Originally Posted by
cargo hopeful
Sky, and please correct me if I’m wrong, so you made a CAREER DECISION based on the similar experiences as all the pilots whom you saw growing up? You never asked what the drawbacks to the industry were? That goes to my point. If you did ask what the drawbacks were and still pursed it without a proper backup plan, then whose fault is it really? And if you did not ask what the drawbacks were and went solely on what you saw growing up, then that’s just simply a very flawed research into a life long decision; and you know where the blame for that one lies as well.
Once again, drawbacks, did you not think there were any? Seriously!
If there were any drawbacks my airline mentors did not offer any. At the time I remember them complaining about the first few years as a flight engioneer. However like others here like to mention every job has some drawbacks. These guys presented the career as a rolling party and at the time I think is was. I certainly felt able to deal with the job as they presented it to me.
Plenty of neighborhood airline fathers started their airline career during the time in the 1960's when people were hired straight into the majors without anything more than the 250 hours it took to get the commercial rating. My own father, an aerospace engioneer and private pilot, told stories of being personally and repeatedly solicited by a representative from American Airlines who followed him down the hall at UCLA as he was going from class to class. American Airlines offered to put him on salary while he completed the remainder of his commercial training, that was also to be paid for by AA, to then be followed by ground school to become a line pilot. Other airlines sent people and letters offering the same. (Sadly for me my father did not take any of those offers.
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As a 17 year old kid the profession was presented to me as a job that was fairly difficult to get in as much as it took; professional qualifications, four years of college, some experience, 20/20 vision, height and weight proportional physique, pass a two day physical, and you had to be under 30 years of age at the time of hire. It was a totally doable proposition at the time and completely worth the effort. Adults who were in the profession were giving me this information that I also witnessed first hand.
After growing up among airline pilot families and hearing my fathers stories of his brushes with the profession there was no other side to tell. The airlines paid a fortune to pilots who were occasionally hung over, underwhelmed and under worked by today's standards. As I sat in college I watched as upperclassmen graduated and would then return 6 months to two years later in uniform and addressing the class as a new hire for the airline of their dreams. What else was I supposed to think? The industry changed before I could get there.
Skyhigh