Originally Posted by
SkyHigh
I don't think it will be crew-less but rather two people up front with minimal input to the outcome of the flight.
I am sorry if you found my depiction a bit harsh but how else should it be described? Airline pilots fly to the same airports at the same time over and over again. They are trained to follow the decision tree until you run off the map and then call dispatch for further instructions. Pilots are all trained to recognize a situation and then react the same in manner every time. The goal is to standardize everyone's vocabulary and actions to match the script from the office of the director of operations. A pilots hands may be on the controls but the company is flying the plane. The more standardized the better.
SKyhigh
Most jobs are pretty routine, and it's a subjective thing to measure. There's enough variety in flying to make it fresh every day. I would know, I've done many types of work and flying is one of the few things I can really thrive on. I spent the last year flying the same 4 legs over and over, same thing every day, and I was amazed how many different twists there were on the usual routine. Was it always career bliss? No. But no week was the same as all the others, and while some flights were pretty uneventful there was always some new twist. Things like picked up a half inch of ice, diverted due to storms, go-around for ATC, 60 knot tailwind, heard so-and-so on the radio, saw rainbows, witnessed another airplane have an emergency, thought maybe the engine in mine was rough, etc. The job has a fair amount of variety if your expectations are set right for it, and in fact I cannot imagine more variety in a job that stays in the US. Inner city police work or FBI, maybe? I know your standards are high for adventure in Alaska bush flying, but when you get old you do not want as much danger. I hear the trans-con flights get pretty dull. The guys who flew past Minneapolis would probably agree.