Life as a pilot may certainly seem fun and glamorous when you see it play out on television, but the reality can be quite difficult. Of course, that’s not to say that being a pilot is a bad occupation all around. However, there are lots of aspects of the job that make it incredibly difficult, and many people have no idea of what all is entailed.
Here are some of the main reasons why the life of a commercial pilot can be incredibly challenging – both in preparing for it and while living it.
It Requires Intense Studying
Sure, studying for anything is difficult and time consuming, but studying and training to become a pilot is a whole different ball game. Not only is it incredibly difficult, but it also requires a lot of time spent on actually learning and studying as the tech changes rapidly. In addition, students are required to put in a significant amount of time to train and actually learn how the aircrafts work in practice. Only once trainees clock up a certain number of hours of training are they allowed to become licensed pilots.
The other thing that many people often don’t know is that studying to become a pilot is an incredibly costly exercise. Flight training is incredibly costly because of the machinery that’s required to get it done, and often, pilots end up having to take out massive loans to be able to pay for their training.
You Spend a Lot of Time Away from Home
As a commercial pilot, you spend loads of time away from home, travelling from city to city and country to country. To make things more gruelling, stopovers in the different countries and cities are generally quite short, making the job very intense. Of course, sometimes pilots get the chance to spend some time wherever they’re stopping over – they may even have enough time to do some sightseeing or enjoy a few activities like Grand National betting online. But overall, it can make things quite difficult for pilots’ social and family lives too.
Massive Responsibility
Being a pilot means that you’re responsible for all the people that are on your plane. They’re all relying on you, your training, your diligence and your responsibility to get from point A to point B in one piece. Thus, there’s a lot of pressure on pilots to always perform to the best of their ability, because they have literal lives at stake.
Competition
Pilots’ flying training programs are incredibly competitive, and often, trainees are competing for limited numbers of spots available at training facilities.
Furthermore, the industry is also competitive when it comes to finding jobs. Therefore, you need to be ready to put in the time and effort to find yourself the perfect job.
Physical and Mental Demands
While some flights are short, others can be incredibly long. Thus, pilots need to be both mentally and physically strong in order to be able to get through the entire flight. And, if you’re a commercial pilot that flies regularly, it’s imperative that you keep fit and active, and that you maintain your mental capacity.
