Question for Airline Pilots

EricH

New Member
Do you ever get bored of your job?

Its the kind of job that a lot of us on this board are working so hard to get, but does it ever turn into just a boring routine?
 
A follow-up question if I may:
How many different destinations will you (potentially) fly to in the current equipment you are flying?

For example, Chicago Express flies one type of plane to a total of (I think) 14 cities, so FlyChicaga will get to learn (or already knows) those 14 really well.

If your airline (or scheduled freight carrier) flies to, say, 150 cities, how many of those 150 does your plane type go to?
 
What I gather from listening to people like Doug is that airline pilots get bored with all of the stuff that comes with being an airline pilot, but they say that they love actually flying the airplane. At the majors the pay is satisfying enough that overall, pilots enjoy what they do.

My question for major airline pilots would be: was it worth the tough journey to get to where they are just to be able to do the performance of their job? Also, does even the actual flying get a little boring at times?
 
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For example, Chicago Express flies one type of plane to a total of (I think) 14 cities, so FlyChicaga will get to learn (or already knows) those 14 really well.

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Exactly. Most aspiring pilots have the majors in mind; if I could only fly for a regional, I wouldn't even consider the profession because of the lack of variety. Even if you are flying for a larger regional which flys to a lot of places, you never get to fly international or have the ability to progress to as many different aircraft types. (And all of this doesn't even consider that the pay isn't that good at the regionals.)

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If your airline (or scheduled freight carrier) flies to, say, 150 cities, how many of those 150 does your plane type go to?

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It depends. Some pilots based in LAX for a major airline might just fly the 767 to Hawaii, while I'm sure that AA Super-80 pilots fly to a wide variety of cities in virtually every part of the country.
 
I think that if you are constantly striving to do a better job, the job can't get boring. The challenge is to be more precise, to know more about the total operation with each flight.

In terms of destinations, for me at least, I am constantly going to new places. On this trip that I'm on alone, I either haven't been to some of the cities in years, or I have only been there once, and not layed over in some of them. Places like NAN, SYD, SFS,KUL, PEN, heading to SZX this afternoon now. The flying is challenging and the layoves spectacular. Just waking up now at the Shangri-la resort here in Penang. Look out my window across the Bay of Bengal, right on the beach, warm tropical ocean water, watched the sunset from a bar on the beach last night. Really amazing.

Let's not forget SFS, with non-precision approaches surrounded by mountains...Now, head to SZX, get to operate in the metric environment for altitudes, windspeeds, etc. Always interesting. Plus, I have a student on this trip.

I couldn't imagine this getting boring to me. Perhaps if I was flying the same domestic route where it got so I knew all the frequencies, etc., that would be a potential, but I think it is your attitude that shapes it mostly.
 
Any job can get boring. There are definitely some days that I would rather be doing something else.

On the FRJ, we fly to numerous destinations from CVG (although the actual number can vary from month to month). Additionally, we are lucky to have BOS as an additional FRJ base where we can go for a change of pace by trading trips.
 
The job can get boring...if you let it...and I believe they call that complacency. As Seagull stated previously, a good airline pilot is always striving for exactness, precision, awareness and knowledge of his/her aircraft and operation. If you get bored, you are probably not challenging yourself to become better.

One of the things I like most about being an airline pilot is getting to know the geography of our country/world so well. If there is a sporting event on television, I typically know exactly where that stadium/arena is and can visualize the local color of its surroundings. I know the rivers and moutains that border states and have a great awareness of the vastness of this great country of ours. This are things that the overwhelming majority of people will never have the opportunity to see, learn or appreciate.
 
My current job is boring, every job I've ever had has been boring at one time or another. I guess I would rather be bored flying a jet at 35000 ft with my hair on fire. but thats just me..
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Do you ever get bored of your job?

Its the kind of job that a lot of us on this board are working so hard to get, but does it ever turn into just a boring routine?

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This is one of the main reasons I went the Corporate route vs. the airline route... This week I was in France, Germany and England... The week before, California, Arizona and New Jersey... Next week, Brazil, Argentina and Chile... It always stays interesting...

