Flying any aircraft type for aspiring pilots usually conjures up ideas of big shiny jets. However the reality is that we will fly any type of aircraft, based anywhere, for any company, for any money as long as we get to fly.
Flying passengers is of course the ultimate goal and to this end a lot of pilots overlook the possibility of flying freight.
Most major carriers ( Air France, Emirates, Cathy Pacific, etc) all have designated cargo divisions flying only freight. While unknown to most passengers nearly all wide body aircraft carry an amount of fright under their passengers floor which in most cases provides the profit on their routes.
Flying cargo has a number of advantages over flying passengers, firstly irrespective of the condition of the economy freight always flies. Many examples show how airlines and tour operators can fail when a little uncertainty appears in the economy. (Most recently Monarch and Thomas Cook). Cargo always has to be delivered and living on an island guarantees an air transport requirement for freight.
The other advantages are that cargo does not get disruptive, get lost in the terminal, forget its passport, fight and argue with itself or others. It doesn’t comment of the turbulence, the temperature on board, the food and drink on board or the quality of the landing.
Most cargo flights do take place late in the evening or early morning which takes a little getting used to, but on the plus side the skies are a lot quieter and more direct routing with shortcuts occur.
Some of the best paid positions in aviation are in fright (UPS and FedEx) and these companies rarely have resignations unlike the passenger low cost side of the business. Almost every successful airline has had a hand in freight operations at some stage and while many eventually move away from cargo to concentrate on passenger operations, other smaller companies fill the gap. There will always be a demand for cargo and there will always be a demand for cargo pilots
