What are the pros's and con's in becoming a airline pilot?

Question

I'm currently in school at the moment and i would love to become a airline pilot ..... as a matter of interest . . what are the pros's and con's in becoming a airline pilot... and could you give me any advice??

Answer 1

Takes a long time to get there.

Costs a lot to get there, unless you go military and then the investment is in your time.

Still no absolutes for getting hired, depends on the cycle as discussed.

Airlines go out of business and furlough pilots routinely.

Pay is OK, but you'll earn your career's salary one dark stormy night when the fire lights go off and some passenger will still complain about the landing.

Time off when your senior.

Opens doors to other flying if that's what you like to do (warbirds, other interesting aircraft).

Hotels all look alike.

Being away from home Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, first days of school, when the kids are sick or have a soccer game, etc.

Being off when you're off to make special days with the family for other days missed.

The good part about kids is they don't know what's "normal" and daddy (or mommy) being gone for days at a time is their "normal".  Helps if you live near other pilots so everybody's daddy or mommy disappears for days at a time.

Sunrise over the Pacific.

Sunset over the Rockies.

The quiet of a Red Eye to the east coast at 0200.

Accomplishment of the Whitestone Climb at LGA, the approach to LAX when you can see the ocean, Vegas at night, shooting stars and the Emerald Flash.  The little kids that want to see the cockpit, the grandmothers taking thier first flight ever, soldiers returning home.

Having to throw off the drunks and the celebrities that think the rules don't apply to them.  The spring breakers who have to get up to pee while you'e taxiing out.

Answer 2

The pro's:

-Flying is great fun, no matter what con's there are; once you're airborne it doesn't matter.

-You'll have quite some free time (eventually), which gives you time for fun things!

-If you work hard, the pay will be good eventually, which makes life easier.

The con's:

-be prepared to invest a helluva lotta money; I paid 150.000 euro's...

-The pay is bad in the beginning, not in comparison with the investment

-Being away from home a lot and living out of your suitcase can become a drag...

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

I am not an airline pilot, but I also wanted to be one while I was in school.  The obvious pro is that you get to fly for a living.  The negatives are the high cost of training and the very low pay for pilots just starting out.  Training will cost tens of thousands of dollars (I estimate over $40,000).  You will carry this debt through your career for a long time.  I recently spoke with an instructor at a local flight school who is building hours towards becoming an airline pilot.  He said a friend of his took a position as a First Officer with a regional airline at a starting rate of $12/hr.  

I don't know about you, but I need more than that to live (house payment, car payments, insurance, etc.).  If you are not worried about making little money and don't have many responsibilities, then I suggest you go for it.  If you just enjoy aviation and would like to live comfortably, I suggest getting a technical degree in engineering, computers, etc. and then a position in the aerospace industry.

That's just my $.02, good luck with whatever you choose.

Answer 4

Pros:

Fun job (although it does get boring after a while)

Great opportunities to travel

Free flights

Get to see some cool sights

Possibility for a great quality of life if you're lucky enough to make it long with one airline

You can get into the career with any college degree

Cons:

Very expensive to get into

Low pay for a good portion of your career

Away from home a lot

Staying in crappy hotels gets old really quickly

The career puts a lot of strain on your family life...lots of pilots get divorced

The job gets monotonous and quite boring eventually

Sitting around in airports for hours on end...and not getting paid for it

Very unstable industry (i.e. you will loose your job at least a few times in your career)

If you move to another airline, you have to start out at the very bottom, no matter how much experience you have

You either have to move around a lot or eventually commute to work

Success in this career depends 100% on luck, timing and who you know.

My advice?  Go for it, if you love to fly, but have a backup plan.

Answer 5

I've been doing this for 30 years and it's never seemed like work. Yeah, there are the redeyes, waiting for the late hotel van in the rain, weather and delays and all of the stuff mentioned by the others. I still would do it all over again. If you still can get excited about getting up and going to "work" at 0300 then it's not really work.

If you really want to make a living as an airline pilot, go for it. Accept the fact that there will be cycles in the industry, airlines will go out of business. (I've had 5 go out from under me) Be persistent and it'll happen.  

Answer 6

Pros:  You'll develop a very nice set of skills and use them in a fast-paced environment.  Travel is nice.  

Cons:  Aviation is a very tough industry.  It is also very cyclic.  You will start out at starvation wages and advancement will initially be slow to come.  The hours can be horrible. You will be away from home a lot and your family life will be impacted.  You  will be furloughed about three times in your career.