Why I Left an Airline Pilot Career

GypsyPilot said:
So many of the whiners in here have no idea how hard attorneys have to work either. What is it for the newer attorneys? 60-70 hours/week?
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Sorry, you've triggered a bit of a rant from me, so TLDR is a lot.

But it depends on what you're doing, depends on whether you're working for yourself, working for a firm, working for some government entity, whether you've found a niche that is lucrative, the list goes on.

And I had no idea what I was walking into. Like, I went to law school on accident, right? I got laid off, there weren't any jobs, and I had a pre-law undergraduate degree. So I'm like, cool! I'll go be a lawyer and save the world!

About 3 weeks into 1L I realized what kind of a mistake I'd made, and said to myself, "Jesus, doing a commute across the country to sit short call reserve sounds AMAZING right now."

But maybe what I didn't realize, and this is because I'm not very smart, and I've never been good at school, is that working hard will just get you more work. Do well in law school? Get a good job. Do good at that job? Make partner. Bring in lots of clients? Branch out on your own. It's a hamster wheel of "progress" that pays marginally better, but ratchets the work load on an exponential scale.

The truth is, and this is why people like me end up graduating from law school and don't practice, and this is why people get a job at a major and quit to go become a farmer, is that you don't do any high paying job for the money. I mean the money is nice, but the best people in any career field are doing their job because they HAVE TO DO THAT JOB. It's so academically interesting that they COULDN'T go do anything else. That's WHY they work 100 hours week, because the work they're involved in is all encompassing in a good way.

Everyone else finds ways to slack. You get a job at the prosecutors office because you can bill 40 hours a week, or you go work at an urgent care because you can make some ok scratch while treating sinus infections and strep throat, or you end up on flight loss working for the union. I mean •, this is why I failed the bar exam; I was working at an airline full time, and didn't care about the bar. I'd sit ready reserve with @BlueMoon and like study for 5-6 hours a day in the crew room, and THAT'S half assing things. You want to pass the bar exam? That's 400 hours of study according to the internet, and that's over 9 weeks, and honestly I think that's a little light. I figure it should be 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 8 weeks. That's 576.

You gotta want that.
 
jtrain609 said:
Sorry, you've triggered a bit of a rant from me, so TLDR is a lot.

But it depends on what you're doing, depends on whether you're working for yourself, working for a firm, working for some government entity, whether you've found a niche that is lucrative, the list goes on.

And I had no idea what I was walking into. Like, I went to law school on accident, right? I got laid off, there weren't any jobs, and I had a pre-law undergraduate degree. So I'm like, cool! I'll go be a lawyer and save the world!

About 3 weeks into 1L I realized what kind of a mistake I'd made, and said to myself, "Jesus, doing a commute across the country to sit short call reserve sounds AMAZING right now."

But maybe what I didn't realize, and this is because I'm not very smart, and I've never been good at school, is that working hard will just get you more work. Do well in law school? Get a good job. Do good at that job? Make partner. Bring in lots of clients? Branch out on your own. It's a hamster wheel of "progress" that pays marginally better, but ratchets the work load on an exponential scale.

The truth is, and this is why people like me end up graduating from law school and don't practice, and this is why people get a job at a major and quit to go become a farmer, is that you don't do any high paying job for the money. I mean the money is nice, but the best people in any career field are doing their job because they HAVE TO DO THAT JOB. It's so academically interesting that they COULDN'T go do anything else. That's WHY they work 100 hours week, because the work they're involved in is all encompassing in a good way.

Everyone else finds ways to slack. You get a job at the prosecutors office because you can bill 40 hours a week, or you go work at an urgent care because you can make some ok scratch while treating sinus infections and strep throat, or you end up on flight loss working for the union. I mean •, this is why I failed the bar exam; I was working at an airline full time, and didn't care about the bar. I'd sit ready reserve with @BlueMoon and like study for 5-6 hours a day in the crew room, and THAT'S half assing things. You want to pass the bar exam? That's 400 hours of study according to the internet, and that's over 9 weeks, and honestly I think that's a little light. I figure it should be 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 8 weeks. That's 576.

You gotta want that.
Click to expand...

He’s not kidding. I remember looking at a couple of the questions he was studying and thinking. “Holy hell I don’t have a clue what they are talking about, I’m going to go take a nap because I’m tired from reading that.”
 
jtrain609 said:
I mean the money is nice, but the best people in any career field are doing their job because they HAVE TO DO THAT JOB
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We need a sorting hat. And reevaluating every five years or so. World would be a much better place if everyone reasonably enjoyed their jobs.
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
You ever looked at your total time from leaving your front door to getting back? It ain’t any better.
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I will concede being an airline pilot on a 4 day you are gone the entire time, BUT for that time I am listening to a podcast, talking to the other guy or reading a book. On the overnights, I'm in the gym, going running etc. My point is, the door to door time isn't any better, but the work itself is not at all strenuous, and when you get home from work, there is nothing to worry about regarding work.

