Airline Pilot Career? What to do?

Question

I am 21 years old and just finishing my Bachelors in Finance. I hate the typical desk job and pay, therefore, I have been thinking about switching paths and getting pilot training. I took an intro flight and was completely captured and thought ...this would be a great life. Here are some ?s

1) Is it possible/likely to have a well paying (> 60k) pilot career and still get to come home everyday (or at least not be away from home too long)? I know major transcontinental pilots are away all the time, but what about regionals?

2) Training? Either from local flight school or airline academy... Does it matter?

3) Experience? I thought after getting my ratings I could fly people to say the bahamas for the cost of the plane rental... Good idea? I would be a CFI, but I have an 8-5 M-F job... Could I be a weekend CFI?

4) Do pilots live in fear of loosing there jobs or are layoffs not that common?

5) I will be leaving a secure semi-well paying job... Is it worth it?

Answer 1

I know one link about information of some common jobs, you can see from the following texts about the career of piolt. That can be useful for you.  Good luck!

Answer 2

The first two answers you got are pretty much dead on. I will add that it is probably not a wise gamble to go into debt to the tune of up to $100,000 (though it can be done for under$40,000 if you're intelligent about it) in the present economy. First, the payback time is going to be long, and second, this is an extremely competetive and rather unstable industry. If you're carrying other debts like most of the rest of us (college, car, house, etc), that's a huge burden when a full-time starting job only pays in the neighborhood of $20k. Unless you can hit the fast-track into a major airline quickly (few pilots do), figure on spending AT LEAST 5 years to break the $50k mark, and maybe up to 10 years to reach that amount, depending on how your career goes.

Again, as I answered your similar question yesterday, there are not a lot of flying jobs that do not involve regular overnight travel. Most of those that allow you to be home every night do not pay particularly well. The others have already mentioned several of them, and you will not qualify for most of the better ones until you get some serious flying time under your belt.  If you're hoping for such a job where you currently live, that very well depends on where that is. If you can relocate, there will be more options open to you.  

Although I don't consider my own career typical because i've hopped around a bit, I've spent at least 20% of it unemployed as a highly qualified pilot (my first layoff came at 5,000 hours). Employment is often a function of being able to relocate, and that is not always feasible. Also consider that a flying career is not conducive to personal relationships with people who do not understand aviation or cannot put up with the fickle lifestyle.  I can name more divorced airline pilots who are paying alimony and  two mortgages than I care to think about. Fortunately, I'm one of the lucky one's who found a very tolerant mate.

The only flying jobs that approximate the 9 to 5 workweek where you are home every night is flight instruction, and even then you work many odd hours and weekends and the maximum salary you are currently likely to see is $40k working for a large, very busy school. The other job that comes to mind that closely fits your criteria is a metropolitan helicopter pilot, working for law enforcement or an EMS operation, but those are not easy to get without all the right qualifications.

I'd suggest that you work your present career for awhile and fly for fun, with an eye toward eventually reaching your commercial-Instrument-multi ratings, probably a CFI / CFII / MEI, and the amount of flight time that will eventually make you employable. Owning your own aircraft is a very viable way to check off several of those boxes.

Answer 3

You don't want to fly. Learning to fly takes commitment and you're already throwing up road blocks. You want to be home everyday? You fear loosing your job? You think somebody owes you security? You don't find that anywhere. Nah man, forget it. Take the 9-5 cubicle. It's safe. But I won't be lying on my deathbed some day thinking I'd wish I'd done this or seen that.

Answer 4

1)  Yes.  A job that would best fit this criteria would probably be a corporate job.  Also, small freight companies will often have a similar schedule (I fly a turboprop single pilot and an at home all day everyday... away from home every night though).  Some regionals will allow you to be at home a lot... a place like Colgan comes to mind where pilots are home nightly-- the pay however, will take a long time to hit 60k.  Most regionals will require significant travel and overnights though.

2)  It doesn't matter.  Go with the cheaper option.  I went pt. 61 at my local airport and my career is doing just fine.  It's ideal for you to both work a job and get your ratings.  Academies are often MUCH more expensive and you get the exact same FAA ratings.  Go cheap (make sure the FBO is safe however)... you won't regret it.

3)  Your first idea is illegal unless you pay your pro-rata share.  The reasons it's illegal are difficult to explain on here... but when you go through your commercial rating you'll learn why.  Pt. 2-- weekend CFI's are out there.  Usually they work at flying clubs.  Most companies will want more out of you then 2 days... it gives the students more options if their instructor works more than 2 days a week-- thus the company makes more money.  It's all about money.  Flying clubs are different.  They don't exist for making a profit so you'll find a lot of part time instructors working with them.

4)  Short answer:  yes, pilots fear losing their jobs.  The industry is unstable.  Pre 9/11 the industry was picking up people from anywhere... you could get a job easily.  One terrorist act that nobody was expecting put more pilots out of jobs than was ever seen before.  It happened once before, it can happen again.  Also, airlines are unstable.  Look at some of the bigger airlines in history:  TWA, Eastern, PanAm... the list goes on.  Those pilots had jobs, the company goes under, pilot's don't have jobs.  Beyond that, we all get medicals at least once a year... twice a year if you're a captain.  Go in one day, find out your diabetic... you're looking for a new job.

5)  Only you can answer that.  The only thing I can see myself doing is flying.  I love to fly... it's what I was put on this earth to do.  This isn't a whim career... this isn't a make money career... this is a career where flying airplanes come first to most people over everything--- including family-- and I fit that.  Pilot's regularly miss anniversaries, kid's birthdays, holidays, and every other thing you could think of.  The divorce rate is high.  The pay isn't great (initally most pilots make about the same as people working in the fastfood industry).  I can almost guarantee you'll know people, some close to you, that will be killed flying airplanes.  If you can think about all those things and still say that you wouldn't want it any other way, you'll do fine in this industry.

Answer 5

To get a job with the Airlines you are going to need at the minimum 1000 hours of multi engine fixed wing time, which you need to get your private pilot, commercial pilot, ATP and instrument ratings before you can get an airline job.  Starting off you are not going to make much money at all as a pilot.  It takes a long time to build that kind of time to where you can make the big money.

I dont know if I would want to walk away from a good secure well paying job to try for that.

As far as the time off goes though, once you make it to the Airlines you do get a decent amount of time off.  You might go on trips that keep you away for a week or so but you also come home and stay home for a week.

You can also if it is something that interest you enter the military as an officer and do one of thier pilot programs.  You will get paid for recieving your flight training but not sure if that is your thing or not.

You could also keep it as a hobby while building time and slowly get your ratings and then evaluate later if it is something you want to make a cr\areer out of.