opinion: 6 figure desk to 5 figure airplane

  • Thread starter DrKennethNoisewater
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DrKennethNoisewater

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Disclaimer: this is not a troll post. This is a brain dump with hopes of thoughtful input, and what better place to recieve actionable advice than a forum full of strangers with questionable motives.
As I re-read what I've typed it seems like I'm knocking the choice to pursue flying, and I guess in a way I am. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, so please don't take it personally. I'm really not sure what I'm looking for by writing this. I think the fact I've been going back and forth on this for the last few years is probably a sign that neither is the right option for me.

I make $150k/yr, 30 years old, work from home, and pretty much set my scheudle. I fly when I want, where I want. I do what I want. I don't love what I do, but I'm good at it and it allows for a pretty comfortable living. If the world changed tomorrow and my skills weren't so much in demand, I'm not sure I'd have the drive to stay competitive enough to sustain my current standard of living - I just don't have the interest in it (in reality, I'd do what I had to do to keep things going).

This is a problem. Banking on being mediocre is not in my values, and is not a sound long-term plan. In comparison, marrying yourself to a company where your quality of life is based on your longevity makes absolutely no sense either. One could pray that their company stands the test of time, but the fact that you could go from 10 years senior to 0 due to a fickle economy isn't a comfortable way to build a life. In my current job I can go almost anywhere in the country and earn 6 figures day 1 at the company. I don't think I'd prefer corporate flying over my current livelihood, I enjoy the thought of the focused responsibilities and clear job definition of an airline pilot.

I flew over 300 hours in 2 months recently and hated it. I hear people say they could spend all day in the airplane and wish they never had to come down - not me. I enjoy the first few hours, but after that I get extremely bored, and dread the next couple days of flying. Granted, this was all single pilot with very little human interaction. As a result, I figured if I didn't absolutely love flying, and valued having control of my time and spending time with my family above all else, then why pursue a career where half my time is spent in the air and/or away from home. I'm not real interested in hitting the bar or restaurant with the crew at the end of every day either.

I have a theory that the better people have it, the more they complain. It seems like pilots complain a bunch. I wonder how much of people compaining is due to their lack of perspective - if that's the only job they've ever had it's easy to complain since they don't know better. I see some guys that go scuba diving, biking, museums, etc. during their trips on their time away from the airplane. That's awesome, and I'd love that. When I was flying I felt like I was going to waste, like I was not using my skills as best I could to provide for my family in the best way possible. I was overnighting in small towns with nothing to do. It was easy, low stress work, but if I died tomorrow I wouldn't be satisfied with how I spent my time and how I was(n't) there for my family.

I don't love anything enough to do it long term - I get bored and feel like I'm wasting my time, so I move on. So maybe I stay where I'm at, fly in my spare time, and enjoy my time with my family. I'll probably end up working in an office somewhere, never completely fullfilled. Maybe I fly airplanes and build seniority, earn a good amount of days off with a schedule that has me home at a decent time on the last day of my trips - do something that gives me a bit of enjoyment and something I don't have to think about after I step off the jetway. I really like the hustle and bustle of airports and operating the airplane outside of a straight and level environment. I once feared that after I reached the airline goal and had nothing else to work towards, that I would lose interest quickly - now I wonder if that's not a manifestation of a deeper personal issue since I have that same obsessive goal driven attitude toward just about everything. I've talked with other pilots who seem to have the same attitude.
 
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Anybody that flies 300 hours in 2 months is not going to enjoy that. You're not going to fly anywhere near that at an airline. I fly about 80 hours a month at my 135 carrier and that's about as much as I like to fly a month. Much more and I really stop enjoying it.
 
First I think you have a fairly well thought out idea of the pros/cons of the industry. However remember that there are other good flying jobs that are not with an airline (charter and corporate come to mind).

For the 300 hours in 3 months I'm going to side with M20B Pilot on this. Most places won't make you fly that much (only exception I can see would be a ATP style flight school).
 
I may be right there with you in a couple years. Keep the job and fly on the side. It sounds like you're stagnating. I'd try a shake up without jeopardizing a lot all at once. Maybe fly jumpers on weekends or do volunteer flights. There's a bunch of those: young eagles, pilots for paws, medical stuff, religious stuff. I don't know if they reimburse for flights or if it's all on the pilot's dime, but it can give you a reason to fly somewhere. There's instructing, aerobatics, gliders, or even hang gliding/paragliding. Gliding is pretty surreal any way you do it.

Most of those are just hobbies, but other paying gigs require full time/unusual time away. I don't get how you idealize the airlines but want to fly outside of a straight and level environment. Those are incompatible to me. Now, if you ever dislike your job and it starts to show, then a career change might be warranted.
 
You put a lot of thought into that post.

What conclusions have you come to since writing it?
 
