Quit a Major Airline?
 

What do you guys think of this guy?

Young British airways captain quits....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j0N7Ede66mY

He's right. Why spend 35 years as a job you don't like and complaining about it. For the money? If he prefers writing apps and code, more power to him.

Besides its one more seniority number for a British Airways pilot who does love the job.

I completely agree, it just baffles me that he realizes it after getting to the position he was in. People spend years getting to a major airline, he must’ve had a dream of being an airline pilot at some point in his life. At the end of the day, whatever floats your boat....

There are a lot of things about this industry that one just can't understand until doing the job.

On the one hand, if one keeps hoping it will get better at the next level, but then quits after reaching the pinnacle of his or her journey, then one has given it a shot, and found out.

On the other, if one quits while still at the bottom rungs of a career, one will never know and quits in ignorance.

If one isn't happy with the early rungs, one knows little or nothing of the view at the top of the ladder. If one climbs it and still doesn't like what's seen, it may be time to get off. For others, it's worth riding it out. It can be a well paying ladder.

I suspect that if he has a hard time feeling that he’s “achieved something” after flying a trip, he’s going to have an even harder time finding that satisfaction after sitting in front of a computer screen all day writing code.

Some things can’t be fixed by dramatically altering external circumstances, because the problem lies within.

I blame some of his opinion, if blame is the right word, on ab initio programs that lure those with “passion” but no idea of the sacrifices aviation requires. They get quickly trained, look at flying as a lucrative job that’s fun but have little dedication beyond the paycheck. You see the types here all the time.

GF

Reached the top
 

He mentions "not gaining anything after a five-day trip". As a young person in the left seat staring down 35 years of the exact same I am sure it is demoralizing to someone with a creative mind. Airlines can be perceived as incredibly boring and an uninspired way to live out one's life.

Others, however, are fine with the constant repetition.

Another issue is if one has reached their career zenith then they must turn to their personal life for creative satisfaction. In the past, a pilot commonly earned far above middle class and had considerable resources with which to build interesting personal lives.

I got the impression from the video that the wages were not so appealing. Others here abandoned legacy airline jobs to become real estate agents in 2005-2008.

Easy come then easy go.

SkyHigh

You cannot speak, but to tell a lie, and you are a liar. Your posts are remarkably consistent in your inability and often refusal to tell the truth, and so you do again.

The global economy collapsed in 2008.

An airline career has never been easy come. Particularly not for you.

But then, you wouldn't know.

Airline flying is terrible for creative people. A boring job that is just busy enough to interfere with the process. At least he didn't get beat down in an "under the wing" position. You know, like maintenance!

I find him jaded and somewhat irritating in his presentation.
He knows many would give their first born to have a job like that yet he feels he’s too good for it.
Relinquish your seat to somebody who wants to be there.

Wrong! My time off and exploring on overnights is great!

In the YouTube comments he admits that he actually took an ex-pat job flying heavies in China for more money.

The thread is couched as a story about a pilot quitting aviation, and that's not true. It's about an inexperienced pilot who got bored with his job and left for another aviation job. Not really earth shattering, and not a pilot leaving aviation. Just switching jobs.

To yawn and say "nothing to see here" would be a massive understatement.

An airline career requires creativity. Our imaginative PAs and excuses, acting skill, and artistic whining about the job are worthy of Hollywood. :D

couldn't agree more lol

in my opinion, if he left for long haul in china then I'm sure he is going to regret leaving BA later on.

He made it sound like he didn't want to do long haul flying and spurted about being a programmer. Maybe he realized the grass wasn't so green on the other side, who knows.

I get more writing done on the road than I do at home. It's November, which is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), each year, which is 50,000 words in the month toward a novel or other project. Easily done each year while on the road.

You're right. If anything, getting out and traveling, working, seeing, doing, does nothing but stimulate creativity.

I've lost track of the number of authors and writers who have commented that they wished they could travel so much, that it must be a treasure trove of material. They're right, though I have never liked travel. It does generate a lot of free time, and the characters are endless.

One of my very best writing sessions took place on in a window seat on a flight home from a trip, once. It was an amazing experience of five hours of material that flowed; it almost never happens like that. Creativity in this business (flying), if lost, is a personal fault. There's no shortage to be had.

One of the best pilot authors was “Duke Elegant”. Perhaps there are more to come. ;)

The Big Chill -Tales of an old aviator -Duke Elegant

It’s very possible. I always felt a bit bad for the folks that never had a taste of the non-aviation career. It really adds a lot of perspective, and clears up a lot of misunderstandings regarding the 8-5 lifestyle. It’s not nearly as great as it sounds.

Duke Elegant is missed.

So glad I found this. Considering the exact same move (airlines to software). I meet those going in the opposite direction, but rarely people like him.