Jumpseat: The Love/Hate of Airline Pilots

Les Abend

Monday, April 22, 2013 at 06:08 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Airline pilots often experience a "love/hate" perception, revered for high safety standards but sometimes viewed as arrogant or detached by general aviation and corporate pilots.
The author, an airline pilot with general aviation roots, demonstrates that extensive airline experience does not make one inherently superior, sharing personal challenges and different risk-assessment approaches when flying a private aircraft.
The article details professional dynamics and rivalries among various pilot groups, including corporate pilots (due to lifestyle and equipment differences) and mechanics (who see pilots primarily as operators).
Pilot unions, despite some negative connotations, have significantly and positively influenced industry-wide standards, safety protocols, flight/duty time limits, and established seniority as a fair system for career progression.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Admit it. Airline pilot or not, when you read the title of this month’s column, you smirked. It’s OK. I get it. That’s why I decided it was high time to approach the issue head on. What am I really talking about?

It’s no secret that general aviation pilots, and I include the corporate world, harbor some unfavorable perceptions about us airline types. We have cocky attitudes. We are all-knowing. We can leap tall buildings in a single bound. We can fly anything, etc., etc.