pilot status
 

Do you think the pilot of a jumbo jet has more status, or is more impressed with himself than the pilot of a 737, or even worse commuter plane?

Do you think most commercial pilots aspire to winding up as pilot of a jumbo jet?

No, yes, yes, no.

And even if they did, none even come close to Eric "Winkle" Brown as aviators and likely never will.

Yeah...seniority

I jump seated on a 737 with one of the airlines highest seniority pilots. He moved from 767s to the 737 as it took him from being one of many high seniority pilots to being the 3rd highest seniority pilot in the fleet type. He basically is guaranteed to get the schedule he wants (with in what's offered) where as on the 767 he estimated it was 70/30 in getting what he wants.

A college classmate was a very low seniority FO when she got a spot on the 787 when it was introduced do to it having a very small route network which made the scheduling very rigid so lots of people didn't want it.

No not at all. I know plenty of pilots who went from flying long haul to 737 or RJ's so they could spend more time at home or have a less stressful job, for instance. The long haul heavy pilots certainly earn more and have more seniority within their org, but no, I don't see a lot of elitism among pilots. As a commercial pilot I never aspired to flying long haul wide-bodies. I also never got to fly part 135 or 121 but that was my decision. I realized the day job paid a heck of a lot better and as a part 91 private pilot, I could fly when I wanted, not when my company said I had to fly. A lot of ATP's that I know say they wish they were in my position, i.e. choosing when to fly. IMHO only 15-25% of the APT population are true pilots (in that they live and breathe aviation), the rest are just there to do their job to the best of their ability and get fairly compensated for doing that job. No difference to most other occupations....

- Tim

Delta is puts new hire pilots into the 767/757 doing trans-Atlantic routes. There are very junior pilots flying the long hauls at other legacies as well. Delta also has some captains on the MD-88/90 that were hired in 2016! So no, pilot's don't really think lesser of others. There are a few that think regional pilots are "taking their routes" but that is water under the bridge at this point. Plus the regional pilots do fly into some pretty challenging airports such as Aspen, Sun Valley, and Mammoth Lakes.

A friend of mine was a 737 pilot. He's changed planes now. He at the time didn't have aspirations for different planes as he liked not travelling too far from home for too long. He joked the A380's are so called as the 380 is the captain's salary.

My brother flies the commuter jets for United. It was always his dream to fly. Owned his own little plane for awhile. Finally in his mid-30's he ditched his job and went to flight school.

He is a happy camper flying the commuter jets and absolutely loves his job. He just turned 60 and hates the thought of having to retire in 5 years but grateful for the years of flying he's had.

I am very proud of my little brother for having the courage to follow his dream.:)

I have a friend who was a 747 FO for AC when he was 29. After marrying a FA he downgraded to 767 when the kids came so he can have more time at home.
His schedule was YYZ YVR day one and reverse day two with 2-6 days in between.