Is becoming a Commercial Pilot worth it ?
Commercial Pilot as a career is very different compared to other careers. It is not like becoming a doctor or an engineer where you have to sit 9 to 5 in an office(don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate engineers and doctors).
Initial Challenges
Commercial Pilot offers a lot of challenges to the person. It starts when one begins their training and is with you till the end of your career. The initial investments required(INR 5 million-INR 10 million), the hardwork and patience required during the training phase definitely puts a lot of pressure on the cadet. Many are not able to take so much pressure and bail out of the training.
It is a very risky career. Both job and life are at stake at any point of time. Any minor mistake from their side may lead to them getting grounded for a few months and major mistakes may lead to them getting their licence suspended permanently or maybe even losing their and the passenger’s life.
Challenges other than Finance
Apart from the finance, the pilots have to take a lot a care of their health. No one wants to be grounded just because of a bad health. They have to maintain their health in changing conditions. They are constantly exposed to cosmic radiations in the air. The job duration can be very high some days and very low some days. Some days a pilot may operate 4-5 sectors and some day just 1-2 and trust me, doing 4-5 sectors in a day is very tiring. Change in air pressure 4-5 times a day has very adverse effects on the human body and with these effects they also have to take care of their health as well.
With this tiresome due to multiple sectors in a day, a pilot has to perform his/her best in every single sector. Hence, it is a very responsible job and not everyone can do it.
After a long day, they still visit the gym(the gym-holics)and keep themselves fit.
Lifestyle
Pilots may have to stay away from their families for anywhere between 1-15 days. In the beginning, if a pilot is a bachelor and stays alone, then they may not face any problem staying away from their homes. They feel it’s better to fly rather than just sit at home alone. But, once a pilot gets a family, a wife/husband, children or maybe if they have to look after their parents, it then gets to them. They may have to stay away from their families on important occasions and festivals as well.
Their sleep cycles and ruined at times since there is no regular sleep pattern. They are rostered to fly at any time of the day and hence they have to sleep accordingly.
Even though the career brings a lot of money but money cannot suffice everything.
If you would have talked to pilots in your life, one thing you would have heared from them is “flying is my passion”. That is very true. No one in right mind would choose such a career if they would not love it from the core of their heart. Only then would such a stressful life would not be a burden to them but rather it would be a dream come true. Only then will they be able to handle such a life.
So, to answer your question, “Is it worth it?”. Well, if aviation and flying is your passion and if you have the means to achieve it, both academically and financially, then just go for it. Achieve your dreams. Everything will be worth it in the end.