what is a pilots life like?

Question

as in how many days are you away then home? what is it like in a cackpit? is it fun? when your not flying , what are you doing?

i want to know evrything you can think of

Answer 1

This is a subject with many answers. The airline life is the one I know the best so here goes.

There are two different airline lifestyles. The commuter, and the person who's based at his pilot base. The commuter spends 8-23 nights away from home each month, depending on the type of equipment (ie flying the 737 shuttle vice the 777 international) and his place on the senority list for that seat and base. The pilot living at his base gets 3-4 more nights at home.

For the guys junior in the seat, there is reserve, sitting around waiting for a call to come in and fly. If you live at your base this can be awesome. I have spent months doing this and getting called for maybe 5 days of flying. I have also done this as a commuter and it sucks. Sitting around a crash pad for 5 days and not getting called can really bore the heck out of you.

With more seniority, the lines of flying can make a great difference. A commuter can bid a schedule that is "commutable" and come in the morning his trip starts. If it's "back end commutable" that means you can get home the night your trip finishes.

In general, the life in the cockpit is like it shows in the movies. It's checklist driven, organized and polite. The one thing you're not going to see in the movies is the boredom of the long legs. If you're flying from New York to LA, thats a lot of time to fill with activity. The pilots spend a lot of time just talking about flying, the news, the various levels of pulchratude present in the flight attendant group, and their lives. If you partner with a guy for a few 4 day trips, you get to know him to a degree. The one thing it's NOT like is TOP GUN. Discipline and professionalism are key to the job, and are upheld.

As far as the time off, it's nice. This is one job you just leave at work when you go home. You may have to study for a day prior to your annual simulator, and you do have to study for upgrade or a change in equipment, but that's really it. A benifit you get is the jumpseat. This really can make a big difference in the activities of your free time.

Answer 2

You can plan on 3-4 trips consisting of 3-4 days per month... The cockpit is awesome, working together with your copilot, flying the airplane, communicating with ATC, going over checklists, and yes its VERY fun... when your not flying in the cockpit, the airplane is on autopilot and you can read or have a conversation with you copilot, if you mean when your not flying and at home, its the same as any other person, you just get more days off at a time than most people... Many times, when a pilot gets back from a trip, they will head to an office to help plan flights, in terms of flightplans for other pilots or just head for home and relax... Note that early on, you make almost nothing... high 20,000 - mid 30,000 range... but if your anything like me, you would do it for free..,

Answer 3

That would depend on what kind of flying you have in mind.
For long-haul airlines, you can be gone a couple weeks each month. On short-haul i.e.commuter airlines, you will fly the same route(s) over, and over, and over. That can get old, however, you do have a little more home stability. Plus, you're building time to move on to better jobs. Personally, I would find airline flying routine to almost boring. Some guys enjoy it though. It's really up to your personality.
Fun? well, there's worse jobs than flying for a living. For commercial aircraft, you're pretty much monitoring what's happening with the jet, the traffic, and Air Traffic Control (ATC).
Finally, you won't make much at it, initially. Contrary to the lesser-educated remarks made here.
The best way to find out is to take some flying lessons yourself, and see if you like it.

Answer 4

Average Comm. Pilot flies around 16 days a month. Its not the regualar 9-5, m-f. You will be gone for the majority of those 16 days, but the bright side is that your home for 14 days a month on avg. It also depends on the company your working for. If your flying for a charter company, than you will be strapped to a pager and have to be 30 mins from the airport while on call, or stay at the airport if your on standby, and not allowed to drink during your on call time. So, this being social life, probaley not, but your not actually sititng at a desk job, but getting paid to be ready to go. Military life is quite different. You will be stationed all around the country, and overseas. You will not see your friends and or family very much, but will still have a quite active social life with miltary friends while not on duty.

Answer 5

Today it sucks, but fortunately, that's the exception.

In years past, I've been away from home as much as ten months a year. These days, I'm home most every night, but I have to fly a desk more than I like (management).

I fly helicopters, so yes, very fun. Because of that, the industry knows we'd fly for nothing, so we end up flying for very near that.

Answer 6

bb, you are full of it.

I flew the charter aircraft, and probably wound up being away from home more than an airline pilot. It frequently got to the point where you woke up in the morning trying to remember what town, or state, or in my very early years, what country you were in. The cockpit? That's home, where I'm most comfortable. Yes it is fun, if you love airplanes as I do. Like another said, when we're not flying, we probably do about the same things as anyone else. I'm particularly fond of boating and water activities such as SCUBA diving.

Answer 7

On domestic flights we are away 3 days at a time, international flights 4days is the norm.

It's boring in the cabin.

When not flying, we enjoy our life just like anyone else in the world, just with means.

Answer 8

The worst part was the school; I had to leave my family many days, but now I fly regional jets right around my home and get to take my kids on flights weekly.
It really is great.

Answer 9

If you're single it's awesome. If you want to have a relationship, wife or family. It can be tough.

Answer 10

what r u think of becoming a pilot? well ok. 1. most are hgih class, rich, and snobbby. 2. most are serious and dont fly for fun. 3. your away a lot. 4. stupid question.