Video of Pilot's Spectacular 'Office Views' Goes Viral

A video of a pilot's spectacular "office views" from the sky has captivated users on TikTok, where it has amassed 9.5 million views at the time of this writing.

The video, which has not been independently verified by Newsweek, was shared by TikTok user Aless (@alesscamera), who is an airline pilot and photographer living in China, according to his profile on TikTok. The video was overlaid with a message that read: "Why pilots have the best office view."

The clip begins with the pilot seated inside a cockpit. It is followed by a montage of aerial views, ranging from ethereal, cloud-filled skies to an atmospheric cityscape against an orange-hued horizon, which the pilot said in a later comment was a shot of Beijing.

The video was shared with a caption that read: "The best view #office #airlinepilot #pilotview #airbuspilot #pilotlife #dreamjob #motivation #airbus #boeing #airbus320 #aviatior #avgeek."

The pilot profession was among the 100 Best Jobs in the 2022 edition of the annual ranking by U.S. News & World Report, coming in at No. 78 this year. The job was No. 7 among the listing's Best Social Service Jobs and in 12th place for Best Paying Jobs, according to U.S. News. A pilot's median salary was reported to be $130,440.

Despite the pilot profession's inclusion in the Best Jobs list, the airline industry has been dealing with a pilot shortage in recent years, which was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The industry was hit hard by COVID-19, and the financial fallout forced airlines to furlough many pilots or offer them retirement packages.

But now, with more people getting back to traveling, the industry has been struggling to keep up with the demand for flights, given the shortage of pilots.

In April, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told the Associated Press: "The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren't enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years."

In June, NBC News reported that, as of 2019, nearly half of all working pilots were baby boomers and approaching the required retirement age of 65, which would mean more reductions to the already dwindling supply of pilots.

Also, consumer demand for flights is outpacing the pilot supply because of the long training period required for them to get certified.

In August 2022, Derek Kerr, chief financial officer of American Airlines, told the AP: "There is a pilot shortage at the [regional airlines] because the mainline carriers [like American, Delta and United] hire from the regionals. We'll continue to work through that. That may take a couple of years to resolve itself.

"At the mainline, it's more about a throughput of training. We can bring the pilots on, we have to get them through training. I hope by the beginning of next year, middle of next year, we'll work through that and we'll be able to have the whole mainline fleet up," Kerr said.

Several TikTokers were mesmerized by the views that the pilot showcased in the viral video.

When gulaidabdulkadir asked how many hours he works in a day, the original poster replied: "Around 8 to 12 hours of work! That would be like 5 to 6 hours of flight [plane emoji] aviation is pretty inefficient in China!"

User joshryanx wrote: "They deffo have the best view," while Sarah Sarah simply said: "wow thanks for sharing."

User montylowa wrote: THIS IS WHY I LOVE PLANES." Chloe♡ said: "I kinda wanna be a pilot now lol."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment.