Question for pilots....?

Question

I had asked a question a couple of days ago about starting a new career as a pilot. I currently sell real estate in california. Is it possible to be a pilot for a regional airline or major airline and work a separate job at the same time? I mean, since starting off as a pilot pays very little, would you have enough time to do something else or are schedules very tight that there is no time to have another job?

Answer 1

Don't limit yourself to the airlines. Many flying jobs do offer enough time for other work. I know from personal experience.

Answer 2

If it was a job where you are able to make your own schedule, I would assume that it is *possible*

However, after a 4-day trip, you will be exhausted.  The airline schedule is hard on a body. The absolute last thing you will want to do then is go to work.  Add in three days of working your home job, THEN go and work another 4-day.  You'll be so tired you won't want to do anything at all, much less fly.

Answer 3

I know many airline pilots that have second jobs, and I think real estate is probably the most popular.  I met one first officer that had a legal practice, and my dentist is a commercial airline pilot.  Sometimes you have a lot of time, other times you don't.  It depends on where you work, how senior you are, how they are staffed and what you bid.  Good luck.

Answer 4

It's virtually impossible to work a second job. One thing about the regional airlines is that they work you very hard, so you won't have time for a second job unless you don't plan to sleep or spend any time with your family. Each carrier is different, but my experience with a well-known regional in the western US is that over a 4 year period 92% of my duty days were 10 hours or longer, 79% of my duty days were 11 hours or longer, and 58% were 12-14 hours long (don't ask why I bothered to calculate this, but I did).  My average duty week was about 50 hours long, plus commute time. You don't actually expect to get a domicile near your home, do you? Figure on a half-day or more traveling from home to your crew base unless you get lucky. That shoots a good portion of your time off before your next shift. On top of that, you can't plan on having the same days off each week and your shifts will rotate from early morning to late evening, especially when you hold a junior line.

All this said, I did know a few guys who put in extra hours for the airline as ticket agents, ramp rats, or office help to make extra money, particularly when they were holding a reserve line in the beginning.  Those were special cases though, and far from the norm.

Answer 5

Probably not , they work you out to the bone , you are only home about 15-20 days out of a month and thats all scattered around. Their is practically no time to work , you will want to see your family and  it is a good idea to save up some money now for expenses.

Answer 6

So now you know the answer:  "Yes and no, unless otherwise."

This is very typical of the aviation industry, especially during economic downturns.

Answer 7

Yep... You'll need that second job just to pay for the cost of training you to the point that you would be considered for a job as an airline pilot.  Figure a minimum of 1000 hours, at an average of $125 per hour, and that just pays for the airplane rental.