Are you dreaming of becoming a pilot? Yes! It’s such a cool feeling to fly an airplane and understand that it’s your job, right? I really love what I’m doing. But have you ever thought about the challenges I face being a pilot? Ok, I’m not counting the ‘wake up, say, at 3 am, drinking lots of coffee and travel around the world and meet so many different nationalities’ 🙂 these are the exciting part of the challenges :). Today, I want to go deeper and show you some of the cons that almost every aviator faces. Let’s take a look:
- Jet-lagged – Can you imagine that you landed in Tokyo, where the time difference to your actual time zone is about 6 hours, and you have, say, 24 hours layover? Yeah, it seems wow, that’s cool, new exciting experience, but in fact, it’s not that cool, trust me. You are craving a nap because you have been awake for a long time. You took-off when it was morning, you landed when it’s late at night, you are super tired and your day is actually lost. Not that a good idea, right? 🙁
- Away from family/friends – this can be a challenge for a lot of pilots who also have children. And so many people keep asking me how I manage to stay in touch with my family, friends, loved ones. Well, this is a century of technology, thanks to it, I’m always in touch with them. But if you have children, they are going to miss you a lot, trust me.
- Stand-by days – these can be tough. This is kind of you have a day off, but you don’t. You can be called any time to operate a flight. You can’t schedule almost anything.
- Keeping fit – for me to be healthy and to stay fit is a priority, and I exercise almost every day for at least 30 minutes. Eating healthy and care about your skin is a must for the pilots because they’re exposed to radiation most of the time. For some pilots, keeping fit and excising is also challenging, as they get tired a lot, especially after long-haul flights.
No matter what challenges pilots may face, don’t change your mind to become an aviator. I just gave you some insights into your dream job. Remember, aviation requires entire love and dedication, and if you really love this fantastic field, go for it, and make your dream come true.
Until next time, and as always, “We Speak Aviation.”
