Airline Pilot Career?

Question

Greetings, I have a quick question regarding time spent away from your home base in the airline industry. I have long dreamt of becoming an airline pilot, I have worked for SkyWest on the ground before and just love the industry in general. With the latest turmoil that every airline seems to be messed up in, I have chosen another career path for the past few years (hopefully temporary). My current job I make at least 38k a year so of course I am not eager to take the jump to an airline unless I feel confident that someday that leap will pay off. I know the first few years will be rough and I can accept that. My questions that would help clear my decision are, say I do get on with a regional (I do prefer SkyWest as I have had previous expierence working for them), if I were to live wherever I am based could I realisticly be home more, or would I still enjoy the fully hotel pillows a lot? I do realize that some stays away from home are part of the job.

Answer 1

If you prefer hotel life, become an airline pilot.  If you don't, don't.

Answer 2

Here's the path you're looking at:

-Assuming you don't have any flight experience, you'll need about $30,000 to $60,000 of flight training (varies with type of school, airplane types, fuel costs, etc).

-Once you are properly certified, there's a good chance you'll need a poor paying job to build experience for a year or two (may be as little as 6 months or as much as 4-5 years depending on what the industry is doing at the time).

-Starting airline pilot salary is about $20,000 the first year.  Depending on the airline, they may deduct uniform expenses, commuter passes, and union dues as well as the standard government withholdings.

-You probably won't live where you're based.  The junior bases tend to have the higher cost of living, so you won't be able to afford to live where you're based for the first few years.  Commuting is generally not a problem, it's just more time on the road.

-Most airlines have you working 3-4 day trips 4-5 times a month.  This means 2-3 nights in a hotel each trip, plus another night or two in a "crash pad" if you are commuting.  In reality, you'll be sleeping in a bed other than your own more than half the time, especially until you get some seniority.

Those are some of the hurdles.  Including your training time, it will probably take about 4-7 years before you see your present salary again.  After that, you may start to recoup some of it, but it's a long road.  I'm not saying don't chase your dream, but I am asking how bad you want it.

Answer 3

I think they try to keep people from having to stay overnight, since that raises the overall labor costs, but some flights (the longer ones, say that last at least three hours) are almost BOUND to require an overnight stay, since there are FAA rules on how much time a pilot can spend in the cockpit in one 24-hour period.

More importantly, why do you think you are qualified to become a pilot?  It's not like they take people in off the street and turn them into a fully-qualified pilot, particularly if they are not a college graduate.