Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I've worked in several other fields, mil and white collar, and have plenty of buds from the mil reserves who are cops... FBI, Deputies and everything in between.
Airline aviation is essentially zero drama compared to most other careers.
In the old days I did used to intervene in the cabin, usually with the intent of smoothing feathers, talking down down BOTH an FA and a pax, avoiding delays, and getting everybody where they needed to go.
Not anymore, after all the youtube and twitter shenanigans 99% of airline pilots just stay in the cockpit, lock the door if necessary and call for customer service and LE if needed. Goof off on your phone will other people deal with drama.
Drama with cabin crew? Don't date them, avoid most of them on layovers, and be nice to them. Even the ones with chips on their shoulders who are looking for drama. Nasty FA ignores your request for coffee, etc? Grin and bear it. The bad ones cannot pick fights with EVERY pilot they fly with or they won't have a job.
White collar office politics is toxic, and you usually have to play the game... if you get outmaneuvered it can sideline your career, or get you on the layoff list (there's ALWAYS a layoff list, and the economy will turn south eventually). It's simply unavoidable, and the sociopaths thrive in it.
LE is treading a very fine line between getting shot, getting jailed for murder, getting fired and losing their cert, and getting sued for everything they're worth. Go online and watch videos of all these entitled, outraged karens who try to turn every routine traffic stop into a kent state massacre and federal civil rights case.
My point wasn’t to compare LE drama or Corporate America office politics to airline pilot drama, though LE experience can vary dramatically between and LA, Miami, Chicago beat cops and my sheriff neighbor who sits in his car all day in a posh area and picks up tons of overtime at concerts festivals and parades and has never drawn his weapon.
And while you’re right that the days of the captain dusting off their cap and striding back into the cabin to deliver a final word of public authority in the day of viral cell phone videos have given way to calling ops for a customer service person have alleviated some of that. Still, it is replaced by other things like time away from home and family, juniority not allowing the holidays and birthdays and being on the sidelines at sports games, sitting in a crash pad across the country on reserve, etc.
Again, I’m not telling him not to go for it, or that his goal is unattainable. I’m just making sure he sees at least a few of the reasons he decided to forego this career path years ago like a prolonged stint in the regionals or maybe not getting the major of his choice and looking at years of commuting to another are still a real possibility.