Is being a pilot a good job?

[thecatislying]

One of my nephews is looking into it. We can find all the official info about the ways to qualify, time it takes, how to do it, salary expectations, what the job is like, etc, but we don't know anyone who has done this job, or even who knows someone who has done it.

Nephew is practical, reliable, very good at maths an science, gets good grades. Not really enjoying school, doesn't like writing, not thrilled about the idea of 4 more years at university so exploring other ideas.

If you have personal experience of either being a pilot or know someone who is one, what's your thoughts? Is it a good job to have?

Don't do it.

Any reason why?

I know a few. They all seem to really like their jobs.

I know of 2 people who retrained later in life to become pilots and they love it. It’s really expensive to train. There are some training opportunities offered by the airlines but they’re very competitive. I think most pilots fund themselves.

I was a military pilot and have a lot of former colleagues who are now in the airlines. It's a generally great job, though has inevitable frustrations like any other. You're welcome to PM with specific questions from him.

I imagine it's quite competitive to get into and obviously need to pass assessments etc.

Is he interested in joining the RAF and getting into it that way? I think it could be a gateway to commercial flying after he's completed his military career.

Expensive to train. Think it might be 100k. Some airlines take on trainees. Have a look at DutchPilotGirl on YouTube or her website. She tells you what was required to qualify. Previous flying experience via a ppl would probably help. Prob a great job if you are with a good company. Being in charge of a £100 million aircraft must be a great feeling

My friend's son has done this and now works for Easyjet - he chose them as he only wanted to work short haul to be closer to home. His parents took out a second mortgage to cover the training costs, but he is repaying this gradually. Loves his job, and he does get a discount on a certain number of annual flights that can be used by close family. I think it's a good job in terms of job security once you're trained.

Bigjet TV on YouTube is a great channel with live chat for all things aviation. Several pilots follow it and are happy to answer questions.

BIG JET TV

Once dated a pilot, the conversation was honestly all about planes 😂 when they roll by with the meals on wheels I always remember him saying more than once lol that pilots are given different meals to everyone else, obligatory ask why is that? In case of food poisoning. Thanks for making me chuckle. He did love his job. I know another couple of guys who ended up becoming commercial helicopter pilots and that looks fun. I think an airline pilot would be a grand job but only if they were genuinely interested in the workings / engineering of the plane, not just flying it.

My DS is currently training to be a commercial pilot. Something he has wanted since he was a small dc. The course is 2 years long, and there seems to be long delays for training on the planes, due to a backlog of training student pilots.
The ground school, theory part, is very intense as an almost overwhelming amount of information to learn! He has 26 exams to complete his ATPL licence in order to fly commercially. Which hopefully he will complete within 7 months.

Br prepared it is very expensive, the fees are north of £120k!

Hopefully once qualified there is a lot of opportunities for jobs as there is currently a shortage of trained pilots. Be aware though that airlines like BA are training their own pilots, so that may limit options if he wanted to work for British airways.

Also he will need to pass a strict medical (class 1 medical) to even study the course and this is repeated annually once qualified.

Good luck whatever he decides!

I can't wait for my ds to qualify, I'll be amazingly proud of him 🙂

Fortish years as a pilot military then civil so might be able to help but no longer current so my knowledge is a bit dated.

It's now can be very expensive to train via the civvie route and you need to be very careful with the slick sales pitches you get from some flying training organisations - they want your money.

There are some crap jobs out there for the newbies..at the reputable operators it can be a good gig but it's a senority driven industry and the first few years can be hard at some companies due to perhaps flying less popular rosters and routes.

Life style can vary massively company to company (due to T&Cs and rostering) and even within a company if they have shorthaul alongside longhaul fleets.

It's a decently to very well paid job but it is not a job for someone who doesn't cope well with working under time pressure, likes predictable shifts, can't cope with disruption or (especially Longhaul) needs to sleep.in their own bed every night.

BTW job security got mentioned - don't rely on it, it's a highly cyclical industry.

@thecatislying certainly happy to answer any DMs

You have to be a "fit to fly" so just be aware it's a risk that if you develop a health condition the career could be over. Happened to a friend who after an illness developed chronic fatigue syndrome.

@notanothernamechangemother

Also he will need to pass a strict medical (class 1 medical) to even study the course and this is repeated annually once qualified.

That's a really good point which I should have mentioned.

There's no point an individual investing massive amounts of time and certainly no cash in chasing the career until they know they can hold a Class One medical.

The requirements aren't at astronaut level but you do need decent eyesight, hearing and a reasonsbly sound cardiovascular system.

Surely it's got it's highs and lows?

Yep, probably 10-20% of the people I started flying with way back left the career early due to failing routine medicals for some reason or another (typically diabetes, almost trivial heart complaints, etc).

You can take out loss of licence insurance but that'll only provide you with enough dosh to allow you to retrain as a whatever, it won't replace multiple years of lost income.

Thank you so much, especially to those who have first hand experience. The cost of qualifying is daunting, but getting his PPL seems like a doable first step. I do think it would suit him. Huge decision to make though.

My husband is a pilot, but flies his own light aircrafts. He found that for himself, commercial flying boring , not challenging and the pay isnt as great as people imagine. So for years he has done air racing and especially loves aerobatics, competing in competitions all over, it's an expensive hobby.

Might he consider training via the military? Once selected, the actual flying is more varied and challenging and many ex-military pilots move into the civil world at the end of their careers.

You don’t have to have a PPL but it obviously helps. That’s about £13000

What if the pilots meals give them food poisoning though? Or do the pilot and co pilot have different meals?

That what I did and there are definite pros but also very definite cons.

Go military and the training and flying can be the best you'll ever have, though I believe it can take an age to get through training ATM, that's maybe a point someone else can address, also ultimately you go/fly whatever the posters want you to fly, you may have little choice

Go civvie and you'll probably be on-line in under two years...the flying won't be as challenging as the mil can offer and yes, there's potential for boredom at times.

However the airlines, especially the big ones are really senority driven, senority being based on date of joining...so if an individual eventually switches mil to civvie they join the airline right back at the bottom of the pay/rostering/years to command heap, alongside the just ex flying school newbie.

How fast they then progress off the bottom depends on the airline and the economy, so there's no avoiding thatplanning mil > civvie carries risks...

IMO Unless an in dividual really yearns to fly something green and fast the best bet is for them to get into civvie training, into a good airline and get moving up the senority scale ASAP, all the time keeping ingers crossed that the economy holds up.

The pilot and first officer get given separate meals to avoid food poisoning.

I seem.to remember food poisoning being in the plot of 80s classic film airplane! Maybe that's where it comes from?

Do you need to worry about radiation? I thought one short haul was the equivalent of an x-ray?