Working as a pilot has many rewards. However, every work has its pros and cons that you should know. Here are the negative and positive sides of being a pilot.
Pros of being a pilot
1. Freedom: Pilots are given off freedom each month. You can have 8 days without taking leave. Moreover, flying gives you power, unlike other professions. Pilots have a chance to see different places in the sky. The job is appealing for adventure lovers, you will experience a new thing. Flying aircraft is blissful and powerful.
2. Allowances: Pilots can enjoy free food, accommodation, and travel. You will get to spend time in amazing hotels and locations that will cost.
3. New skills: Flying aircraft helps you to sharpen multi-tasking skills. Further, pilots can learn how to prioritize things and manage important tasks. The skills will assist you to fulfill things in life and prosper in a career. Besides that, the allowances will help to take your family out and engage in outdoor activities.
4. Flexible job hours: Piloting is very different from obvious jobs from 9 am to 5 pm jobs. General workers spend more time in the same office and commute the same route throughout the year. Pilots enjoy flexible working hours and fly on different routes. This makes the job exciting.
5. Salary: Pilots have a good salary. They can live a comfortable life and invest. You start from a low salary then get an increment as the experience widens. This is obvious for all jobs, time is money. Some earn more than $200,000 per year.
6. Opportunity to explore: Flying is adventurous. You have unlimited opportunities of seeing stormy skies, sunsets, and visit amazing destinations. The best thing in life is flying to different places.
7. Learning experience: The aviation industry is evolving and pilots have a chance to learn. Flying keeps you working practically and theoretically. You learn about security procedures and advancements that can save lives when the situation is critical.
8. Affordable services: Pilots get a chance to travel and know the world. Therefore, they can get to know about cheap flights and tour destinations.
9. Pays hard work: The first solo flight is memorable. Pilots fly different destinations and aircraft. This is a rewarding profession that pays for your hard work.
Cons:
1. The stress of dealing with lives: Taking off the engine is exciting. Nevertheless, hundreds of lives are in your hands. Situations can be stressful.
2. Affect family relationship: Flight schedules affect special occasions like graduations, anniversaries, and birthdays. This may affect family relationships hence cause conflicts. Sometimes you even Miss Christmas, New Year, and Easter.
3. Medical tests: Failure in the medical exam may end the whole career. Pilots are supposed to be tested for 6 to 12 months of recurrent training.
4. Irregular routines: The irregular routines can destroy the relationship at home. Aviation is not aware of weekends and holidays. For this reason, it can cause loneliness and unstable relationship hence interfering with your self-esteem.
5. Life decision: It is not easy to change airlines because the salary will be affected. Henceforth, pilots fly similar airlines till they retire.
6. Expensive: Attending flight school is expensive. Not everybody who wishes to be a pilot can afford it. It is not easy to get senior jobs as a fresh pilot. You begin to fly small airlines with low salaries and move to the next step.
It’s nice that you pointed out how flying an aircraft could help you sharpen your multi-tasking skills. I’ve always wanted to learn how to fly a plane, so I have decided to finally learn now that I am older. I heard you could get floatplane training now, so I’d like to try that out first.