Of Depression, Stress and life in our industry........

MQAAord

MQAAord

Scheherazade
Staff member
Without saying, things in our industry are anything but sunny right now.

Depending on our own unique situations, the stress and uncertaintly in our industry can have multiple effects on every aspect of our lives. How does a pilot best go about dealing, mentally and physically, with the stresses of our lives these days?

Stress can take it's toll as chronic sickness, irritability, depression, etc. How do we not allow this stress to kill us from the inside out? It's easy to just say "well, get over it", but when you lose your house, pensions, marriage, maybe more, and your income is a fraction of what it was, it's hard to keep your chin up.

Granted everyone's circumstances are different, some have military pensions to fall back on, some have trust funds or rich family to help. Some people are just naturally positive and can keep a positive outlook no matter what is thrown at them. But for the rest of us, what do we do?

I hear Zoloft is great........
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But, seriously, let's keep it FAA approved!
 
Excellent post MQA, and it adresses problems that each and every one of us face. I deal with the stress as pilots have since the dawn of aviation:

Drinkin', havin' sex, and startin' fights.

No, seriously, I think one of the keys to happiness no matter what you do is to have something to look forward to. Even if it's something small, like your favorite show on television that night, or just getting to come home, as long as you have something to look forward to you can pretty much deal with whatever stress or heartache may be right in front of you.
 
I've finally come to the realization that everything happens for a reason. It took a while to get through my thick skull, but now I believe it. Sure, s#!t happens, we suffer, we can't explain why things turn out the way they do. But rather than question it, I've learned to accept what I can't change and try to find the positives of a situation or, better yet, create something positive out of it. When life really gets me down, my therapy, so to speak, is music and surfing. Some people paint, some write, some do Tai Chi. It may not eliminate the stress, but it does help put things into perspective. (And clears your head).

BTW, here's a meaningless factoid for the day: The Chinese use the same word for "crisis" as they do for "opportunity".
 
I suppose these issues largely depend on what your expectations are, were and will be in the future. I enjoy the piloting profession. I understand that sometimes the rewards will be great, sometimes they won't be. Sometimes I'll be gone alot...sometimes I'll be home alot. Some decades it looks like the career is over...other decades it's on top of the world. It's a very dynamic, fast pased and crazy business. Today's darling will be tomorrow's goat...and there's no use trying to chase the job that's currently in vogue.

A pro pilot has to stand tough through harsh conditions. To do this successfully requires proper preparation both on the technical and personal/financial front.

Even though I make a good income...you'd never know it by they way I live. I have chosen to live modestly. However, if I lost my job tomorrow...I have been diligent enough in my savings to live for a couple of years or more.

Most of your stress sounds financially oriented. If you want to remain in an unstable profession...and reduce your stress... you might try the following. Pick a number. A dollar amount in the bank that would make you feel secure. $10K, $50K, $100K, 200K? You decide that number. Cut your budget to the bone and save until you reach that number. That might mean working 2 or 3 extra jobs to reach that goal. Do something radical...like buy an $80,000 house and pay cash for it. You can eat peanut butter three times a day...(it's really pretty good for you they tell me!)...and start saving like crazy. You'd be surprised at how much you can save!. For a few years I saved an insane amount of money...and even with the paycuts...I still save $3500/month....with a stay at home wife and two little kids.

Of course the whole family needs to be on board. If these sacrifices are not acceptable to make...then it might be wise to find a more secure source of income.

As I started out saying...your future course of actions will be predicated on your expectations. Do you expect a high, stable, uninterrupted income and a high standard of living (nice house, new cars, etc)? Or do you want to follow a profession that is unstable but one that you otherwise enjoy? Either aswer is acceptable...but the road to stress reduction will be different based upon your course of action.

For me...I like the job...I don't get too up on the highs...and I don't get too low on the lows. I live ridiculously below my means (its still 2500sq ft house...it's not like I live in the projects...)......and don't have too many sleepless nights.

I think even people with solid jobs should live like this. It's the sure way to become wealthy. It's Grandma's simple advice...live below your means and save your money. A big income doesn't mean you're wealthy....money in the bank means you're wealthy. Some folks who earn $40k a year understand this and are wealthier than some of those who earn twice as much.

Then if you're job goes away...you could work anywhere to pay the bills for a while...until your next opportunity comes along. It's like having enough gas to stay in holding until the fog lifts...then continue on to your destination.

