I want to become a commercial airline pilot. how likely is this dream of mine to happen.?

Question

im in college and plan to start taking aviation courses but im not an a+ student and i have never flown an airplane before. another issue im concerned about is that i havent been obsessed with flying since i was a toddler like many other pilots ive talked to have. i would just like to know how realistic this plan is and how competitive it is to work for major airlines.

Answer 1

I believe your question is, 'Is Commercial Pilot' a realistic dream.  

Realistic Dream is what you feel you want to devote your energy to.  Don't consider what others may want.  Think of yourself.  What is the one thing that you would enjoy doing for the rest of your life.  Find that and then put your energy into Your Dream. Not others.  Being a Commercial Pilot is very competitive and not totally secure.  Your interests may lead you to a much better niche.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

It's almost next to impossible. Not because of your grade or because you've never flown before, but because the airlines are not hiring pilots anymore. In fact, they're laying off pilots left and right. Many of my friends have lost their jobs as airline pilots.

Answer 3

You really should have a love of Whatever profession you choose before embarking on it. I know lots of horrible programmers who are in it "just for the money" and don't understand half of what they are doing.

You Do sound like you have a passing interest in the subject so to test yourself, schedule an "intro flight" (about $40) at a local flight school to see if you enjoy the experience. You and an instructor will go up and fly around, with you at the controls and you can ask him/her as many questions as you have.

You don't have to be an A+ student. Your attitude towards safety and responsibility for your own actions will count more than "book smarts", although there is a lot of that involved. If you find flying fascinating, then learning the hows and whys of flying make the book learning much more enjoyable.

Most pilots get their Private Pilots License first, followed by an Instrument Rating. After that a Commercial Pilots License follows, then maybe a MultiEngine rating or CFL (Certified Flight Instructor).

You will probably be doing a lot of flight instructing to build up your hours since most ATP (Airline Transport Pilots) have in excess of 1400 hours to even be considered for an airline job although the hours may be lower for commuter aircraft. You'll fly alot as a first officer first before being considered for Captain.

It wa also a dream of mine to become an ATP, but I got started too late in life to make Captain before retirement age.

Good luck with your hopes & dreams!

Answer 4

That depends on what your definition of "want" is.

Answer 5

United Airlines, the second-largest US carrier, said it will lay off 950 pilots amid plans to reduce domestic flights in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices.

UAL Corp, United's parent company, made the announcement late Monday weeks after saying it was cutting its fleet, operations and up to 1,100 additional jobs to offset soaring fuel bills and a weakening US economy.

The layoffs of 950 pilots will affect about 15 percent of the pilots employed by United.

"As we reduce the size of our fleet and take actions companywide to enable United to compete in an environment of record fuel prices, we must take the difficult, but necessary step to reduce the number of people we have to run our business," the Chicago-based airline said.

The troubled carrier said it was continuing talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and other unions on ways to ease the layoffs of company pilots.

"We are working to notify all of our employee groups about furloughs as soon as we know the impact of our capacity reductions," United said.

The carrier said affected pilots would be notified about layoffs in mid-July and that the layoffs would become effective during September.

Other major US airlines are also battling surging jet fuel costs which have been stoked by mounting crude oil prices which have jumped to record peaks above 139 dollars a barrel this month.

Some analysts estimate that airlines will face likely losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars this year due to record fuel costs which have more than doubled in the past year.

you need to follow the industry news more closely and save your money.

Answer 6

Good commercial pilots jobs are hard to come by.  And you have to pay your dues to get good jobs (like working the night shift, flying UPS planes, flying banner ads, etc.)

If you are NOT in love with flying, there's a good chance you will give it up before you finish paying your dues.

good Luck..

Answer 7

Ask yourself if you are willing to spend a good deal of money for the "chance" to fly for a major airline, when right now that possibility is low? When times are not good, you may get furloughed, which is the airline equivalent of getting laid off, except that you may be recalled at some undeterminable point in the future.

Pilots do NOT have job stability. You have to always be resourceful to keep a flying job. Pilot currency is important! So in short, it really is a pain in the *** to be in an industry that is directly affected by the economy, and you need to be able to deal with that.

Having the passion to fly will get you thru, but if it's not there you will quit and would have spent a lot of money trying to get there.