Our trade tops the list..

[JDean3204]

I feel like Im in the minority with regards to my ambitions growing up...

I never wanted to do this as a career, it just sort of meandered that way after pecking away at rating before college, then being burned out in academia after my undergrad BA...

I enjoy it, it comes naturally, and we make dang good money for the amount of time we put in now. But we sacrifice a lot to be in this position.

For me, the perspective can switch between I can’t believe I made it to this point to I’ve sacrificed pretty much my whole adult life for this endeavor pretty quickly. When I wake up with the latter mood, I’m not as stoked to go fly. So it actually takes work daily to remind myself the former is the best perspective to have, that can be a tall order at times.

 

[skypilot6]

I bring this up when waiting out a 5 hour delay to LGA, with no APU, and ATC just added 500 miles to our route to land at 3am because they lifted the curfew due to weather. (true store right there)

"Remember when we were younger and wanted to be airline pilots? It was gonna be a great job, and we were gonna have soooo much fun? pepperidge farm remembers!"

Even then, I'd still want to be a pilot, than anything else.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

ATC just added 500 miles to our route to land at 3am

confused narrowbody unaugmented fatigue unga-bunga

 

[Richman]

I bring this up when waiting out a 5 hour delay to LGA, with no APU, and ATC just added 500 miles to our route to land at 3am because they lifted the curfew due to weather. (true store right there)

"Remember when we were younger and wanted to be airline pilots? It was gonna be a great job, and we were gonna have soooo much fun? pepperidge farm remembers!"

Even then, I'd still want to be a pilot, than anything else.

To be clear, the promise was half the month or less of work, phat cash, free health care, retire at 60, half pay till you died, and half of that to your spouse until they died.

 

[Boris Badenov]

I feel like Im in the minority with regards to my ambitions growing up...

I never wanted to do this as a career, it just sort of meandered that way after pecking away at rating before college, then being burned out in academia after my undergrad BA...

I enjoy it, it comes naturally, and we make dang good money for the amount of time we put in now. But we sacrifice a lot to be in this position.

Same, at least kinda. I wondered as a (basically) a child whether I'd get there, but I wasn't like *on fire* to be a professional pilot. In my very Gen-X lackadasical way, to the extent that I actually thought about the distant future at all, I guess I assumed I'd probably become an attorney or something, since BSing is somewhere on the very short list of my talents. Airline flying was always in the background as something that would be incredibly cool, but I sort of assumed that was for the milbro Maverick Chads who could see further than five feet without three inches of plexiglass stuck on their face.

30 years later I realize that we're almost *all* Nerds. Imagine my surprise.

 

[DE727UPS]

To be clear, the promise was half the month or less of work, phat cash, free health care, retire at 60, half pay till you died, and half of that to your spouse until they died.

No spouse. But I'm pretty much there. I haven't touched the B plan but if I was taking 5% a year I'd be there. No spouse for the win.

 

[///AMG]

Same, at least kinda. I wondered as a (basically) a child whether I'd get there, but I wasn't like *on fire* to be a professional pilot. In my very Gen-X lackadasical way, to the extent that I actually thought about the distant future at all, I guess I assumed I'd probably become an attorney or something, since BSing is somewhere on the very short list of my talents. Airline flying was always in the background as something that would be incredibly cool, but I sort of assumed that was for the milbro Maverick Chads who could see further than five feet without three inches of plexiglass stuck on their face.

30 years later I realize that we're almost *all* Nerds. Imagine my surprise.

