PotatoChip

Becoming an airline pilot has nearly ruined any passion or love for airplanes I have. I’m not even forty and have worked at five airlines. I’ve been furloughed and downgraded, had to sell my cars and furniture to pay the mortgage, I’ve had to drive Uber to buy groceries for my family. I am still waiting for the final stop, have no glaring black marks, and have a Masters in Aviation. Meanwhile, Delta continues to hire 25 year old FOs.
Maybe I’m bitter and jaded after the lost decade, but the regional airline industry is a joke and should have never become what it was, thanks ALPA!
If I could do it again I don’t know what I’d do, but right now, I’m sick of it. Can’t wait to go do my PC next month where as a regional pilot my career will be on the line in the hands of some inflated ego sim instructor. /rant

galaxy flyer

Potato Chip,

Yes, but don’t you keep banging your head against the wall at regionals. I know, perhaps, a dozen corporate guys who jumped ship, got great experience in corporates and now are in demand at carriers or making big money in a Gulfstream or Global. RJ were a a dead end ten years ago.

GF

PotatoChip

As you are very well aware, breaking into a halfway decent corporate gig is very difficult for an airline guy. Moreso if you don’t have good contacts. I’d love to fly a corporate gig out of TTN, MMU, PNE, or PHL, and I’ve applied to all I’ve seen. Applied to one today in fact!
There a couple in TTN that I would happily retire from.

ZippyNH

Many people forget that airlines are far from the only flying job...it might be the most familiar, and it might pay the most at the top end, but there are others... remember...if people really WANT a job, you can often pay less.... airline flying is mind numbing IMO....WILL KILL YOUR LOVE OF FLYING.
Corporate is pretty good QOL, with some private individual owners treating their pilots as a family member, letting them borrow their plane for a yearly family vacation...while paying well, and letting the crew sample the lifestyles of the rich and famous to a certain extent...
Then there is freight....some companies are great... some suck, just like in corporate. Steady contracts that keep you flying, often spending nights or days at home with the family...some working a week on a week off...
I bring both of these up cause I can say I went to AK, flew a bit, for a cargo/passenger combo operator 121/135 and realized that airline flying in he hopes of big $$$$ was missing much of life...when that company failed I ending up doing a bit if dispatch and then a feeder cargo for a few years....then did corporate.... another 3000+ hr, and I left corporate....no union seniority or feeling of long-term lifetime stability, but ask a TWA/PAN-AMERICAN/PEOPLE EXPRESS, etc pilot about that....it's an illusion. At least with a good 401k, you are responsible, and it won't suddenly disappear in a bankruptcy!!!
So back in cargo....feeder side for now...the pay is a premium, lifestyle not half bad...do I go back to 121 cargo, who knows...know I make more $$ and get more time off than many flying bigger planes and I get more time off....less than legacy airlines, but a comfortable life.
Would I do it again?
Huge ups and downs....a career path that nothing like I thought, but it's been great.
Some people get so focused on the end goal, they forget to live, enjoy life and have fun.
REMEMBER....your career in aviation might suddenly become a thing of the past, through no fault of your own... don't let it become your identity!!!
So many cews I have jump-seated with joke that the dream is a nightmare.....
Don't become those guys!! Enjoy life! You will change your lifestyle to match your income. Honestly. Done it a few times.

galaxy flyer

Well, yes and no; I hired two pilots I never saw before the interviews. The department has done the same since. I did have an inside contact, but others didn’t.

GF

aiir

This is something that I often wonder about airline flying. In airline flying as a passenger, I always love the take off and the decent all the way down to the landing, always, ever since I was a kid. The middle part however is usually not very exciting. Even then I still enjoy reading a book or browsing the web at fl350 or whatever, the traveling is always a plus. I guess without actually doing it, there’s no way to know if I’ll enjoy it.

If could I would join the ANG in a heart beat and fly fighters but unfortunately I’m barely able to pass the FAA’s color vision test, plus I wear contact lenses. Nothing too bad but the Air Force seems very strict. I think that if anyone is able to do that, medically, they should, I love watching their YouTube videos and it seems like very fun and rewarding flying. There seems to be no dull middle part with flying fighters haha.

Broncofan

I wont lie I've been blessed with a great career so far. I have been flying for 14 years now and have NEVER lost the love of flying. It still gets me excited to go to work. Honestly the worst part of work is the other people I fly with sometimes. A lot of jaded people out there in this industry and it's hard to tune then out sometimes. I've worked for 15 dollars and hour puddle jumping all the way up to majors, and quite honestly the best people I flew with were the ones making 15 an hour. But to answer the OPs question would i do it all over again? Absolutely! Best career out there in my opinion. Lots of family time, or time for a side business if that's your thing. However I wouldn't quit your day job, this industry can flip at any point. I would keep working as an engineer, keep flying as a hobby until you have all your certs and ratings and necessary hours. Then decide at that point if your ready to swap careers.

rickair7777

Truckers have it bad compared to most airline pilots.

I volunteer at my kids school. Time to myself on weekdays means I'm rested, exercised, and caught up on the various distractions of life when I go pick up my kids (by mid afternoon). So my quality time is better than most of my professional peers who get home later, and know they still need to get back on the laptop before they can go to bed. Anybody who is remotely in my compensation bracket works pretty hard for it.

CC268

This is so true.

galaxy flyer

Remember, in real dollars, today’s airline pilot is making probably making half what his father at PAA made in 1970 flying fewer hours. In those days, airline pilots lived in Greenwich and Malibu, not remotely possible today. Then again, no iPad, no Internet.

GF