Why I Left my Dream Job as an Airline Pilot after 8 years of Flying

It’s the 9th of July 2019, 1 PM, A routine short afternoon flight. I’m in my Pilot Uniform, drove to the airport a bit earlier than my reporting time, to pass by Management and . . . hand off my Resignation!

Walking into the Operations Building, fast and intense heartbeats, hands almost shaking and all I can see is a flashback of every single daydream and every struggle I’ve ever had during my journey to get this job, an Airline Pilot. Despite all of the daydreaming and struggle I experienced, I’m still 100% sure and confident about what I want, quit flying for airlines, as my frustration, disappointment, and tiredness grew much stronger than ever.

I’m sure the first thing that came to your mind after reading the first paragraph is: “ Why Did you quit ! its everyone’s dream job “

Well, it’s true, one day it was my dream job. Also, I’ve personally met people who quit their amazing jobs ( Police Officers, Petroleum Engineers, Software Engineers, Pharmacists and Even Doctors ! ) to become Pilots! I’ve always been wondering why people get impressed and excited when I tell them I’m an airline pilot. Well, I realized that’s because of the way everybody is looking at this job :

1. Highly-paid.
2. You get paid to travel!
3. Prestigious & socially respected.
4. Not all people can do it.
5. Non-routine job, full of fun and excitement.

Hmm, I might have a different opinion about it, let’s discuss each point from above.

1- Highly Paid :

Before I started my flight school, I was like everybody else, convinced that an airline pilot is the highest paid job in the world, and I didn’t even think about any of the disadvantages or the downs of the job.

Ok, here’s a list by CareerAddict.Com for the 10 highest paid jobs in the world :

1. Anaesthesiologist
2. Surgeon
3. Physician
4. Orthodontist
5. Dentist
6. Engineering Manager
7. IT Systems Manager
8. Corporate Lawyer
9. Marketing Manager
10. Software Engineer

Don’t read it twice! Airline Pilot is not even in the top 10! but one can say, it still pays good, I agree. But for me, it was not worth the cons! Plus, the cost of being a pilot is at least 2X that cost to be any of the previously mentioned jobs! Pilots are always at a very high risk of losing their careers. pilots should always meet many strict physical requirements, pilots under 40 get medical checks every year & above 40 every 6 months.

Pilots also undergo practical proficiency checks every 6 months that you may fail and lose your career. Even in the everyday routine, 1 mistake and you’re out of the whole career ( if you’re still alive ).

2- You get paid to travel:

Most people think that all of the flights are layovers, for a couple of days !!. Well, that’s not true. I flew for 8 years on the Boeing 737–800 in a flag carrier airline, we used to fly to Europe, Middle East & Africa. A lot and Big variety of destinations, but as long as the flight leg does not exceed a certain amount of flying time, it’s not a layover, so we only got around 8 layovers, 99% of them were only for 24 hours. I’d only have a maximum of 2 layovers per month! The rest of our flights are same-day returns, we only get to stay one hour in the plane in the destination airport which is almost enough time to prepare the plane for the return flight.

And that’s how it works everywhere else ! even in Major airlines & bigger, longer-range aircraft, airlines do their best to limit layovers as much as they can to reduce costs. Imagine landing after a 5 hours flight as a passenger, how tired do you feel ? you will need at least a nap after that, right? well, imagine you’ve been working those 5 hours + 2 hours before for reporting time + at least 1 more hour before those for waking up, getting ready, commuting to work? how tired would you be feeling?

well, that’s what most of the flight crew do after arriving at layover destination, if you’re lucky and your flight arrives at a proper time of the day, either shower, change clothes, and run to the city for food, walk and necessary shopping (flight crews usually go to the same restaurant, walking street, shops, maybe even same shopping items every single layover ) and run back to the hotel to get good night sleep for the return flight in the morning, or go nap directly after landing, and wake up late at night when everything is closed, and you will not be able to sleep properly at night for the return flight in the morning. Remember, those scenarios don’t include jet-lag, which will be different tiredness.

after a while, I got bored with layovers at the same destinations over and over again, each time only for 24 hours, no time to discover the city, no time for anything. so I started traveling on my own. Trying to escape work every month as many days as I could so that I can travel somewhere new. Well, the only perk that saved me there was free tickets & jump seat flights. However, I always hated traveling for leisure in uniform so I stopped using the jump seat flights and only used free tickets to get the feeling of traveling as a normal passenger again.

3- Prestigious & socially respected :

I can’t lie, this one is true. The pilot uniform is enticing. The idea of being the commander, flying this huge machine in the skies is attractive. Pilots go through a lot of mind-blowing studies and training, undergo proficiency checks twice a year where you may pass or fail and lose your job, pilots suffer a lot of stress and difficult situations that require fast thinking and decisions. But at the end of the day, it’s just a normal job like any other job.

