Original Message

It's funny - whenever people compare helicopter jobs to airline pilot jobs, they *always* leave out the "extras" that airline pilots enjoy.  There's union membership, for one; ALPA is a strong advocate for them.  But there are other financial benefits that come with union membership (look them up if you need to).  And let's not forget the travel benefits!  How much are they worth?  

When it comes to comparing the two jobs, there really is no comparison. Choose how you want to make your money, go for it, and be happy with your decisions.  It's your life.

Look, we fly helicopters because we are almost always control-freaks and are generally misfits who wouldn't do well in conventional jobs.  We're easily bored, which is why we think we'd hate flying for the airlines.  We also think we're good at teamwork, and we pretend that we are, as long as we're the "boss" (i.e. PIC) making the decisions. Other than that, not so much.