Hari Sanil
World Traveler, Supersonic Transporter, Jetlined, Captain With Four Stripes
Just a couple of things we won't tell you-
1. Our pay: You'd be surprised how little airline pilots make. The salary for pilots is based on their rank/seniority. Unless you are a senior captain who is making 200k a year working for some Middle Eastern airline, pilots usually make about 60-80k a year. When you start off as a junior first officer, you'd make 20k.
2. Our struggle: We get up there, we open the doors, and we smile at passengers coming into the plane. That smile masks the sleepless nights and horrible jet lag we've been having, not to mention the lack of 'real' food and the continuous stress day and night. We don't tell you that we got no sleep and we're flying this plane half-awake because we don't want to scare you. Next time you disembark, give the pilots or the flight attendants a wave, or even better- a thank you.
3. We don't have to eat airline food: Yes, you read that right! Flight attendants give us special meals, so that if the airline food shipment was contaminated, we won't get sick. Also, the captain and the first officer have to take different meals; this is to prevent us from getting sick, because if the chicken is contaminated, and we both take it, we'd both get sick and we might even be incapable to fly. Captain gets to select first, but usually they let first officers choose first.
4. You won't be seeing us in a couple decades: I'm deeply saddened by the fact that planes today basically fly themselves. All we do is the math, the paperwork, and the PanAm smile. The flight is taken care of by itself. Pilots still land the plane 99% of the time, but with ILS the landing procedure will go extinct in a few years. Sure, we still get to push the throttle and fire the plane into the sky, but even that is falling prey to rapid advancements in technology.
5. The satisfaction we get from flying you guys: I just love that feeling of landing a plane and taxiing to the gate, waiting for the passengers to disembark. And when they get off, the sheer satisfaction of getting them there safely is unmatchable. The pay might not be extravagant, and the stress can be high, but it's worth the smile on the passengers when they reach their destinations.
I hope I helped!
