Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunroof
So are these large modern airliners truely that simple to fly, even land?
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Go back and have your daughter put you in rough weather over the Pacific with an engine fire and controllability issues, flight attendants calling constantly asking how soon until landing, company dispatcher asking what your plan is, air traffic control asking what your intentions are, your copilot looking at you hoping you really do know your stuff and can handle the barrage of requests from all those people while you assess your options. (Add your corporate responsibility--the millions of lawsuit settlement dollars at stake if you screw it up.) Then have the sim instructor nag you for your plan too, which is what they do during annual training. Just when you think you have a good plan the instructor, if he/she is a sadistic SOB, will add another little "Easter egg" (as I like to call such surprises) to your list of STD (S hit To Do). Oh, and add to that the relentless cost pressure to do more for less ("productivity") and then come back and ask that question.
Yes, day to day these airplanes are a cinch to get around*. Sunshine, calm winds, great crew, no traffic, no nothing but the joy of a day aloft, and the job seems too good to be true. Those are the kind of days where you wonder why anyone would pay a pilot to do the job. Bump back up to the scenario above and then you see why pilots get paid. Airplanes have gotten "easier" to fly over the years and much more reliable but just ask Captain Sullenberger how reliable they are when there's goose meat clogging both engines at low altitude over central New York City.
Have your daughter make you sweat for your life and then come back and tell us what you think!
Airline pilots are their own worst enemy in that many of us love to strut around arrogantly, making it look like we have the easiest job in the world. Just because we want you to think it's so easy doesn't mean it is.
And don't eat crew meals. They are full of awful chemicals and other crap that is supposed to shorten your life.
*Factor in the decade(s) of flight training and experience required before anyone gets into the good paying airline pilot jobs.