The most important consideration is whether or not anyone else depends upon your income - unless I missed it, it seems like that's not the case. Do you plan to get married and have kids? $150k salaries are few and far between these days, you'd be doing your future family a great service by maintaining that standard of living.

I was similarly situated for many years - found myself wanting to drop my lucrative (though not as much as yours) career and go fly for peanuts, but the utilitarian side of me could never justify it. I stayed in my current field - as a result, my kids are able to go to the best preschool in town, and if my wife's legal practice ever hits the skids, it's ok because we don't need for her to work to make it.

I'd say look at what your family situation is and where you want it to be and factor that in. Your mentality shifts considerably the moment the nurse hands you a helpless 8 lb person who is 100% reliant upon you.
 
It's obvious that you have put a lot of thought into your post and that you're really wrestling with thoughts about career contentment, financial stability, and how to balance it all while being deeply fulfilled. You seem to have a good grasp on the realities of this career, as well as a decent amount of self awareness. It's commendable that you approach this so analytically. This community of people and pilots is a fantastic place to bounce all of this off of.

As I made the transition from one (more lucrative) career to this one (I'm a regional FO in my 30s), I can tell you the greatest thing that I've learned: Contentment is a choice. Every career field has those who find boredom and malaise in what they do. Conversely, every career field has those who find joy and fulfillment, even in the seemingly terrible jobs. Granted, it is much easier to find job satisfaction when your work is in line with your personal values. The are many things I love about my career, but like you, I do not value mediocrity and this career continually offers me the opportunity for self-improvement. (Perhaps this is why flying attracts many malcontents, but that's not important right now.)

I work with people every week who hate this, and those who love it. I make less than 1/3 of what you make. I am the happiest I have ever been, because I choose to be. I approach my job and each day with gratitude for the things and opportunities that I have. I'm grateful for all that I get to see and do, (even on the small town, nothing-to-do, overnights.) I am thankful that I have a career that serves to my personal strengths but more importantly, one where I can serve others (if only in some small way.) I believe there is purpose in what I do, even on the days when it all falls apart and we are ground stopped at ORD in a snowstorm. I'm not ignorant to the fact that there is some really crappy stuff about this job. But when it comes down to it, I choose to be happy. It really is that easy.

Bottom line: what do you want to do? What do you think you should do? And what consequences can you live with? Find and pursue whatever makes it easiest for you to be happy, whatever that may mean to you. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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Tld said:
As I made the transition from one (more lucrative) career to this one (I'm a regional FO in my 30s), I can tell you the greatest thing that I've learned: Contentment is a choice. Every career field has those who find boredome and malaise in what they do. Conversely, every career field has those who find joy and fulfillment, even in the seemingly terrible jobs. Granted, it is much easier to find job satisfaction when your work is in line with your personal values. The are many things I love about my career, but like you, I do not value mediocrity and this career continually offers me the opportunity for self-improvement. (Perhaps this is why flying attracts many malcontents, but that's not important right now.)

I work with people every week who hate this, and those who love it. I make less than 1/3 of what you make. I am the happiest I have ever been, because I choose to be. I approach my job and each day with gratitude for the things and opportunities that I have. I'm grateful for all that I get to see and do, (even on the small town, nothing-to-do, overnights.) I am thankful that I have a career that serves to my personal strengths but more importantly, one where I can serve others (if only in some small way.) I believe there is purpose in what I do, even on the days when it all falls apart and we are ground stopped at ORD in a snowstorm. I'm not ignorant to the fact that there is some really crappy stuff about this job. But when it comes down to it, I choose to be happy. It really is that easy.
Click to expand...

That is one hell of a good post. Well-said. Inspiring, even. Thank you.
 
I make $150k/yr, 30 years old, work from home, and pretty much set my scheudle. I fly when I want, where I want. I do what I want.
Click to expand...

I love flying, I love being a full time pilot, but if you told me that when I'm 30 I could make 150k/yr, work from home and set my own schedule, I'd give it up in a heartbeat, and go buy myself a light GA airplane. If your dream is to go fly an airliner, well good luck to you! However It's going to take you another 20-30years to be back to where you are now, and that's IF things go right, which they usually don't in this industry.
 
I second what @ATN_Pilot said. There is no reason to give up your current job, as it will take you nearly a lifetime to get back to that pay in the airline world. However, if you still feel the need to fly and earn some $$, you could look into banner or glider towing on the weekends or when you get some downtime.

I would give up my job in a heartbeat to work from home and bring in a 6 figure income.
 
You sound like the kind of guy who would be bored out of his gourd as a professional pilot. Some people are. I'm not, btw, but I'm also not the sort of guy who worries a whole bunch about whether or not he's sufficiently challenging himself or, you know, what the scoreboard is going to say at the pearly gates, etc etc.
 
300 hours in 2 months? I get tired of flying if I hit 30 hours in a month. I didn't fly 300 hours last year. I complain about my job a lot, but when I look at the big picture, I have it pretty easy. I went to work exactly 3 times in the last two weeks.
 
