Life in the balance

Aviation, like many other fields, is no longer an exclusively male domain. Women strive equally to reach their goal of the flight deck and, like their corporate sisters, most face the ‘career versus children’ conundrum at some point. The issue is complicated somewhat by another element of modern society that virtually demands that both parents work to meet the burden of ever-rising mortgages and school fees. Aviators are far from alone in this, but the juggling act of rosters and absence make the equation even more challenging.

Furthermore, our society has become a place of instant gratification, where everyone seems to need everything yesterday. Although time travel may still elude us, the time it takes us to travel continues to shrink, even in our sub-sonic airliners. Seemingly ever-increasing range bypasses ports that were once stopovers between continents, while transit times domestically are increasingly compressed. Additionally, the increased frequency of services has meant that the once luxurious layovers at outports have been replaced by just enough time to eat and rest before the journey begins to the next destination.

This is what the modern marketplace calls for and accordingly the airlines strive to meet their passengers’ needs while remaining a step ahead of the competition. Caught in the congestion is the human element, the flight crew.

The balance between life and work in our society continually surfaces as one of life’s greatest challenges and a career in aviation is no different. And this is more than a bleeding-heart perspective for a profession that many still consider to be a privilege, this is a genuine concern for an industry that continues to grow while the number of those choosing to fly seem to be on the decline. For the first time in recent memory, it is not uncommon to hear pilots say that they are actively discouraging their offspring from following in their footsteps. They are not playing a passive role and letting their children find their own feet, they are proactively telling them to look elsewhere. For an industry that has been accused of nepotism, this is a new turn of events. But why?

The reasons are many, as are the pressures on any modern household. Undoubtedly, the cost of training for a career with no guarantees of success is a deterrent for many that can find a more straightforward path through tertiary education or a trade. However, it would seem to be more than that frustrating many current professionals.

As customer demand has increased with tighter schedules in close pursuit, workload and time away have necessarily increased, but it is the persistent clash of life and work that ultimately creates the most tension. Rather than missing some family occasions, it now seems to be the majority and a weekend off with the family is golden. Leave during school holidays is of a premium as that is when the demand for crew is often at a peak.

This is now set to a backdrop of two working parents, where once most couples had one warrior holding the fort and usually that was everybody’s hero – Mum. However, even when children aren’t involved, starting and maintaining a relationship in these circumstances comes with additional challenges in a world spinning at a breakneck pace. Time together as a family unit seems to be shrinking for the population in general and rosters for those that crew our aircraft have an extra ingredient in the mix.

A common lament is for rostering to be improved to find the balance. Inefficient pairings where long tours of duty generate minimal hours of actual flying and more days at work rankle most pilots and cabin crew. A good many pilots have expressed that they rate the work-life balance as their priority and would rather that any future Enterprise Bargaining process address rostering and flexibility as a prime goal ahead of any pay increase.

To their credit, a good many airlines are addressing the issues and offer options for Carers, Flexilines, Part-Time rosters and so on. Even so, the nature of the business makes this difficult for them as an employer too and the best of these schemes can still be hobbled despite everyone’s honourable intentions. On the part of the pilots, there are those that no longer seek to ascend the linear path of promotion or seek to fly the latest and greatest in the fleet. Route structures, time off, time zone changes and multiple other factors are emerging for many crew as the considerations that they rate more highly over status and dollars. The era of the bread-winner being defined by gender or the like are gone and all working relationships these days are more a co-op than a boardroom. At home, the cockpit gradient not as steep as it once was, and few would not agree that is a good thing.

Mental health continues to be an issue drawing attention these days and there is no doubt that a content home life is a key component of everyone’s general well-being. The outback Cessna pilot may not have climbed the aviation ladder in some people’s eyes, not mine, but with a rewarding home life, they are still a happy individual. Conversely, you can put a pilot at the helm of the Space Shuttle, but if their life at home is strained then odds-on they’ll be a miserable person to be around, or sit next to on the flight deck.

Even in aviation, at its core, human contentment is about the heart and not the hardware. Or more to the point, it’s about finding the balance between the two.