Would you want your kids to become Pilots?

[Hawkerflyer]

Maybe the days of the 360000 dollar Delta 777 Skipper are gone or rapidly disappearing but there is a lot more to aviation than the airlines. That being said I almost fell over when I saw a Westjet Skipper scoring over 200K. Looks like the glory days are still out there if you are at the right company!

I know I wouldn't want to do anything else and if a son or daughter wanted a life in aviation I would encourage them.

Jim

+1

[Meatservo]

There are a million worse things they could do.

...and this pretty much sums it up as far as I'm concerned.

[Gino Under]

I did NOT recommend flying for a living to either of my children (who have graduated university and who are now making their own way in the world. Phew!).

When I started flying, we were just seeing the end of the four man airliners and astro navigation. We've progressed from 4 man, to 3 man, and now 2 man airliners. With the reality of remotely controlled aircraft (first introduced by NASAs controlled B720 crash test of inert fuel back in the 80s), the one-man aeroplane is even closer to reality than ever before.
How much further away can we be from unmanned, remotely controlled airliners?

Pilots in the future will not have the same cockpit experiences as most of us have had over the past 35 years. The financial instability and competitiveness of commercial airlines (think bankruptcies and failures) and the associated pilot career prospects despite the coming shortages, is bleak at best. The pilot jobs "musical chairs" will be a constant in that industry turmoil. The mega carriers of the oil rich states are destined to financial ruin as they mortgage their countries futures and piss away the royalties their natural resource provides. When the best that A and B have to offer pilots is a new engine despite the advances in cockpit avionics and automation I would question their interest in improving safety. But let's face it, MAX and NEO are about reducing fuel costs and nothing more. Oh, and it's also about the fact they are both flirting with financial ruin. When airlines like British Airways and Iberia merge. KLM and Air France. With carriers like American Airlines in Chapter 11. I often ask myself WTF is going on?

No. I honestly think my kids made the right choice by staying away from the B.S. that our industry has become.

Gino Under

[trampbike]

Awesome post Frozen Solid.

CS - Could you elaborate a bit? Why would you not want your kids flying commercially?

He said he would be disappointed if his kids became airline pilot, not if they flew commercially. Huge difference.

[BTyyj]

He said he would be disappointed if his kids became airline pilot, not if they flew commercially. Huge difference.

Yes, but I was hoping he could elaborate a bit further. I am curious to find out why it would be alright to fly commercially, but just not at the airlines. I CS might have just been referring to commercially.

[Donald]

What Gino said.

[arcticguy]

No

[BTyyj]

No - 200k really?

Are you saying that $200 000/year is not a good wage?

Go to school get a real job!

What do you consider a real job?

[Slats]

I can't think of a compelling reason not to encourage a kid to become a pilot, provided they have the aptitude for it. What's not to like? Depending on your experience and type of flying the pay is decent to excellent and the schedule is reasonable to excellent as is the lifestyle. There are plenty of diverse, challenging and stimulating avenues to pursue depending on where you want to take it. See different parts of the world with a major airline. Scream around the sky in a military jet. Drop thousands of gallons of water on a raging forest fire with a water bomber. Plunk a twin otter onto an impossibly tiny esker in the barrens. Fly a float plane around the most beautiful wilderness in Canada landing so smoothly on glassy water lakes you can barely feel the touchdown. All sound like very rewarding experiences to me. You get out what you put in, and it's largely as good as you make it.

I'd bet if you took a poll of every 5 year old boy (sorry girls no sexism intended, just making a point) over the last 60 years and asked them what they want to do when they grow up you would consistently end up getting high percentages of the same 4 answers: pro athlete, policeman, fireman and pilot. We should all be so lucky as to live out our childhood dreams. Those that like to b!tch and moan about their career should take a step back and realize it beats the sh!t out of pushing paper around a desk 9 to 5 and a hell of a lot of other alternatives.

[flyinthebug]

I can't think of a compelling reason not to encourage a kid to become a pilot, provided they have the aptitude for it. What's not to like? Depending on your experience and type of flying the pay is decent to excellent and the schedule is reasonable to excellent as is the lifestyle. There are plenty of diverse, challenging and stimulating avenues to pursue depending on where you want to take it. See different parts of the world with a major airline. Scream around the sky in a military jet. Drop thousands of gallons of water on a raging forest fire with a water bomber. Plunk a twin otter onto an impossibly tiny esker in the barrens. Fly a float plane around the most beautiful wilderness in Canada landing so smoothly on glassy water lakes you can barely feel the touchdown. All sound like very rewarding experiences to me. You get out what you put in, and it's largely as good as you make it.

I'd bet if you took a poll of every 5 year old boy (sorry girls no sexism intended, just making a point) over the last 60 years and asked them what they want to do when they grow up you would consistently end up getting high percentages of the same 4 answers: pro athlete, policeman, fireman and pilot. We should all be so lucky as to live out our childhood dreams. Those that like to b!tch and moan about their career should take a step back and realize it beats the sh!t out of pushing paper around a desk 9 to 5 and a hell of a lot of other alternatives.

GREAT post Slats!! Very well stroked. +1 to all u said!

[Colonel Sanders]

I can't think of a compelling reason not to encourage a kid to become a pilot

Sure, when you're young and if you like being a gypsy, it's kind of neat.

But you get a little older, after a few divorces and your kids growing up when you're not around, well, it may not be quite so much fun. Especially if you've got a seniority number at a company that you hate.

The sad fact is that at least 95% of people hate their jobs, regardless of what they do, which is incredibly sad. What a way to spend your life - in some sort of Hell of your own design.

[Slats]

Very sad indeed.

In my experience though, the ones who complain the most are the ones who exhibit the most sense of entitlement based on absolutely nothing at all. The ones who have below average experience in above-average paying jobs and have the nerve to complain about their schedule that sees them fly below average hours a month.

I'm not immune to dreading going in to work every now and then, or feeling like my paycheck should be as fat as buddy's across the ramp, or that it might be nice to have 20 days off a month; we would all like more money for less work. But at the end of the day, I force myself to remember that I have a good job that I find challenging and rewarding, working for a good company with great people. I've certainly survived worse, and you know what, looking back I enjoyed that too. Again, I got out what I put in, made the best of it, and when it got unbearable, moved on. I'd say that if a pilot can't find ANY position in this industry that they derive at least some enjoyment out of either directly or indirectly...they have bigger more personal issues than we are addressing here.

[Old Dog Flying]

I started in the aviation world over 60 years ago with ground school and on 2 July 2012 I will have exactly 60 years of flying experience...but not for an airline...I wanted to be a pilot in the RCAF! WOW, what ambition!

I've flown commercially as an instructor and charter on occasion but now strictly for pleasure. Would I want either of my kids following in my footsteps? Well I would support them if they really had a love for aviation as I do but if they were wanting that career path for the money and the glory..no way.

And as for wanting to grow up to be a pilot...There was a father and young son standing by the airport fence watching aircraft arrive and depart when the father felt a tug on his sleeve..

"What is it johnny?" asked the father

"Daddy, when I grow up I want to be a pilot!" sez Johnny

The father thought for a minute or so and said....











"Johnny, plese make up your mind..you can't do both!"

Fly safe

[Colonel Sanders]

my paycheck should be as fat as buddy's across the ramp

Young people often make the mistake of thinking that how successful you are is directly proportional to how much you are paid.

When you get a bit older, you realize what makes a great job is the people you work with, and especially for.

I would rather work with great people for less coin, than with *ssholes for more $$$. A made exactly that decision once, a long time ago.

This is especially true in Canada where employees are so heavily taxed. Toss in a few ex-wives, well ...