Flight Training - December 2014 - 4

RIGHT SEAT

By Ian J. Twombly
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Publisher | Mark Baker

AN AVIATION CAREER IS STILL WORTH IT

t's no wonder so many people want to make aviation a career.
Flying for a living represents a perfect example of the American
Dream. Practically anyone who works hard enough can learn
to ﬂy, progress through the ratings, instruct, and get a job ﬂying
for the airlines. Then it's an upgrade to captain, bigger airplanes, longer
routes, more time off, better pay, a house in the suburbs, two cars, two
kids, and a dog. It's upward social mobility speciﬁed by a contract.
Which isn't always a good thing. It
seems every working pilot has a story of
a colleague who advanced not through
skill, but through the love-hate arrangement that is seniority. With thousands of
pilots ﬂying for most airlines, seniority
is probably the only fair way to guarantee mobility, coordinate scheduling, and
administer layoffs. That it will sometimes work to your beneﬁt and other
times cause you frustration is inevitable.
Regardless of how you feel about it, your

dream for what it is-a unique privilege
that has similar downsides to any job.
They have the ability to separate ﬂying
from the unsavory aspects of the job.
Some captains even implement rules on
the ﬂight deck that more or less forbid
talk of anything related to the company.
When that door closes, it's all about the
art and science of ﬂight-just like it's been
since the ﬁrst entry in the logbook.
Flight Training columnist Bob Schmelzer reminds me of this all the time. Bob

THE HAPPIEST PILOTS ARE THOSE WHO
STILL LOVE THE FLYING, WHO STILL EMBRACE
THE DREAM FOR WHAT IT IS-A UNIQUE
PRIVILEGE THAT HAS SIMILAR DOWNSIDES
TO ANY JOB.
seniority number-based on the date you
are hired-will rule your career. Many
pilots can't get over the politics of seniority, the union, and management. What
results is Captain Grumpy, who advises
against a ﬂying career-even if he has
done well for himself.
While it may be true that being an
airline pilot has lost much of its glamour, the most important perk of the job
remains-the ﬂying. The thrill of 40,000
pounds of thrust kicking you in the back,
being able to look at weather from above,
cruising at three-quarters of the speed
of sound six miles above the Earth, and
the incredible technical and mental
challenge of mastering an airplane that
can weigh more than a locomotive, will
always be there.
The happiest pilots are those who still
love the ﬂying, who still embrace the

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

is a Boeing 777 check airman, and he's
always sending me photos of new pilots
he's checked out on the way to or from his
normal route to China. The smiles remind
me of ﬁrst solo photos.
Setting up a career plan can make one
prone to anxiety. There's the time, the
money, maybe giving up a good job-and
that's all before the self-doubt begins.
Despite aviation's seemingly mysterious
hiring practices and unsure marketplace,
it holds an advantage few other careers
can claim. As you weigh the very real ups
and downs of a ﬂying career, you need
only ask yourself one simple question. Do
you truly love to ﬂy? If so, go for it. Everything else will work itself out.
Email Editor Ian J. Twombly at ian.twombly@aopa.
org; Twitter: ijtwombly; and visit Flight Training on
Facebook.

Senior VP, Media/Editor in Chief | Thomas B. Haines
Editor | Ian J. Twombly
Editor at Large | Thomas A. Horne
Managing Editor | Julie Summers Walker
Technical Editors | Mike Collins, Jill W. Tallman
Senior Editors | Dave Hirschman, Alton K. Marsh
Media Production Specialist | Sylvia Horne
Executive Assistant | Miriam E. Stoner
Contributors | Pete Bedell, Greg Brown, LeRoy Cook,
Budd Davisson, Rod Machado, Dan Namowitz, Wayne
Phillips, Bob Schmelzer, Jack Williams

eMedia Managing Editor | Alyssa J. Miller
eMedia Editor | Sarah Deener
eMedia Associate Editor | Jim Moore
eMedia Production Assistant | Melissa Whitehouse

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Flight Training - December 2014

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