Pilotpip

This job is the easiest in the world when everything is going right. However we're paid for when it doesn't. How often do we have to start thinking outside the box to make sure we have enough fuel? Where are we going to divert? What's plan B/C/D? A doctor screws up and he doesn't die. A doctor screws up and he doesn't kill 20+ people, just 1.

It will be a while before the investigation is done on the CAL aircraft in DEN but this is fact: EVERYBODY SURVIVED. That crew had everything to do with that fact.

syd111

PIlotpip, I have to disagree when you say the investigation is not done yet in den but then assume the crew had everything to do with all the pax surviving. I hope the crew had everything to do with the pax surviving but in reality we have no idea what cauced the accident or how or why they survived. Jmo!

alvrb211

"Figuring out" surgery?

You'll study very intense med exams for several years before you lead a team in an operating theater.


I'm certain most Doctors would find studying for their 757 type relatively easy compared to their Med studies. I know my AME would even though he only has his private instrument.

The FAA ATP and a few weeks at Higher Power wouldn't stress him out after all he's been through!

Get real man. Airline Pilots are NOT Doctors!

Pilots ARE professionals bearing tremendous responsibility deserving of respect from airline management and the travelling public. However, you'd have to be delusional to believe Pilots=Medical Doctors.

AL

Romulus

Then explain the phrase "Coming down faster than a Bonanza full of doctors".

Laxrox43

Allegiant

Base FO: $41/hr
Capt Cap: $115/hr (in 10 years)

GW258

So true for so many years. ALPA is a destination for pilots who want to do better than the contracts they sign for the rest of us.

RockyBoy

First, I never said airline pilots ARE doctors. Obviously we are not, we are pilots.

Second, getting a 757 type from higher power and getting a job flying a 757 for a major airline are two different things here. I'm just saying that I believe the schooling required to become a major airline pilot or a doctor are about equal. If I would have went to med school when I was 19, I could have become a doctor much faster than it took to become qualified to fly a 757 for a major airline. We are also comparing apples to oranges here because doctors study years of crap they will never use again once they get into their field of specialty. If they required a heart surgeon to just study stuff that applies to that specialty and not stuff like gynogology, their schooling would probably be cut in half. Most of the stuff we study will be used for the rest of our careers.

Scoop

Under routine conditions neither should be difficult with proper training and experience. Now the guy that juggles on a unicycle high upon a tightrope, he deserves a payraise.

Scoop

BoeingTanker

**** deleted******

I'm tired of talking to people who are only interested in themselves and just twist other peoples words.

To all the people who just *itch all the time: GO GET A LIFE or get involved to make things better.

Happy New Year to all.

emsgoof

Wow... just wow.
It took you over 2 years of full time study to get your private pilot license? Because that's what it is to be a paramedic- 2 years of college. Plus over a year of other required state and federal training for fire / emergency medical services.
It took me 4 months of flying 2-3 days a week to get my private, and then another month to get my instrument, rating, and I wasn't pushing myself at all.
Having said that, I do think being a paramedic and being a pilot (commercial, not recreational) are similar experiences. You need a large amount of specialized training, which a majority of will never be used. However, every now and then you're required to use every last bit of knowledge and experience you have to ensure a successful outcome to your incident / flight. Remember, you just "push a button" to get from point A to point B. I just drive the ambulance.
That being said, I am tired of firefighters also putting up with ridiculous pay rates ($25,000 in NYC, $30,000 in DC?!?) because they "love" the job, and happily take on second, third, and even fourth jobs just to make ends meet. Sound familiar? Yes, I'd love to be a commercial pilot. Yes, I am working towards that goal. But I will never belittle my choice of career because it's "easy" (my current profession, or my choice of profession that I'm working towards). Anything is easy when it's going well. You have to continually prove that what you do is hard, and that you deserve a higher pay rate. I get flak for people finding out I only work 90 days a year. What they don't take into consideration is those 90 days a year include being exposed to hazardous materials, fires, rescues, disease that the leading hospitals in the world can't treat (not just the common cold...), the list goes on. And that's just while I'm not doing my routine job duties, or going to continuing education classes that I don't get paid to go to - which can be anywhere in the state, normally NOT at my job location.
Remember, the grass is always greener on the other side until you find out it was just painted cement. No, I'm not looking for sympathy or e-tears. Just calling it like it is.