Meatservo wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:16 am
For some people, aviation is more than sitting in a chair in a cheap suit and following rules. There is a physical pleasure in handling an aircraft, particularly on water. There is a sense of accomplishment in staying safe in, shall we say, "austere" conditions. There is a sense of camaraderie among "bush" pilots that you won't find at the "airlines".
Believe it or not, a job, like any number on offer at a popular regional airline I shall not name, where you can sign on with a thousand hours or so of relatively mundane 704 flying under your belt as second in command and a bunch of bogus "pilot in command under supervision" time to boot, and then six months later get upgraded to "captain" because your union number comes up, is not much of an accomplishment. You can drag your wheeled map-case, with no actual maps in it, through a terminal with the gold braid on your cap and the rings that don't even go all the way around your cheap sleeves, and perhaps enjoy the reflected remnants of the respect laypeople have for people like you that was earned by pilots of the past who actually did something worthy of note.
All bullshit.
Your disparaging of airline flying is just as invalid as airline pilots running down float pilots. Funny, I've never felt the need to try and insult those who work in a different niche, and I've never really seen the need to self-loathe like you either.
I consider every day I go to work transporting masses of people safely and efficiently, entrusted with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of machine, "something worthy of note". The equipment really isn't the point, forget aviation even - it's simply about doing any job with excellence. Christ man, take some pride in your work! Maybe you'd actually enjoy it then.
I'm sorry you work somewhere so lacking in camaraderie and self-respect, but please don't have the arrogance to pretend to speak for all "large jet pilots" with your silly comments. I very much enjoy strong camaraderie with my airline colleagues, especially in a company with over 80 nationalities on the flight deck, the pilot "culture" was the only one common to all of us! Maybe it's just the company you work for? Where do you work, anyway? Sounds depressing.
As far as the often-touted "easy, boring, repetitive, not lifting a finger blah blah blah" job that those who don't do it (and a few that do, or say they do) like to try and portray it as: funny thing about that actually. I took the g/f for our first float plane ride with Harbour Air in YYJ a couple years back. Beautiful aerial tour of the city, sat up front and chatted with the pilot, great hands and feet. But let me tell you, his job was just as regimented and "routine" as any airline pilot: 20 minute tours around the city, back down. YVR to YYJ a few times a day. Let's just say he wasn't exactly rhapsodizing about the "physical pleasure of handling an aircraft". Pretty damn dull after the 5,000th time in a row. Hmm.
I thoroughly enjoyed the flight, would do it again, admired and respected his specialized skills. (It never once occurred to me to make infantile remarks about his cheap, company-issued uniform or other job accoutrements).
But one thing is absolutely certain: I would never - ever - trade my lifestyle, pay, experiences, responsibilities, and opportunities for his.
Not. A. Chance.
I’m still waiting for my white male privilege membership card. Must have gotten lost in the mail.