"romantic life style"

P

pj55

New Member
\"romantic life style\"

I see many messages by professional pilots. I am going to ask this classic and naive question that you all hate, but why don't make it clearer for all the non-pilots?

Everybody thinks that pilots are those people who have a very romantic job, they do what they like for a living and they hang out with beautiful flight attendants who like to have fun. How untrue is this perception? It must be very exaggerated but does any of this romantic life style still exist? How about the sex life on the road? How does it compare with a life of someone who has a local 9-5 job?

I know it depends on the person, but I would like to know your personal experience, not the "hollywood perceptions".

Anyone brave enough to comment on these personal matters?
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

This has been hashed many times. But here we go again:

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They do what they like for a living and they hang out with beautiful flight attendants who like to have fun. How untrue is this perception?


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Pilots do do what they want. You don't invest years of your life & thousands of dollars in a career you don't want. The F/As may or may not have the same trip sequence as the pilots and sometimes don't even stay at the same hotel as the pilots. Most F/As won't touch a pilot with somebody else's 10 foot pole. F/As are not supermodels, they're just people like everybody else.

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How about the sex life on the road? How does it compare with a life of someone who has a local 9-5 job?


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Your sex life is whatever you make it out to be. If you're someone who likes to cheat on your spouse/significant other, you'll have just as much opportunity to do so as anybody else in any other profession. But by the end of a 16-hour 7 leg day the only thing you want to do is sleep. Alone. Maybe forage for some food if you have longer than an 8 hour overnight. The days of philandering pilots and hussy, slutty F/As is long gone. I can't speak for the way things were 40,50 years ago, but nowdays you're just as likely to find a doctor, lawyer, secretary, retail clerk, hotel maintenance person cheating as a pilot or F/A. Not saying it doesn't happen, it's just not a part of the everyday job.

Maybe someday this obnoxious stereotype will disapear.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

Being a pilot is no longer considered romantic by far! mostly because you get stuck in crappy hotels, short layovers, pissy pax, unruly schedules, bad food... low pay etc etc

there just isn't a "romantic" side to it anymore.. there are single pilots that date single flight attendants but that's pretty difficult to do, from what i've heard, because of scheduling conflicts, constant traveling, living in different cities and so forth.

i think gay *single* pilots & F/A's have an easier time of finding dates than straight *single* pilots & F/A's. might just be because they're a little less uptight than most of us straight folk.
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as far as the whole philandering thing goes - it's already been discussed more than once and if you use the search method, you should find a few topics that have been talked about in the past year. there isn't much of a "romantic fling" type thing going on anymore and we're all still trying to get rid of that perception.. but every now and then, you hear about how episodes like that are still occuring from time to time and those actions continue to tear families apart
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. I would just not go there once you make those vows.

Hey bog, how bout that sex life on the road? you might be best to answer some of this since you are a single pilot that's dating around right now...
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The good thing about being a pilot is that you have a view from 10,000 feet that's constantly changing and your not sitting in a cubicle somewhere playing "prairie dog" all day long!
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Re: \"romantic life style\"

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If you're someone who likes to cheat on your spouse/significant other, you'll have just as much opportunity to do so as anybody else in any other profession...

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OR...

If you don't HAVE an significant other. There are still people out there who are single and like just hooking up (I'm not one of them, BTW, happily married for 5+ years).

It's not nice to assume that someone who sleeps around is an adulterer.

Naunga
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you're someone who likes to cheat on your spouse/significant other, you'll have just as much opportunity to do so as anybody else in any other profession...

[/ QUOTE ]
OR...

If you don't HAVE an significant other. There are still people out there who are single and like just hooking up (I'm not one of them, BTW, happily married for 5+ years).

It's not nice to assume that someone who sleeps around is an adulterer.


Naunga

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My comment was directly aimed at someone who does have a "spouse/significant other". I never said anything about someone who sleeps around is an adulterer. If a person is single, my comment about cheating on a spouse/significant other can not apply, since they don't have a spouse/significant other.

In retrospect, I am guilty of assuming that the question was asked about a pilots sex life in general, refering to all pilots, single or not. We tend to be a bit touchy about the subject because we're tired of the general public assuming that pilots are a bunch of playboys who are out to get some action on their overnights regardless of if they're married or not.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

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...that pilots are a bunch of playboys who are out to get some action on their overnights regardless of if they're married or not....

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You mean they're not?
wink.gif
Kidding, I kid, I'm a kidder.

Anyhow, I completely understand.

Later.

Naunga
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

I should get my friend (new FA for Skywest) to come on JetCareers and tell her stories. She has a lot of them and has only been doing it for a couple months now.

She said half the men that are married don't wear a ring and the ones that are always trying to get with her or other FA's are already married.

Kind of funny if you ask me...