As far as only going to the airlines because you want to work for a major and wouldn't even consider a career at the Regionals... Well... You may not have that choice, there are a LOT of guys at the Regionals who will never see a seat at the majors... Just be prepared...
 
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Exactly. Most aspiring pilots have the majors in mind; if I could only fly for a regional, I wouldn't even consider the profession because of the lack of variety. Even if you are flying for a larger regional which flys to a lot of places, you never get to fly international or have the ability to progress to as many different aircraft types. (And all of this doesn't even consider that the pay isn't that good at the regionals.)


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never get to fly internationaly? Have you looked at Xjets route map? AEagles? Mesas? CHQ's? ACAs? All have international flying. Not transatlantic, but a small percentage of Major Airline pilots do that. Changing equipment as you say isnt as fun as it is on FlightSim. Changing airplane after many year yes, changing after only a couple, no. That just means more systems to learn and another airplane to learn quirks. Lots of regionals have variety of aircraft to step up to if you need an additional challenge after years of flying the same type. But what will regionals look like in 5 years??? Who knows. Vareity of places? Just b/c an airline flies to 300 cities doesnt mean you fly to all of them everymonth. For example my company flies to about 60 or so, next month i fly to about 11 of those.
 
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Do you ever get bored of your job?

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Yes. Sometimes. It all depends!
 
It takes a while, but even flying cool glass cockpits does get routine.

I notice the boredom or frustration when I have things to do that are "more interesting than going to work."
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FalconCapt
You Suck ... just kidding. I actually choose the corporate route for the same reason and while I don't necessarily get to the same far reaching destinations I do get to new destinations frequently. This week I saw Las Vegas, Monterey, San Jose, Salt Lake City and I'm based on the east coast. Last week I spent a few nights in Lauguna Beach and next week I'll be in FL for a few nights.

I always say that boring is good. It means nothing is going wrong.

Jim
 
Seagull,
Could you give a name for those airports you mentioned? Some I recognize but the amount that I don't just shows the variety of places around the world you travel to. Could you give a typical monthly schedule for a first officer based in MEM flying the MD-11, for example? I know "typical" might be the wrong word but just a random example month?
 
Boring? Well, not really. It does get repetitive, when you fly a route and know what frequency will be next and when you should switch over ("why haven't we switched to approach yet?"). I wouldn't say boring though, since you always have the challenge of learning something new, or finding a better way to do something. Plus, flying with different people every trip (we fly with a different person for each trip all month, not the same crew due to Preferrential Bidding) makes things different and interesting.

I do love flying, but this is also work now. So I try to find things to do on days off, so I don't get too wrapped up in work when I'm not there. You need hobbies and friends to keep your mind off your job, to relax, and unwind. Plus, it gives you things to think about when you're cruising along in CAVU conditions at 20,000 feet for over an hour.
 
You know you've been doing it a long time when you recognize that ATC just gave you the wrong frequency.
 
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You know you've been doing it a long time when you recognize that ATC just gave you the wrong frequency.

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You really know you've been doing it too long when...

You try to reach ATC for 10 minutes on HF with no success and then give up because there probably isn't anyone else at FL410 over the Amazon Jungle in the middle of the night within 300 miles of you anyhow...
 
Let's see, the cities I operated to on this trip were
Los Angeles
Honolulu
Nadi, Fiji
Sydney, Australia
Subic Bay, Philippines
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Penang, Malaysia
Shenzen, China
Anchorage, Alaska

The 9 day trip could be representative of many trips in the system. Others go around the world, both east and westbound. Some lines have just one departure, with one long trip, others have a number of shorter trips. There are lines that have all day trips, out and back departures with no overnights, others that work 8 days, with 4 trips to Paris or London, there are trips that are week on, week off, domestic day or night trips, etc.
 
Last Trip:
Atlanta, GA
Fort Myers, FL
Cincinnati, OH
Washington, DC
Pittsburgh, PA

But it was more like:
Day One: ATL-RSW-CVG-DCA
Day Two: DCA-ATL-PIT-ATL

Yawn!
 
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