Originally Posted by
de727ups
There will be no happy threads as long as Skyhigh is around. Don't even try it...
Skyhigh, and "most of his friends", are unhappy with their career choice.
DE, and "most of his friends" are happy with their career choice.
Not sure why that is, really, but that's my observation.
Luck plays a big part in the profession, no doubt. Skyhigh was unlucky but did his aviation career no favors by making the choice to quit the profession. Perhaps he could have turned his 757 F/O time at National Airlines into a job at UPS. Then he wouldn't be pushing his anti-career agenda at APC. UPS hired 650 pilots since Skyhigh lost his 757 F/O job.
In my experience, those who have done well with the career far outweigh the Skyhighs of the world. It's a cyclical biz currently in the dumps. Who knows what the future will bring.
I have had a lot of friends with much better resumes than I who have tried to crack the rock known as UPS without any luck. To date there has only been one guy who I have even flown with or known who has ever been hired there. (and he had high internal connections) When they were hiring how many slipped through the crack? Perhaps 700 over the last 10 years? I really do not know. They have been closed to hiring for most of my career. Perhaps I could have turned my time at N7 into a job at UPS but it was highly unlikely.
I am sure that your last new hire classes were populated with military heroes and astronauts. It is easier for the rest of us to know when we are beaten. My point is that at some time most everyone needs to pull the plug or settle with a heavily discounted version of their dream. When would you suppose that someone draw the line and salvage what is left of their life? 35, 45, 55? When does it become ridiculous to continue? You have to know that your career is rare. I would guess that you are at least one out of 300.
It is no surprise to me that you would see aviation is a world of plenty. You fly with millionaires almost everyday however it is no coincidence that over the last few years my opposition here has almost exclusively been from FedEx and UPS pilots. I can assure you that the rest of aviation is not so happy.
SkyHigh