SkyHigh once attacked corporate flying in the same manner. I took it personal and got urked off.

I no longer take SkyHigh personal, and understand where he is coming from. I may not always agree with him, but I can see his point of view.
The one thing I would respectfully say to SkyHigh is that not everyone wants a wife/kids/family/American Dream etc. Those he describes as not having a life may actually be quite happy living with no strings, even though it is not the life for him. ( or me for that matter).

One can see on APC that there is much frustration in all sectors of aviation. It is similar to what SkyHigh says, just expressed in a different way.

I have also seen a lot of tension with all this talk of Huskys and KTMs. Have you not heard you meet the nicest people on a HONDA....RIDE RED!

 

Maybe when I talked about "blessed careers" what I meant was that, and I'm not being specific about anyone on this site, timing has a lot to do in this career. When I was on reserve, I met pilots who were hired maybe a month or two before me who were holding lines. Just a few numbers back and you are doing ready-reserve for 3+ years. Being "blessed" means being extremely lucky in most cases, to no specific fault of anyone on this forum. That being said, when I was making the very difficult decision to leave the industry, a member of this forum told me to "get off my high horse" because I was lucky to have a flying job. I do have issue with line-holders constantly belittling those at the bottom who simply want a little better life for themselves. Let's face it, this industry leaves a lot to be desired, especially at or near the bottom. I think it is extremely valuable to today's aspiring professional pilots to hear all sides. Sky has his reasons to post. I take issue with all those who want to shut-out a poster for not seeing things as they do.

 

By the way, I ride an 07' TE510 that is CA plated. I still ride my CRF250 and love it, but Honda wont make a plated dual sport that even comes close to the newer Euro bikes. Wish they would though.

 

My dad is in the top 50 at SWA, makes 200+ and doesn't want to touch another plane as soon as he retires. It's just too much money to leave on the table to retire right now. Given that kind of compensation I wouldn't mind the career, otherwise I don't think it's worth it.

 

Quote:

If you look at the websites and glossy brochures of the big flight schools, all you see are smiling pilots flashing a "thumbs up" from the cockpit of a modern airliner. You don't see the crashpads, the crushing debt, and the years of living paycheck to paycheck, hoping and praying that the strange sound coming out from under the hood of your car isn't a repair you can't possibly afford for example.

FYI, that statement above that you quote is not the "150th" percentile.

And you misunderstood the quote above nd my reference to the 150th percentile. They don't work together. I was saying that if there was a sight that promoted aviation's good side to that level that you would have a problem with it. Your quote above has nothing to do with that.

As far as a bio being bias - how can your life story be bias? Sky tells his life story and DE doesn't call it bias. He (and others) call his opinion of everyone elses' impending failure in the aviation career bias. How often has it been said that Sky's story is Sky's story. It is not necessarily the only outcome. DE's is an example of one that worked out for him. It may not even be viewed as a success to some because they never wanted to be a UPS pilot - or airline pilot for that matter.

If you read DE's bio - you'll see how often he CAUTIONS the reader of the possible pitfalls ingerent in the career. Nowhere does he say that everyone makes it. Now Jetcareers the site - it promotes aviation like many other aviation sites do and you have to sort through the chaff to get to the real picture. Standard stuff.

USMCFLYR

 

Seems you should be sending that reply to Sky who thinks everyone who starts a career - no matter what their eventual goal - is going to fail.
Learflyer is right though, and it is often overlooked, that not everyone's goal is to make it to a major airline - especially in these times.

USMCFLYR

 

Yes - blessing of timing is important in many careers - aviation seems to be one that timing might even have a leg up on over others. I'd say most know that before getting into the career if they did an ounce of research before jumping in blind.

No one is trying to shut-down Sky. Funny thing though that you say that about a person "not seeing things as they so".
Since Sky is one of the MOST adamant about his view is the ONLY view. I think a majority of the other posters agree with much of what Sky has to say, but disagree with the overwhelmingly negative stance. If you don't like people not being able to see things as others do - then your anger/disappointment seems to be misplaced.

