How I Got the A380, Lost It, and Woke Up to What Matters
I chased the A380, got it, and lost it months later. Shiny Jet Syndrome — the trap of chasing the next rating instead of what matters.
In 2018 I transitioned to the A380 prematurely at the big Dubai airline. It was okay but not good. A few months later, due to family reasons, I couldn't stay in Dubai. I lost my job and returned to the A320.
I had Shiny Jet Syndrome.
Every pilot knows someone who cannot stop chasing the next type rating. The 737 guy wants the A320. The A320 guy wants the 777. The 777 guy wants the A380. I was the A320 guy. I jumped.
But does it not only live in cockpits? Certainly not.
The ICU nurse who is bored on the ward before she has mastered it. The firefighter angling for the rescue unit before he owns the engine. The factory worker eyeing the supervisor role while his current station runs ragged.
My mother was a Head Nurse. I have heard her tell that ICU story for decades.
The next thing always looks like progress when it can be avoidance.
It is not ambition. It is distraction wearing ambition's uniform.
Shift workers are especially vulnerable. Irregular schedules fragment your sense of accomplishment. You never finish a clean week. Progress feels invisible. The brain hunts for a visible marker. A new role. A new tool. A new aircraft. Anything that feels like forward movement.
The fix is a single debrief question: have I fully mastered where I am right now?
If the answer is no, that is your runway.
The best pilots I have flown with were never chasing the biggest jet. They were flying the one in front of them like it was the only one that mattered.
Fast forward, today I fly the shiniest heavy jet for a flagship airline. If they put me back on the A320 tomorrow, I would fly it like it was the latest space shuttle.