But on side note, she said there are plenty of good guys out there too.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

As someone in the industry dating someone outside the industry its a double edge sword when it comes to relationships as is probably is in any other job that requires alot of travel. I've dated FAs and it works smoother in the sense that they understand the amount of travel involved as well as its easier for two poeple to travel to see each other on overnights as they both have flight benefits. I've found that people who have a 9-5 job have a bigger adjustment to seeing each other 2 nights a week. I agree with the other people here who say that if you're gonna cheat it doesn't matter what profession you have and alot of the "romance" of the job isn't so prevalent as it was in the "catch me if you can" days. Plus there's alot of nasty stuff in this day and age that wasn't so rampant 30 years ago. Just get something to eat and then "Slam/Click"
cool.gif
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

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IHow does it compare with a life of someone who has a local 9-5 job?
I

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A what?
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

Well Kristie since you asked, it's been 3 years and 3 mos since I last ... well, ya know. Things never quite made it that far with the last g/f, so we'll see what happens with the new one. I've never been in a hurry for that, and sadly never made it to man-hore status, so ... sorry.
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Yes, the romance is gone. No longer are you looked upon as some hero who proudly saves the lives of hundreds of helpless passengers. Come sit next to me some day when I dead head and see the way all the jacka$$es treat me. I've never been pushed aside and glared at so much as when I travel in uniform. Throw in the "instant experts" who tell their friends that the flapervator on the lower ventral exhaust edge of the wing's bilateral planform actually reduces the noise pollution so that the aircraft can meet stage 9011.g2a regulations. All that while I sit in uniform next to these people, banging my head against the wall at their stupidity.

But, I digress.

If you call cleaning trash out of seat pockets, eating crappy overpriced airport food, and twiddling your thumbs in the lowest-priced hotels to be romantic, I have an ex-g/f for you. Have you looked at ticket prices? People whine about having to pay $200 to fly coast-to-coast, then whine because they're riding in an RJ. Screw them all! I'm going to start slapping people one of these days. These are the same people who'll spend $50+ / seat to watch a football or basketball game for 3 hours, but think that's too much to pay to travel 1500 miles in the same timeframe.

OK ... deep breaths ... count to 10 ... think happy thoughts ... yes ... yes ...

Right, so no it's not romantic. People do hook up, but they do that in any job. I'm dating another f/a, because (as stated above) she understands the lifestyle and can join me when I have decent overnights.

Do people cheat? Yes. They always will and it cannot be stopped. I never have and never will, same goes for almost every pilot who's ever sat next to me.

Hope this helps. Sorry about the rant, but it's what 5 years of this "dream job" will do to you. Just don't forget that nightmares are considered dreams.
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Re: \"romantic life style\"

Hmmmm... I've got a different perspective. I LOVE my job! The crews I fly with are genuinely fun people to be around and they also like their jobs. I still think there is some glamour to this job. I enjoy walking around the terminal in uniform, greeting the passengers as they board, and saying good-bye when they get off. No 9-5 office job can compare to an early morning arrival over the Golden Gate bridge- or the dusk ORD departure with airplanes going everywhere- what about the VOR approach up the valley into Kalispell. I, too, have had this dream job for over five years and the excitement is still there!

Yes, there is the party atmosphere with certain crews, but none that I know of that try to get into the pants of every flight attendant. The married ones I've encountered stay true to their spouses and the single flight attendants know to stay away from the pilots.

I get to stay in nice hotels with amenities and plenty of good places to eat close by. Airport food isn't all that bad- Panda Express is the same down the street as it is in ORD or PDX!

It's not fun being away from my wife and kids days at a time, but I'm at a seniority that I can be home every night. After six years of marriage, sex isn't everything or an every night event. You know, it even feels better if it's only once or twice a week!

Sometimes it's fun to be able to say I'm having dinner in Saginaw tonight and Santa Barbara tomorrow!

I love being an airline pilot! Sure there are times when things don't go as planned, but you're going to find that in any job- face it, we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people! I clean the trash from the seat back pockets not as a stupid chore that's not in my job description, but as a favor to those who are required to do it.

Bog, I'm sorry your dreams have turned into nightmares. Maybe it's time for a change?

Maybe I'm living in a dream world, but it's one that's sustained me for the last five years and probably more to come!
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

Ditto what Chris said except for the part of getting sex one or two times per week. I'm not that Lucky!
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however I've only been at this for two months now but I knew what I was getting into.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

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Hmmmm... I've got a different perspective. I LOVE my job!

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Dangit, Chris...you weren't supposed to say that!! Now, people will believe that you CAN have fun as an airline pilot!!
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[/sarcasm]
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

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i think gay *single* pilots & F/A's have an easier time of finding dates than straight *single* pilots & F/A's. might just be because they're a little less uptight than most of us straight folk.
blush.gif




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Hmmmmmm gay pilots and gay F/A's....

Anyways I think that only unhappy people cheat. People who are happy and fulfilled in relationships are far less likely to stray.
So it's important I'd say to have a very good understanding, caring,sensitive spouse that's not going to give you grief for being away days at a time.

Matthew
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

I understand that you are married and this (being married and faithfull) is your point of view.

But how about single FAs that you know? I sense there are some barriers for them to date pilots. Do companies discourage such relationships etc.? Other reasons?
Very curious.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

"the single flight attendants know to stay away from the pilots"

Interesting...can you explain why?
Very curious again.
 
Re: \"romantic life style\"

Even outside the airline industry, dating in the workplace is never a good idea... that's what I meant.
 
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