Anyone a *commercial* pilot?

[flexy]

Probably not the ideal forum to ask...but who knows...

If here are any commercial pilots, my question is whether the job ever gets boring?

This from another forum where someone argued he doesn't understand why someone would want to become a commercial pilot?

Do the responsibilities and technical complexities of flying even allow to feel like the job has become "boring"?

Mind you..."routine"...I can see that. Really want to know whether the job becomes boring as in losing its appeal, eg negatively uneventful etc...

 

[maddogchen]

a friend flies Air Force cargo planes and he always buys tons of dvds so that he can watch them while they are in the air. Only interesting time is take off and landing, especially when they get shot at in Iraq.

 

[DarkManX]

I think I remember reading about commercial airline pilots getting in trouble for sleeping and bringing personal electronics during flights. I believe they job is pretty "boring" in most modern aircraft as the plane is basically on autopilot when its at cruising altitude.

 

[Jimzz]

Yea as said taking off and landing are the 2 places where you need 100% attention. After that autopilot and try to stay awake.

Its like being a cop. Most of the time its boring, paperwork, etc.. then 1% its full attention life on the line stuff. Biggest reason people quit being cops is boredom.

 

[Kaido]

I think I remember reading about commercial airline pilots getting in trouble for sleeping and bringing personal electronics during flights. I believe they job is pretty "boring" in most modern aircraft as the plane is basically on autopilot when its at cruising altitude.

Yeah that's what the commercial pilots I've talked to have said as well. It's largely automated & can get pretty boring, but the pay is great & you get to travel.

I do have one friend who is a commercial pilot on a small twin-engine plan for corporate use, he has a lot of fun because he gets to actually fly & it's different people, different companies, and different locations every week.

 

[mmntech]

There's still a lot of work involved in operating a modern airliner.
-Exhaustive checklists to go through to make sure everything is set and operating correctly
-Calculating weights to determine minimum takeoff/landing speeds
-Calculating the CG to make sure the plane is properly balanced
-Going over the flight plan and confirming fuel

During the flight, your work load decreases thanks to the autopilot. But you still have to pay attention because computers aren't infallible. They can't follow orders from ATC, nor can they deal with unforeseen variables like storms, turbulence, or a system failure. The risk is though that pilots become too complacent, which makes them slower to react when problems happen.

I imagine it's one of those jobs where you blink once, and everything's gone to shit.

 

[Mutilator]

Technically you should be asking if anyone is an ATP pilot since that's mainly who your question is aimed at... those are the guys flying the airliners and have a minimum of 1500 hours. Imagine that would be somewhat monotonous and like driving a Greyhound bus around for some people (minus all the idiots on the road of course). Definitely not for everyone.

Commercial pilots can have as little as 250 hours and would be anyone from flight instructors, private charter pilots, banner towers, crop dusters, etc. Basically anyone that flies and is compensated for it would be (or at least should be) a commercial rated pilot. That covers a much broader range of jobs than just flying people around from A to B in a big tube.