Family, friends and sex - the social life of a pilot

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Hello my Aviator

lately, I posted a question on my Instagram stories asking you for ideas for my next blog post. Your feedback was impressive, but one topic came up numerous times: the social life of a pilot. In this blog post, I will be answering your questions regarding the social life of a pilot. Does a pilot have friends, family and sex when traveling all the time?

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Check out also my new Video on my YouTube channel.

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Pilot life vs. social life

You have been wondering how I manage to have a social/private life as a pilot when traveling so much and being absent from home a lot. Especially those of you who strive to become a pilot in the future asked me this question and informed me about their concerns. Everything is still possible but only a little bit more complicated.

Which challenges do pilots face balancing a long lasting relationship vs. work?

First off all a relationship is possible, but definitely not easy. In my case, I am gone from home about 15 days a month. Imagine the other partner has also to travel for work. This requires good planning to have enough time together to keep the relationship running. Another challenge couples could face are the base (the location from where crews start their duty) It happens that you need to relocate for a new cockpit job, but the partner is unable to move with you. Aviation requires flexibility in many ways.

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With friends in Dubai

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Mile high club

In case it counts when I saw a couple having fun, then I joined the mile high club already 😉 The story behind it: I was flying as a private first officer when a woman had her head between the lap of a man. There was no door between the cockpit and the cabin in this aircraft only a curtain. I had a look behind to check if the two passengers are okay, and I had to find out that they were having a good time on board.

Sex life and affairs with stewardesses

Yes, pilots do have a sex life like everyone else. Since the beginning of my career, I have been running quite well not to f*** the company. Relationship and affairs within the same company only cause problems. Especially in smaller companies. In the private jet company, I used to fly for I got to know a flight attended how had sex with a captain, then moved on to the head of flight operations and in the end, she was in the relationship with a First Officer. You can imagine that this was not easy for everyone involved.

One reason why there is so much “love” in the air in aviation is that crews are sometimes stuck together for days and that they are forced to work together in a small environment

Nude flying!

I have never heard of this! the only thing we take off is the airplane and the tie when it is too hot outside. haha!

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Private jet crew

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Does it depend on the airline how your social life looks like

The flight operation in the Business Aviation required me to overnight at those locations wherever the last flight of the day took me. Whereas the flights of many low-cost airlines end at their home base, which equals basically to a 9 to 5 job. The current operation once in while allows me to spend a night at home or it happens that a rotation is only of 2-3 days. But I could imagine that an operation, which allows you to sleep at home every night, can be a big advantage once you want to build a family.

As you can see it really depends on the type of operation and airline how many days a month you can spend at home. A minimum of 8 days are granted by the aviation authority. But only 8 days at home this would be not enough for me to have enough time for family, friends and hobbies. 

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8 years in Berlin

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Do you miss out on anything in your private life?

I have arranged myself with the absence from home quite well. I have a social life with friends and private activities like everyone else. Unfortunately, I can not attend all events (like birthdays, concerts, parties and family events) but due to good organization skills I get the best of my free time and I never have a big feeling that I miss out on something.

The benefits of a pilot life?

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Please be aware that those are my impressions and feelings. There probably pilots who would tell you something else.

Are you interested in a working day of a private jet pilot? Then check out my blog series a busy day of a private jet pilot.

Could you imagine to have a travel job and which problems do you face in your job?

Safe travels and happy landings!

Your Pilot Patrick

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