DrKennethNoisewater said:
Disclaimer: this is not a troll post. This is a brain dump with hopes of thoughtful input, and what better place to recieve actionable advice than a forum full of strangers with questionable motives.
As I re-read what I've typed it seems like I'm knocking the choice to pursue flying, and I guess in a way I am. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, so please don't take it personally. I'm really not sure what I'm looking for by writing this. I think the fact I've been going back and forth on this for the last few years is probably a sign that neither is the right option for me.

I make $150k/yr, 30 years old, work from home, and pretty much set my scheudle. I fly when I want, where I want. I do what I want. I don't love what I do, but I'm good at it and it allows for a pretty comfortable living. If the world changed tomorrow and my skills weren't so much in demand, I'm not sure I'd have the drive to stay competitive enough to sustain my current standard of living - I just don't have the interest in it (in reality, I'd do what I had to do to keep things going).

This is a problem. Banking on being mediocre is not in my values, and is not a sound long-term plan. In comparison, marrying yourself to a company where your quality of life is based on your longevity makes absolutely no sense either. One could pray that their company stands the test of time, but the fact that you could go from 10 years senior to 0 due to a fickle economy isn't a comfortable way to build a life. In my current job I can go almost anywhere in the country and earn 6 figures day 1 at the company. I don't think I'd prefer corporate flying over my current livelihood, I enjoy the thought of the focused responsibilities and clear job definition of an airline pilot.

I flew over 300 hours in 2 months recently and hated it. I hear people say they could spend all day in the airplane and wish they never had to come down - not me. I enjoy the first few hours, but after that I get extremely bored, and dread the next couple days of flying. Granted, this was all single pilot with very little human interaction. As a result, I figured if I didn't absolutely love flying, and valued having control of my time and spending time with my family above all else, then why pursue a career where half my time is spent in the air and/or away from home. I'm not real interested in hitting the bar or restaurant with the crew at the end of every day either.

I have a theory that the better people have it, the more they complain. It seems like pilots complain a bunch. I wonder how much of people compaining is due to their lack of perspective - if that's the only job they've ever had it's easy to complain since they don't know better. I see some guys that go scuba diving, biking, museums, etc. during their trips on their time away from the airplane. That's awesome, and I'd love that. When I was flying I felt like I was going to waste, like I was not using my skills as best I could to provide for my family in the best way possible. I was overnighting in small towns with nothing to do. It was easy, low stress work, but if I died tomorrow I wouldn't be satisfied with how I spent my time and how I was(n't) there for my family.

I don't love anything enough to do it long term - I get bored and feel like I'm wasting my time, so I move on. So maybe I stay where I'm at, fly in my spare time, and enjoy my time with my family. I'll probably end up working in an office somewhere, never completely fullfilled. Maybe I fly airplanes and build seniority, earn a good amount of days off with a schedule that has me home at a decent time on the last day of my trips - do something that gives me a bit of enjoyment and something I don't have to think about after I step off the jetway. I really like the hustle and bustle of airports and operating the airplane outside of a straight and level environment. I once feared that after I reached the airline goal and had nothing else to work towards, that I would lose interest quickly - now I wonder if that's not a manifestation of a deeper personal issue since I have that same obsessive goal driven attitude toward just about everything. I've talked with other pilots who seem to have the same attitude.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat as you. 28 making what you do only difference is my job could be on the chopping block every quarter and I don't make my own schedule. In fact, my schedule is pretty stressful.

I've only got 100 hours and trying to find the time to fly has been hard. Funny thing is, now that I can afford to fly whenever I want I can't get away to do it.

Lately the voices in my head have been saying to jump into flying... its just a scary jump. Best of luck to you!
 
So I did a little bit of due diligence and some background research and I'm not certain that you have to actually choose between both worlds.

Your day job, presumably, is in family practice, yes? Unless there is another @DrKennethNoisewater using LinkedIn?

What if you could combine your love of flying with what initially brought you to medicine? None of us can truly know what those motivations were, but the point is that you have the advantage of options. You could blend medicine and aviation in a whole host of ways that you might find fulfilling.

And there's that word - fulfillment. You used it a couple times.

I'm offering up the observation that if you can define what fulfillment is for you and then reverse-engineer that from a medical and/or aviation perspective, you might be really on to to something. It could also be that you find out it's neither aviation or medicine. But isn't it a luxury that you can go find out? Isn't that simply awesome?

In any case, I applaud the fact that you're being honest with yourself. At 30, I certainly wasn't (though I thought I was.) Learning to do that has been the single-greatest life skill I have obtained. @Tld 's remarks about choosing to be happy is a very, very close second.

I suspect that if you can maintain that self-possession while seeking what you need and want, the path will reveal itself readily enough. It usually does, in my experience.
 
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