Btw = Sky has been a member of APC since May 2005 - over 5 years and has over 5,240 posts. I'd hardly say anybody is trying to shut him down. Challenging his notion of professional aviation is not the same thing.

USMCFLYR

 

I've got no problem with much of what Sky says but when he flat out lies to push his agenda it doesn't set well with me. And when he insults an entire pilot group and generalizes and prejudges them to make his point I am darn sure going to call him out on it.

When he overstates his qualifications and makes statements like he's "been to the top of mountain" I am going to call BS on it because he hasn't. And he makes statements like that because he knows it will impress the tyros on this site who think that having flown a 757 makes him an authority on Airline flying. It does no such thing it means that he once flew a 757 period end of story.

He also touts the timing thing. Well I hate to remind him of this again but the mid 90's through the 2001 were some of the hottest hiring periods in Major airline history and he was complaining about not being able to find a commuter job.

You see Sky has formulated an opinion and no matter what you tell him no matter what your background and experience is in his mind he will only see things the way he has rationalized them.

He truly believes that since he couldn't crack the code and get an interview that the only way to do so is to have a blood relative working for a major airline. Which anybody who works for an airline knows is a huge load of ******.

Anybody who doesn't fall all over themselves agreeing with him is being arrogant and insensitive in his opinion. Truth be darned he doesn't want to hear it. It's like talking to a scorned woman and somehow I'm the guy who did him wrong.

 

"I take issue with all those who want to shut-out a poster for not seeing things as they do."

Shut out a poster? Are you kidding me? This forum exists because Skyhigh asked for it....

I'll leave you with some of my favorite Skyhigh quotes.

"Well in case you don't know. Aviation is a play degree. Everything that you need to know about flying can be gotten from watching a few King tapes."

12/02/2008

"Regional pilots get paid what they are worth. Modern automated planes do not need experienced flight crews anymore. Companies are able to hire 300 hour pilots to the job that use to demand 2000 to 4000 hour new hires."

11/30/2008


"It takes more of a sacrifice to become professionally licensed to cut hair than it does to become an airline pilot."

3/3/09

 

As far as Jetcareers and balance. I must quote a few things from the page that was condemed as proving JC lacks balance.

"Finally, a person seriously considering a career in the airline industry should be aware that the airline business does not offer much in terms of job security. Airlines that once seemed to be invincible have gone out of business, like Pan Am and Eastern airlines. The pilots of those carriers had to seek employment elsewhere. If they took a job as a pilot for a different airline, they started again at the bottom. There are pilots who were Captains at Eastern Airlines, who are now Flight Engineers for a different company. Eventually they may move back up to Captain, but they are not given any special priority over anyone else who was hired at the same time. All promotions within a company are based on seniority (years of service) with that company. Previous experience might help someone get hired, but that is all.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee of advancement at any airline. If you get hired at the right time, you could be a Captain in as little as three years, while those hired just six months later might spend five years or more as a Flight Engineer before they even get a chance to become co-pilots."

or

"While some pilots do earn those high salaries, most pilots at major airlines earn around $100,000 per year. Still, not bad, however you have to consider that very few pilots actually work for major airlines. Unlike other professions, which can be reasonably assured that they will get a job once they have finished school, etc., the majority of qualified pilots are not able to procure jobs with a major carrier. My company recently received 7,000 applications for 50 job openings. All of these people were qualified.

All this needs to be considered if you are thinking of being a pilot."

or

"Another drawback is the high cost of becoming qualified to be a pilot. A pilot either has to go through the military, which is an 8 year commitment after pilot training, or pay for that training him or herself. In addition to needing a bachelor's degree (in any subject), a pilot needs a lot of intensive training in the field of aviation itself. This is expensive, especially if you consider that there is a fairly good chance that a pilot will never work for an airline."

And I could go on.

JC is plenty balanced if you read the whole thing. I don't own it (haha). It's owned by a Delta F/O who came up the civilian route. I was once part of the site leadership. Seeing the ATP academy banner ad next to my perspectives profile makes me glad I left. The webmaster once asked the mods if he should allow ads to pay for the bandwidth. I said NOOOOOO...