4- Not all people can do it :

I have to say this is untrue. I believe any human being can learn anything and be professional at any job he desires, it only takes the will and passion. Pilots are normal people, not superhumans. Yes its tough and skillful job, requires a lot of focus, concentration, and practice. But eventually, you will do it . some pilots solo after their 9th hour of flying, some solo after the 20th, but they eventually do . and there is nothing like a good pilot and a bad pilot, pilots are all the same level as we are required to maintain a standard level of professionalism and skills.

5- Non-routine job, full of fun and excitement :

Many people hate their routine jobs, waking up every day at 6 to report to work at 8, finish by 5, go home and repeat. They think being a pilot and having a messed up roster, some flights at night, some in the afternoon, others in the morning, flying to a different destination every day makes it a non-routine and fun job. Well, believe me, you should be 100 times thankful for your 8 to 5 job. You have no idea how it feels waking up one day at 3 am and the next day you have a flight at 3 pm. how you should reverse the biological clock of your body in less than 24 hours so you’re able to sleep again before your next flight. How tiring it is to fly all night and sleep all day and then wake up at night like a vampire. how it feels to have 3-night flights in a row, missing a 3 nights sleep leaving you looking like a zombie with a chance for depression. No thank you, I definitely prefer the routine 8–5 job.

Add to these that you will probably miss 75% of your social life. National & Religious Holidays, Birthdays & weddings. Be ready to spend most of these stuck in a cockpit, 30,000+ feet high. Even your friend’s or family gatherings/outings, you will miss most of those too. you will miss most of your children growing up moments, the first time they talk, the first time they crawl, walk … etc.

And guess what, flying to a different destination every day is routine too! Because you do the same things every day no matter if your destination is different. being a pilot is only about following the manuals, rules, and regulations. you follow the steps in the airplane manual to prepare, startup, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, and landing ! you can NEVER be creative, or thinking out of the box or it will cost you your life + other 150 souls on board!

So you’re just following a strict guideline or a checklist. airline pilots are required to use the autopilot in all phases of flight, only takeoff & landing we do it manually which is the only interesting and exciting part in each flight. so during the cruise, we are literally doing NOTHING. We’re just monitoring the screens, systems and carefully monitoring communication frequencies. We’re just staring at some screens. Now imagine you’re stuck in the cockpit for 5 hours with an unpleasant captain, or first officer. Believe me, it will feel like 5 days, not 5 hours, you’re simply stuck, you have nowhere to go, even your breaks are limited to the minimum in the bathroom and some stretching in the front galley. At the same time, you are required to keep the standard levels of calmness, awareness, and professionalism.

Now, after 8 years of flying, how I truly see it :

1. Underpaid with High risk of losing your career.
2. Traveling as a Pilot is just sleeping in a different city twice a month
3. Any human can learn and succeed in any profession, it only takes will and passion, but not anyone can survive the pilot’s lifestyle.
4. Social distancing, sleep-depriving, and restrictive job.

Why exactly did I quit airline flying? well, I was fed up with sleep deprivation, losing many nights' sleep, sleeping in the afternoon and waking up at night. fed up with missing social events with my friends and family like national & religious holidays, birthdays & weddings because of my job. had enough of my job controlling my life. Tired of being hanged 30,000+ feet up in the sky, stuck in a tiny cockpit every day.

When I quit, I was a couple of months close to finally getting upgraded to a Boeing 777 First Officer, a bigger long-range plane that flies further distances. I’ve always heard from pilots who used to fly it, that there you literally don’t have a life. 90% of the flights are layovers. so you got to imagine, short layovers + jet lags all month long . I’ve always heard stories from those pilots that they didn’t even notice their babies growing up because of flying, missing all the amazing moments with them when they needed their dads the most. and that was when I was expecting a baby. which was another strong reason for me to quit. I don’t want to be like them, I want to be there as much as I can for my baby. Watch her grow up without missing anything as much as I can. I want to live s simple, quiet and stable life. I don’t care about the so assumed prestige, money or fun of the job.

However, I’m thankful & proud of the past 8 years & 4800 hours of flying as an airline pilot, it identified the person I’m today, gave me the chance to meet amazing people and make friends all over the world, added a lot to my knowledge and experiences, taught me discipline and safety. I’m thankful and grateful to every instructor and every captain gave me even a tiny piece of information or added something to my experience. I believe pilots are heroes, sacrificing a huge part of having a normal life, for their work and passion. Life is all about choices and satisfaction. This was my decision and my own choice that I took a lot of time to have the guts to make it. You too should think in your own way based on your own personality, because in the end only you will enjoy its advantages & suffer its consequences. Flying will forever be my biggest passion. I’ll definitely continue flying, as a flight instructor or just for fun.