I agree with the notion that i never intended to be an airline pilot. I never nerded out over airliners, and i still wouldn’t be able to identify an A330 vs an A350. It was probably somewhere around my IOE that i learned to positively differentiate a 737 from an A320. All my kid dreams were reflected in posters framed on my walls, of Tomcats, Hornets, Intruders, etc. I was really fortunate to have gotten to live that fantasy. And after I decided that chapter of life was over (at least as a full time guy), it was a weird situation where for the first time in 37 years of life, I didn’t have a goal anymore. I got essentially an office job because COVID. It was fine and certainly paid the bills, but as i had instinctively known as a kid in school, the office life turned out to not be for me. Airlines were an easy segue. And it turns out, I enjoy it a lot. Way more than a lot of my peers have admitted themselves, following the transition. I find it to be pretty satisfying to fly really simple flights, and focus on doing the basics well. I don’t always meet my mark for that statement, but generally it is a whole different universe than i am used to, where flights are benign and generally start and end as planned. A couple days after i lost a motor and came back for an arrested landing in a gray jet, I was flying a very nice 737 MAX to HI and I had my most perfect landing ever in SAN the night before we went to the islands. Had a nice dinner, got a good rest, and had a really enjoyable crossing with a cool old CA. And I was paid somewhere in the ballpark of a million times more per hour than when i actually had to deal with a bunch of s**** single pilot earlier in the week.

I think i would sum up a pilot career at the major airlines as “work smarter not harder”, to borrow a phrase we used often in the navy.

* I’ll also clarify that I didn’t slog away as a civilian pilot for years like a lot of you guys did. So I’m a little bit greener, and probably more optimistic than many at this point.

 

[BobDDuck]

The money is for when stuff goes wrong... like a whole aircraft fumes event necessitating an air turn back, fuel dump, and the associated paperwork that comes up when a good portion of the crew goes to the ER to get checked out. We certainly aren't getting paid what we do (and getting the associated days off) for dozing for dollars or even watching the Midwest slide by from 34,000 feet.

 

[///AMG]

The money is for when stuff goes wrong... like a whole aircraft fumes event necessitating an air turn back, fuel dump, and the associated paperwork that comes up when a good portion of the crew goes to the ER to get checked out. We certainly aren't getting paid what we do (and getting the associated days off) for dozing for dollars or even watching the Midwest slide by from 34,000 feet.

Speak for yourself mr “i have fuel dumps” guy

<- has probably dumped a million thousand pounds of gas (into the open ocean) and, like a mass murderer, has no possible way of even hoping to achieve carbon neutrality in his life

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

The money is for when stuff goes wrong... like a whole aircraft fumes event necessitating an air turn back, fuel dump, and the associated paperwork that comes up when a good portion of the crew goes to the ER to get checked out. We certainly aren't getting paid what we do (and getting the associated days off) for dozing for dollars or even watching the Midwest slide by from 34,000 feet.

I’d only add that it’s also not that simple. It’s not just inflight emergencies when you earn your pay. Due to an engine that wouldn’t start I had a tail swap and ensuing cluster F.

It was emotionally exhausting to get out in front of all that. Make PAs, coordinate with gate agents, maintenance and the ramp.

I had to be the guy who made the customers comfortable and keep them up to speed so they wouldn’t take things out on the FAs or gate agents. Ramp forgot the tail stand. There were a bunch of other places where we were way off script and a lot had to be improvised.

When we finally made it to ORD, most of the people thanked me. No one abused the FAs. A couple of pax gave a bit of stink eye but I honestly couldn’t blame them.

The FO was talking about his run when we left for the hotel in the van. I was exhausted. I just laid in bed and could barely drag myself to get some food.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

I’d only add that it’s also not that simple. It’s not just inflight emergencies when you earn your pay. Due to an engine that wouldn’t start I had a tail swap and ensuing cluster F.

It was emotionally exhausting to get out in front of all that. Make PAs, coordinate with gate agents, maintenance and the ramp.

I had to be the guy who made the customers comfortable and keep them up to speed so they wouldn’t take things out on the FAs or gate agents. Ramp forgot the tail stand. There were a bunch of other places where we were way off script and a lot had to be improvised.

When we finally made it to ORD, most of the people thanked me. No one abused the FAs. A couple of pax gave a bit of stink eye but I honestly couldn’t blame them.

The FO was talking about his run when we left for the hotel in the van. I was exhausted. I just laid in bed and could barely drag myself to get some food.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Weren't you a Corpie? You'd be doing all that AND cleaning the airplane sh**ter.

This is far better

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

Speak for yourself mr “i have fuel dumps” guy

<- has probably dumped a million thousand pounds of gas (into the open ocean) and, like a mass murderer, has no possible way of even hoping to achieve carbon neutrality in his life

You didn't dump fuel on elementary school children. This is why you aren't at Delta.

