What's it like being a commercial pilot?

Question

As long as I can remember, it has been my biggest dream to be a pilot. I'm only 14 and many people say I'm too young to know, but I know!

I was wondering what it was like to be a commercial pilot. About how many years do you have to study or get hours before you can be hired by an airline. What's my life going to be like? Any other info will be appreciated.

Thank you all for your answers :)

Answer 1

me too! I am 14 and want to be a pilot, but i like to join the airforce. I think many people think that we are too young, because i had the same experience. Anyway i know its awesome being a pilot, BECAUSE WE GET TO FLY HIGH AND TOUCH THE SKY!

Answer 2

Well you have a great dream there, i am still training with my airline so it will be a while before i can do complete flights. But i can answer some of your questions.

You need a good understanding of physics because they refer in the class to a lot things involved in physics e.g how a plane stays in the air. Airlines look for people with a minimum of about 1500hrs here in new zealand might be less if you come from the USA because of demand for pilots.

Lifes going to be very rewarding on your quest to become a pilot, although you'll have your moments. You can expect to spend at least a minimum of four months away from home a year and up to 6 months as a second officer. The pays good and it can improve if you continue to stay in that airline.

Training can take up a three or more years to get all your ratings and stuff, plus you have to gain the hours to get into an airline before they will look at your application. So after you get your commercial pilots licencse and most of your ratings you can fly for hire. This involves doing charter flights or crop dusting. I did charter flights. But another good way to gain hours is to become an instructor, you get free hours :).

Thats about as much as i can offer because i'm still yet to become an official second officer, i'll be doing domestic routes a once or twice a week.

Answer 3

I too, had a dream at an early age of becoming a commercial pilot. My entire high school and college experience was based on the fact that I was going to become a commercial pilot.

However, I wanted to go into rotorary wing aviation, and that's what I did.

The training wasn't bad. The material is not hard to learn, there is just a ton of it. It starts out kind of hard, but that's because it's all new to you. Once you learn it in a classroom and then go and apply it in the air, it becomes second nature.

you have to remember, we sent monkeys to space, so anyone can learn how to fly. It's how well you prepare and the attitude you have toward keeping up to date with all the information.

My job is very straight foward. I work a 7 day period of 12 hrs a day. After which, I get to go home for 7 days. I work about 4 hrs away from home, housing, transportation, meals, are all provided. I go to work, wake up, fly a few hours a day and go home after my week is done. The money is great for area of the country where I live. I feel like I professional in what I do. It's very rewarding. How many people can say that their office is thousands  of feet in the air and they move at houndreds of miles an hour on a daily basis?

One of the biggest things about being a commercial pilot is being very flexible. Some weeks, I might fly out of an airport in Texas and the next week I might fly out of Alabama. But, it's only for a 7 day period, after that, I'm back home with my family.

I love what I do, and have been doing it for about 7 years now. I'll continue to do this until retirement

Answer 4

It is soo cool!

Here this may help you

Ok... I am 13 and want to become a pilot. The best thing is to buy Microsoft Flight Simulator X for $30. I learned my basics from ther like how to start it up... the altimeter... stall speeds... flaps settings.... and I bought a joystick for $30 and just learned to fly!

Now I don't want to go through the military so this is what I am doing

-Get 4 year college degree in Auernatical Science at Embry Riddle (preffered by airline for degree) When I graduate... they give me a commercial liscence

-Get a first class medical ( really easy just like checkup)

-Now airlines want lots of hours start off so work for a regional airline for 5-10 years to get them

-Get a regional airline job for 5-10 years

-Work at Continental airlines

--------Your Questions----------

----At what age can I start getting ready for my license?----

You can fly an airplane at any age. As long as you are the co-pilot. The age to actually take control of the aircraft and get a students liscence is at the age of 16. You can fly solo or by yourself at 17. At 18 you can get an ATP's (Airline Transport Pilot) liscence this is what you need to fly for the big airlines like United, Delta... ect. Regional airlines require an Commercial Liscence

----What is the best school in the country?----

The top two are Embry Riddle erau.com and North Dakota University.

---- In how many years can I become an airplane pilot for any airline?----

-High School Graduate 18

-4 Year college at 18-22

-Training and getting hours 22-24

-Regional Airline 24-30

-Commercial Airline 30-65

----Is this expensive?----

Not as much as you think. Once everything is said and done it is around $150,000

-$100,000 for college without scholarship

-$50,000 for training ( Commercial airlines require 1000 hours in multi engine aircraft which can be expensive so I reccomend going into a Regional Airline which takes 0-50 multi engine hours (ME) I would reccomend training with somebody who is going in your same career course to split the cost

----Do I need to go to college?----

No, but if you are faced with 100 people who are wanting to be in a 25 person opening... they will look for an education first. They all reccomend it.

----And what classes can I get in high school?----

I would reccomend taking classes on interviewing skills because the best interview gets the best job. End it with..." You may find better inteerviews than mine, but nobody will work harder than me"

Hope that this helps. I found all this information over A four month period. Try www.airlinepilotcentral.com You can select an airline and see if they are hiring, their fleet, pay scale, and hiring minimuns.

Source(s):

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/...

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/...