And BTW, I don't for a minute miss the big house or new cars.
 
Great perspective. I have realized recently how good it feels to live below your means and save a lot of money, even though I will be spending most of it on flight training very soon. In the long run, you will be able to be richer because you will spend the money where it counts. I do miss the new car thing though... I was loooking forward to buying the new BMW 3-Series for a couple years now. Now, that is on the back burner. Maybe buy the time the next generation 3 comes out (7 years) I will be making enough money to consider one. Or maybe a used one.
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Great perspective. I have realized recently how good it feels to live below your means and save a lot of money, even though I will be spending most of it on flight training very soon. In the long run, you will be able to be richer because you will spend the money where it counts. I do miss the new car thing though... I was loooking forward to buying the new BMW 3-Series for a couple years now. Now, that is on the back burner. Maybe buy the time the next generation 3 comes out (7 years) I will be making enough money to consider one. Or maybe a used one.
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I've "made" tens of thousands of dollars driving old cars. Both of mine are ten years old.....have been paid for for some time. They look great...I keep them in good condition. If I'd have bought three new cars over this same time period (the standard for many of my peers) for and average of $15k per car....it would have cost me$45k. All money in the bank they way I see it.
 
The last 'new' car we had was when Bill bought his car in 1997. We still have it. Our truck was used when we bought it. Our house is 2500 sq ft, by no means a mansion, but big by my standards. We did the right thing by selling our house in Chicago and moving. Doing that enabled us to pay off all our unsecured debt. Now we have a truck payment and a mortgage. That's it. It's just hard to see more paycuts coming when we've already done so much to better our position, and now they come back with their hands out for more.

I couldn't agree more about living cheap. That's how I was raised, and that's how I survived all those years at Eagle. You're so right though that the whole household must be on board
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Thought I'd bring it up though. I think a lot of pilots are having a hard time with things these days, in many different ways. Just remember to keep focused, put energy into solving a problem, or doing what you can to make a bad situation better. Sitting around moping, getting angry, or taking your pent up stress out on others doesn't help anything.
 
I try to keep it in perspective. I know many very good pilots who have never earned over $70K per year...throughout a 35 year career. They are every bit as good or even better than some of the $250K wage earners out there. One of my friends captains a 747 out of Ancorage for $80 bucks an hour. So even though the majors are getting slashed...their paychecks are still larger than the vast majority of pro pilots out there. It was very very good while it lasted.

Don't get me wrong! I don't like it and hope to be able to turn the tide someday.

At some point in time the compensation won't justify the job anymore. I'm not sure what that point will be for me. It's not quite there yet. Hopefully it won't get there.
 
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At some point in time the compensation won't justify the job anymore. I'm not sure what that point will be for me. It's not quite there yet. Hopefully it won't get there.

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Delta management unveiled their latest request for pilot concessions today. It was far, far below what I had imagined.

That threshold where it's not worth it to do the job anymore may have been reached if this goes thru.

There is a 100 seat rate that is less than most connection carrier's 50 seat rate. Capt would earn around $73,000 per year and F/O's $53,000.


An international wide body captain will earn a base pay of around $115,000 per year. F/O's around $75,000 per year.

And that's only the compensation part.

This is sure to affect the pay rates at 50/70 seat airlines.

What do y'all think. Is it worth it?
 
Remember B scales, folks? This is round two of it. Once the old "B" scales became "A" scales, it is time for another round of cutbacks ... the new "B" scales, or what are actually C scales. More properly, I think we're down to H scales now and headed south fast. I'll say here what I said to some of my co-workers ....

Start marrying doctors, folks, or we'll have to sell our boats.

(For the record, I'm not making light of the sacrifices so many are making out there.)
 
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Remember B scales, folks? This is round two of it. Once the old "B" scales became "A" scales, it is time for another round of cutbacks ... the new "B" scales, or what are actually C scales. More properly, I think we're down to H scales now and headed south fast. I'll say here what I said to some of my co-workers ....

Start marrying doctors, folks, or we'll have to sell our boats.

(For the record, I'm not making light of the sacrifices so many are making out there.)

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It was B scales when I was in college. Agree....we're down to something like H or so scales.
 
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When the plane finally touched down safely Manning said passengers burst into a deafening round of cheers and applause.

"It sounded like Dodger Stadium in there," she said.

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