Originally Posted by
SkyHigh
I understand your position. I was a regional pilot too. Automation shouldn't be used as a crutch but it is. Some pilots should not have been permitted to fly the line but they do. Regional flying is a demanding job and pilots should be treated with respect but they are not. The investment in college, flight experience and flight training demands a good wage but does not get one.
If this was a perfect world we all would have the flying job of our dreams and would be treated well by our employers.
Compensation is more than what your wages are. Pilots get most of their compensation in the form of satisfaction. Accountants, plumbers and firefighters get paid in cash and benefits.
Accounting is a growing profession that is climbing to the to of the business ladder, but is dull. Few would show up for the job if they thought they would make pilot wages. Why would an airline pay a dime more than they had to for pilots? They are not in short supply. It takes a lot to get them to leave the profession and their skills are easy to come by.
People claim that I am "bitter" and "negative" but I am not. I merely present the facts without the rose colored glasses. If you leave the profession then you just blew a fortune on a year and a half of playing airline pilot. You are the accountant. Maybe you could calculate the profit and loss of your airline venture? Don't forget to include the opportunity cost of what you could have earned as an accountant over the last three or more years.
SkyHigh
You've contradicted yourself. Despite the negatives of the job, I have zero regrets that I did/am doing it. Sure, I'd have more money in the bank if I was an accountant. However, if I imagine myself back at an accounting desk and then delete the amazing experiences I've had and friends I've made during the last 2 years in professional aviation, I believe I'd be at a huge net loss. Perhaps not financially, but personally. As an accountant, I have sort of gotten "over" the awe factor of money. I've never desired to be rich and don't now. I'd like to be comfortable. Despite my current earnings, with my wife's and my combined income we do just fine and likely live a higher QOL than the majority of the country.
Furthermore, my knowledge and skills and judgment regarding aviation has increased several fold. Sure, my skills won't translate to barnstorming and aerobatic type flying, but regarding commercial aviation as a whole, I am largely more knowledgeable and marketable than this time two years ago.
If I went back to an accounting desk next week and took up right where I left off (I could get my job back any second), I'd sit down with a big freaking smile on my face at what a HELL OF A RIDE it was to pursue aviation while I did.
No balance in my my bank account can pay for that.
Perhaps that is why the "white shirted zombies" as you so aptly put it, stick around and endure the negatives. After reading through these boards a lot, I associate your name with negativity and it sounds like I am not alone on that. You remind me of Eeyore the donkey. Why do you waste your time on these boards just spreading doom and gloom? If you don't want to be an airline pilot, why are you on APC all the time?