Commercial Pilots?

Question

do you like your job.

how much do you get paid.

i really want to be one and so does my boyfriend

but we both have reallllllllyyyy bad eyes

Answer 1

People that have no idea what they are talking about really should not be posting answers in this forum!

You DONT need "really good vision". As long as your vision is correctable with glasses or contact lenses you are OK. I have been a commercial pilot for over 18 years. I love it and wouldnt trade it in for anything.

Here is a site that will get you started and answer many of your questions.

https://flighttraining.aopa.org/

More info at

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/pilot3.h...

Answer 2

You really need good vision.

Answer 3

1) As everyone has mentioned, you do not need perfect eyesight tp be a professional pilot. I'm not a major airline pilot, but I've had a good long flying with uncorrected eyesight of about 20/400 (corrected to 20/20 left, 20/15 right). Poor uncorrected eyesight used to keep people out of the airlines, but for the most part, that is not true any more.

2) Presumably you meant "Airline Transport Pilot", which is the rating required to fly as captain on any aircraft that seats over 9 passengers. You see, anyone who gets paid for flying and holds a commercial pilots license is considered a "commercial pilot", even a crop duster or flight instructor. At the low end of the pay scale, such as a beginning co-pilot on a regional airline, the pay starts at about $18-$20,000 per year. A senior pilot for a major airline, who flies one of the larger jets, like a Boeing 747, 757, or 767, and has been an employee for 20 years, typically makes in excess of $200k.  Everything falls somewhere in between. I think I read somewhere that the median salary for someone with 10 years experience is maybe around $60-70k.

3) I've personally never earned more than $60k per year as a pilot, and for a large portion of my career I made less than half that much. Certainly for the first 5 years it is usually a hand-to-mouth existence, and if you have huge flight training and college debts to pay off, figure on living a very modest lifestyle for the first 10 years.  Still, it's a great occupation and I do it because I love it, not for the money.

4) That said, the lifestyle of a professional pilot isn't what most people think it is and I've often wished I had a second career to fall back on, partly because lay-offs and furghloughs are often a common part of a pilots career and have been a big factor in mine. Not all pilots experience that, but many do. Altogether I've been unumployed about 1/4 of my 22 year career.

5) Also, if you don't mind often working early mornings (often well before sunup), or really late nights, or on weekends and holidays, or being away from home at least 10 - 15 days per month, it might appeal to you. Of course there are good schedules and bad ones, but it very much depends on what kind of flying job you have and how much seniority you have in the company you work for. And if you and your spouse or "significant other" both have flying careers, plan on not spending a huge amount of time together for the first several years while you're both low in seniority and can't arrange time off together.

Answer 4

I love my job.  I don't disclose my pay rate.

If you want to become a pilot, get your medical certificate out of the way before starting training.  And eyesight is okay, as long as it's correctable.  See your ME for more specifics.

Answer 5

You don't need very good eye sight.. but you need good health..

you need to go through lots of training though!! In the uk pilots earn about £63,664 a year i think.. btw i aint a pilot yet but planning to be!!

Answer 6

In addition to what rotorwing posted (I have really bad vision, corrected to 20/20 like he said also), I'll add this:

The FAA has some great information on how to choose a school and what to look for when choosing a school. Since they are the ones who will certify you, I think they would be the best place to start.

http://www.faa.gov/education_research/.....

Once you've got that figured out, there is a whole heap more of information available through their web site starting with this stuff: http://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/