.
I still remember flying on an older 767 with the crew rest seat in what was "Business Elite" at the time and I didn't feel like screwing with the privacy curtains. Some passenger started barking about me being lazy because I was already going on break.
I'd like to grab a megaphone one day and scream to the world, "Things are more complex than your uneducated opinion from the comfort of your couch and Wikipedia".
ShyFlyer
CAP Member
They would just respond, "Oh yeah! Well, you're just mad we woke you up from your nap in a seat you didn't pay for!!"
z987k
Well-Known Member
A nuke operator?
One of my close relatives is a nuke operator, and it's astonishing how similar our jobs are now that I fly long haul. I mean, it's different mostly in that his machine is stationary, but we're both operators of large complicated machines and the human machine interface and it's pitfalls are the same.
We don't have windows. I'm an operator for the Navy. I almost took up smoking just to get an outside view a few times a day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Low&Slow
Ancora imparo
My nephew is a Navy nuke. He's a submariner, I think he's on the Ohio, not exactly sure though. I tried to talk him out of it, but I guess everyone has to have regrets in their life. haha!