What is the hardest part of being an airline pilot?

Work Schedule
It's true that airline pilots are allowed several days off per month, but conversely, pilots may be asked to fly a plane for many long hours during their shift. Their unfixed work schedules can make their life hectic since their tasks can vary daily.



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“The ups and downs are constant, and we fly at all different times of the day,” Deitz says. “It's a stress on your body.” Takeoff and landing are the trickiest parts of a given flight, requiring all of a pilot's attention and mental energy. Heart rate increases during those windows, studies show.

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Takeoff and landing are widely considered the most dangerous parts of a flight. But that's only partially true. Let's take a look at this chart. Boeing keeps track of fatal commercial jet accidents every year and categorizes those accidents by when they occurred during the flight.

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The wages are high. If you're looking for a high-paying job, becoming an airline pilot career is a great option. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pilots earn between $80,000 and $100,000 per year.

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Security lines, lost baggage and delayed flights are some of the reasons travelers say they find hopping a plane is more stressful than going to their day job, according to a recent survey. “It's just not a routine most people are comfortable with,” said Melanie Lieberman, senior travel editor at The Points Guy.

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According to USA Today, the common cruising altitude for most commercial airplanes is between 33,000 and 42,000 feet, or between about six and nearly eight miles above sea level. Typically, aircraft fly around 35,000 or 36,000 feet in the air.

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Pilot Career Cons
  • You need a deep bank account. While you will earn a lot of money as an airline pilot later down the years, the first few years might cost you up to $100 000. ...
  • A steep learning curve. ...
  • Missing out on holidays. ...
  • A lot of stress. ...
  • Losing your career in an instant because of medical reasons.


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An airline pilot can be an extremely stressful job due to the workload, responsibilities and safety of the thousands of passengers they transport around the world. Chronic levels of stress can negatively impact one's health, job performance and cognitive functioning.

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Yes, pilots are happy on average.
Most work for commercial airlines or as private pilots, and they fly passengers to destinations in many different regions and countries. This means most pilots have the opportunity to experience a wealth of culture from around the world.

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Career Focus The most important part of any career is happiness and passion for what you do which is why one of the biggest advantages of being a pilot is the major job satisfaction that comes with it. Commanding a plane filled with passengers and getting them safely from A to B is as satisfying as it gets.

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Many pilots find the job to be very exciting, dynamic, and rewarding. There are numerous careers in the aviation industry that you can pursue following your schooling.

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Whether flying at night or during the day, pilots need to see some kind of horizon. They use this to determine the airplane's attitude. At night pilots will turn their gaze from outside to inside and use the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon is normally a simply globe split into two hemispheres.

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Nevertheless, certain exceptional aircraft like the Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144 have managed to ascend to altitudes of FL600 (equivalent to 60,000 feet).

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Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.

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Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.

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Fatigue is particularly prevalent among pilots because of unpredictable work hours, long duty periods, circadian disruption, and insufficient sleep. These factors can occur together to produce a combination of sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm effects, and 'time-on task' fatigue.

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Do I need a college degree to be a pilot? No, you don't need a college degree to become a pilot. Learn more about what the college education requirements are to become an airline pilot.

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The answer is no. Getting an aviation degree or going to an aviation college is not a requirement to become an airline pilot. In fact, major airlines accept any and all bachelor fields and aren't the least bit concerned with what you studied in college.

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