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

Weren't you a Corpie? You'd be doing all that AND cleaning the airplane sh**ter.

This is far better

Posting this at 4am? Then going after the red triangle posse? Are you OK?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JDean3204]

I agree with the notion that i never intended to be an airline pilot. I never nerded out over airliners, and i still wouldn’t be able to identify an A330 vs an A350. It was probably somewhere around my IOE that i learned to positively differentiate a 737 from an A320. All my kid dreams were reflected in posters framed on my walls, of Tomcats, Hornets, Intruders, etc. I was really fortunate to have gotten to live that fantasy. And after I decided that chapter of life was over (at least as a full time guy), it was a weird situation where for the first time in 37 years of life, I didn’t have a goal anymore. I got essentially an office job because COVID. It was fine and certainly paid the bills, but as i had instinctively known as a kid in school, the office life turned out to not be for me. Airlines were an easy segue. And it turns out, I enjoy it a lot. Way more than a lot of my peers have admitted themselves, following the transition. I find it to be pretty satisfying to fly really simple flights, and focus on doing the basics well. I don’t always meet my mark for that statement, but generally it is a whole different universe than i am used to, where flights are benign and generally start and end as planned. A couple days after i lost a motor and came back for an arrested landing in a gray jet, I was flying a very nice 737 MAX to HI and I had my most perfect landing ever in SAN the night before we went to the islands. Had a nice dinner, got a good rest, and had a really enjoyable crossing with a cool old CA. And I was paid somewhere in the ballpark of a million times more per hour than when i actually had to deal with a bunch of s**** single pilot earlier in the week.

I think i would sum up a pilot career at the major airlines as “work smarter not harder”, to borrow a phrase we used often in the navy.

* I’ll also clarify that I didn’t slog away as a civilian pilot for years like a lot of you guys did. So I’m a little bit greener, and probably more optimistic than many at this point.

If you ever get a decently long overnight in SAN, let me know! Coffee/drink is on me if I’m in town.

 

[bike21]

I feel like Im in the minority with regards to my ambitions growing up...

I never wanted to do this as a career, it just sort of meandered that way after pecking away at rating before college, then being burned out in academia after my undergrad BA...

I enjoy it, it comes naturally, and we make dang good money for the amount of time we put in now. But we sacrifice a lot to be in this position.

Same boat, actually started flying when I was young but had no idea I'd end up here. Senior year of college only had my PPL and was about to head into law enforcement until a teammate's dad told me all about the glorious lifestyle of a UAL pilot that was post contract 2000 and pre 9/11. I was sold.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I have no regrets. It's been an interesting ride but don't think I was cut out for much else, hope the younger generation still has opportunity for decades to come. It'll be curious to see where the industry is 40'ish years from now.

 

[Kingairer]

Airline nerd since age 12. I never was into the Military aviation thing but still loved going to airshows...I can remember there was all kinds of static displays from nearly everything the military had to offer, but the one I wanted to go to most, the American Eagle Shorts 360 (facepalm). There still a picture out there, likely buried in a box at my folks house, of me standing in front of the SD-360 wearing a self designed hat from the airline I self-named and flew flight sim on (double face palm).

 

[alaskadrifter]

I still haven’t figured out how to make flying a Super Cub pay decent enough to support a family, so I guess I’ll settle for the Airline Life for now . It’s a relatively low stress job. My dad was an airline pilot and I enjoyed the Nonrev bennies growing up, but then 9/11 happened and his pension was stolen and I swore off the airlines. If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans…

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

Posting this at 4am? Then going after the red triangle posse? Are you OK?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well I guess it’s 4am somewhere

 

[Skåning]

I was a dork and always wanted to be an airline pilot. I'm super grateful that I was able to achieve that and make killer dough doing it.

The path was not a straight line and I'm definitely not where I thought I'd be - I wanted to be at SAS, as shown in this pic from like 1990.
Well it's not all been bad, except did I mention that I hate the Guppy?