re: What’s it like being an airline pilot?

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Do you ever have stressful moments where you thought the plane was going to crash?

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Stressful moments, yes, especially in shitty weather during the landing phase (strong winds and heavy turbulence, low visibility due to heavy rain, snow or fog), but I never think the plane is going to crash. If you’re in a position to where you think the plane may crash, you have entered a situation that you should extract yourself from immediately (go-around) and you should try to never put the aircraft in that situation in the first place.

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Do you usually get along well with other pilots and crew?

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Yeah, pretty much. Most pilots are pretty cool people, especially the younger ones that I fly with (first officers) and the flight attendants. Of course there’s the occasional weirdos like in every industry, and the occasional captains that think they’re God’s gift to aviation and micromanage the shite out of their first officers.

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Ever enjoy the destination you fly to or do you have to turn around and leave right away?

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Our trips are a combination of shorter and longer layovers. Some only 12 hours, some over 20 hours. But a lot of times we get in too late to do anything, like 10 pm to midnight. Sometimes we have time to do some day drinking or a few drinks before bed. I don’t drink heavily during trips, I save that for home.

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Does doing checks before takeoff become monotonous?

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Nah, checklists and standardization are great. It ensures that you don’t forget anything important in all phases of flight. Checklists are essential to safety of flight.

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It's probably very stressful.
You have to wake up every day, determined to tell every person in the world that you're a pilot.

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AhhhhOOOOH!

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I don't think I've ever made a sound that I would describe like that

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Definitely gives me inspiration to continue my flight training.

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I met an old classmate at DAL that used to be an F/A-18 pilot for the USMC. As a pilot doing cargo, he was getting paid so little he'd been crashing on people's couches.

Oh wow. That’s not good at all. Yikes.
I thought cargo paid quite well. A video I recently watched said UPS pays $401/hour.
Who does your friend fly with?

BHtiger posted on here a few years back where he hit a flock of geese while landing in Florida I think and badly damaged the front of his plane. Maybe he can link the post??

So many variables such as the airline, the aircraft you’re on, etc. but I think most like the job.
I fly internationally (mostly Asia) so my day at work is a lot different than my domestic peers. We almost always have 24 hrs in the layover city but typically need 2 rest cycles. The FAs are mostly senior so you can draw your own conclusions. It’s not for everyone and some guys strictly do domestic flying.
The most common emergencies we have are medical events (passengers) that require us to divert enroute, sometimes to an airport in the middle of the ocean.
Your seniority is everything and is the overriding factor in your quality of life.
My career hasn’t always been a peaches and cream; bankruptcies, furloughs, loss of retirement, missed family events/holidays etc., but I still wouldn’t trade it for most other jobs. Amazing pay for working 9 days a month.

And yes, river pilots make much more than most of us.

I played golf several times with a senior captain for one of the major airlines. I remember him telling me the best part of the job was after completing a shift, before he left the cockpit, he had completed whatever paperwork he had to do and there was nothing more to do until he flew again.

looks good to me