I am actually saddened to see this conversation devolve into a pissing contest about money. Look, doesn't matter what you do, once you've made 200k you've won capitalism, congrats. Doesn't matter if you're a brain surgeon at 33 (with 500k of debt which no one has mentioned yet) or some successful bloodsucking corporate lawyer working 80 hours a week, hanging out at the country club with other equally awful people and making a million dollars a year, we all win. We're having a debate about the top 2% of the most fortunate people in the country and the top .2% most fortunate people on earth (major airline pilots included)

Folks in this thread need to take a drive around their city, look at the average house, the average job, look at how people live. Stop comparing yourself, especially when you're making enough money that you don't need to budget and want for nothing.
 
Soku39 said:
I will concede being an airline pilot on a 4 day you are gone the entire time, BUT for that time I am listening to a podcast, talking to the other guy or reading a book. On the overnights, I'm in the gym, going running etc. My point is, the door to door time isn't any better, but the work itself is not at all strenuous, and when you get home from work, there is nothing to worry about regarding work.
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That's just a difference of opinion, then. If I'm away from home, that's work. I absolutely despised sitting in a hotel room or hanging out with the crew at the Applebee's (why did it always have to be Applebee's?). I'd much rather work a 60 hour work week at the office and sleep in my own bed every night, watch TV in my own family room, etc.
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
That's just a difference of opinion, then. If I'm away from home, that's work. I absolutely despised sitting in a hotel room or hanging out with the crew at the Applebee's (why did it always have to be Applebee's?). I'd much rather work a 60 hour work week at the office and sleep in my own bed every night, watch TV in my own family room, etc.
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Ya, that is just a difference of opinion 60 hours in the office sounds like my personal hell. Overnights used to bother me, but I've found ways to deal.
 
I just drove around my city and looked at the average house and how people live, now I am depressed. How am I supposed to afford a luxury car(s) and horses?

I mean damn, choose one. Why my neighbors gotta flex so hard. They probably think I’m the help when I roll by in the Corolla.


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BEEF SUPREME said:
I just drove around my city and looked at the average house and how people live, now I am depressed. How am I supposed to afford a luxury car(s) and horses?

I mean damn, choose one. Why my neighbors gotta flex so hard. They probably think I’m the help when I roll by in the Corolla.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Wow
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
That's just a difference of opinion, then. If I'm away from home, that's work. I absolutely despised sitting in a hotel room or hanging out with the crew at the Applebee's (why did it always have to be Applebee's?). I'd much rather work a 60 hour work week at the office and sleep in my own bed every night, watch TV in my own family room, etc.
Click to expand...

Clearly Todd doesn’t have a 2month old baby! I mean, those nights alone in a hotel
Room were golden. Amazing I tell you.

Which meant when I got home I was well rested and could take the kid so my wife could sleep.

I don’t get why people don’t like working honestly. I mean If I’m not at work I just find other stuff to do, which is work. Take now for example. We’re hardly flying so somehow I became chief of course/crew at the ski area/race team. Punching a time clock, making less than McD’s kids, started a small business, fly/manage the flight department, coach sports and spend the rest of my time with the 3 kids, two dogs and wife.

Anyways, firm believer that you make your own luck/success. Work hard, be nice, make connectionsad you’ll do well. Airline pilot is literally one of the few jobs where all you have to do is get in and be lucky. Show me a comparable salary job where “everybody” at the company gets the same great pay scale, based strictly on longevity and seniority and not performance.


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Last edited:
I basically don't work other than a couple take offs/landing a week and generally not more than once a day, occasionally twice. I'm a senior FO, so I ultimately still have no responsibility. I'm making just shy of 200K this year. Yeah, being a pilot sucks. WTF is wrong with you people...
 
jtrain609 said:
working hard will just get you more work.
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can-confirm.jpg
 
Rocketman99 said:
I basically don't work other than a couple take offs/landing a week and generally not more than once a day, occasionally twice. I'm a senior FO, so I ultimately still have no responsibility. I'm making just shy of 200K this year. Yeah, being a pilot sucks. WTF is wrong with you people...
Click to expand...
You're flying? ;)
 
Rocketman99 said:
I basically don't work other than a couple take offs/landing a week and generally not more than once a day, occasionally twice. I'm a senior FO, so I ultimately still have no responsibility. I'm making just shy of 200K this year. Yeah, being a pilot sucks. WTF is wrong with you people...
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if you weren't working, you're the kind of person who would be traveling anyway. Not everybody likes to be on the road all the time.
 
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