Careers, aside from the obvious?

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heather.hins

Filing Flight Plan
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hhins
Hello, I'm glad I found these forums since I don't really know any pilots!

I have been interested in aviation for many years. (R/Cs and full-size) I may be in a position to switch career paths and am having difficulty finding careers as a pilot other than in the airline industry.

What are some careers in aviation that would be more in the "9 to 5" variety? I know people deliver aircraft, testing, flight instructors and so on but can't find a great list for inspiration to see what's truly out there.

Thanks. :)
 
heather.hins said:
What are some careers in aviation that would be more in the "9 to 5" variety? I know people deliver aircraft, testing, flight instructors and so on but can't find a great list for inspiration to see what's truly out there.
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Aviation in general is not a 9-5 job. A number of A&Ps may work 9-5, but then if the customer needs the plane tomorrow, expect to be working late or losing customers. Then often times they do work on the side. More often they work nights, which is a definite quality of life compromise.

As a pilot, you're by definition on demand. You're at the mercy of your customers and weather for when you fly. For example, in the past week I've flown last Wednesday, Friday, two planes on Monday (woke up at 4 AM and by 4 PM was done working), and I'm scheduled for two planes tomorrow (waking up at 5 AM). I've got a third one that might have gotten flown yesterday or today if the weather permitted (need VFR for that flight), but that'll probably get postponed to sometime Sunday through Wednesday of next week. So I got to sleep in yesterday and today and work on the house.

Next Wednesday evening, I'm leaving town for the rest of the year for personal reasons. That means I miss out on any money I might make during that time period.

I'm happy with the compromises and the overall work schedule I get. But a lot of that works because of the specifics of my life and requirements (specifically, my wife is also a pilot, and this allows us to spend more quality time than if I had a normal 9-5 schedule, plus I also married the best woman in the world). Your loved ones may not be able to adjust to this so well.
 
heather.hins said:
Please be constructive, I'm allowed to dream.
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Absolutely. Ultimately, every job has its pluses and minuses, and I think a good number of them balance out. I am happy with the compromises of being a pilot. However, for a lot of people the lifestyle is not desirable. I'm a nomad by nature and respond well to quick changes. Plus I love the planes I fly, so I'm a happy camper. A lot of people, perhaps not so much.
 
There are careers in the aviation industry that are or can be 9-5 many of them do not however include flying. They could include Airframe & Power Plant Mechanic, certain government jobs with the FAA or NTSB etc.

Since your looking for something 9-5 I'm going to assume that overnight travel is not what your looking for. So that would rule out aircraft delivery or sales rep for a manufacturer ie the folks that deliver Cirrus Aircraft. Crop Dusting and Powerline patrol may be close to 9-5 as you need daylight to do those jobs although they are not what I'd think of as 9-5 because they require a high skill level and can be somewhat dangerous. You could be a CFI and work 9-5 many don't but its possible except for the fact that you would need to do some night flying with your students.
 
There are a few paths but once you get your 250 hours, you can get a CFI rating and work for between $20 and $50 an hour (generally speaking) at something resembling 9-5. You'll probably find yourself up in the air weekday evenings and during weekends, but you'll be home every night.. sometimes late but you won't become noctournal.

After that, there are alot of jobs available. Airlines, corporate charter, cargo...

Personally i'd welcome a schedule like Ted's. Hopefully I can nab a job like that one day. The typical "work for the man" salaried office job is not 9-5. Its more like 8-6:30 every weekday. Occasionally much more than that. In the same office. With the same people. Every day. At the same time. Shoot me now.
 
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heather.hins said:
What are some careers in aviation that would be more in the "9 to 5" variety? I know people deliver aircraft, testing, flight instructors and so on but can't find a great list for inspiration to see what's truly out there.
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Crop dusting might be more 9 to 5. It's certainly kind of hard to do it in the dark (or at least hard on the planes and pilots).

Pipeline patrols are more 9 to 5, and possibly more year round than dusting.
 
dell30rb said:
There are a few paths but once you get your 250 hours, you can get a CFI rating and work for between $20 and $50 an hour (generally speaking) at something resembling 9-5. You'll probably find yourself up in the air weekday evenings and during weekends, but you'll be home every night.. sometimes late but you won't become noctournal.
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That depends. Keep in mind that, as a CFI, you're slave to mother nature, father time, and uncle schedule. Specifically, the schedule of your clients (i.e. students). Many of them may work 9-5 jobs themselves and may only be available after hours and on weekends. Plus flight reviews, etc. Your customers may have very busy schedules, and you need to work around them if you want the money.

Personally i'd welcome a schedule like Ted's. The typical "work for the man" salaried job is not 9-5. Its more like 8-6:30 every weekday, and occasionally much more than that. At least that's been my observation.
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That depends in part on the job and what you allow your boss to get away with. At my last job, I made it clear they didn't pay me enough for more than 40 hours per week of work on average. That's what they got, except in special circumstances. They accepted that, as I got more work done in 40 hours than most people did in 50+. When my last company and I parted ways, I was ready for it for other reasons.

I make less money now with a completely inconsistent schedule as a pilot, but am happier doing it, and my current schedule allows me to spend more quality time with my wife (the most important thing to me) and get more of my other projects done. But this life is not for everyone, which is my point.
 
Another point to make is that if you don't already have any ratings, you need to invest a substantial amount of time and money into getting to the point where you can even begin to start recouping some of your investment. 250 hours to get your Commercial and CFI rating (minimum), and let me assure you that at that number of hours, you don't even know what you don't know yet. I'm just now getting to the point where I know some of what I don't know at 1700 hours flying all over the continent.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Another point to make is that if you don't already have any ratings, you need to invest a substantial amount of time and money into getting to the point where you can even begin to start recouping some of your investment. 250 hours to get your Commercial and CFI rating (minimum), and let me assure you that at that number of hours, you don't even know what you don't know yet. I'm just now getting to the point where I know some of what I don't know at 1700 hours flying all over the continent.
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Excellent point Theodore!
 
Ted DuPuis said:
That depends in part on the job and what you allow your boss to get away with. At my last job, I made it clear they didn't pay me enough for more than 40 hours per week of work on average.
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I hear that. I have alot of friends who got salaried jobs with big name companies right out of college they thought were going to be careers, and then just got worked to death. I am 100% convinced that the strategy of some of these organizations is to hire young bean counters for a low salary and work them till they quit. The novelty of working in a big, plush office building with free starbucks coffee wears off after one or two years.

I also know for a fact that it is a strategy of some large organizations to hire foreign workers and explicitly avoid american workers for skilled jobs because the foreigners are less likely to leave a secure but poorly paying job due to their insecurity from being in a new country.
 
dell30rb said:
I am 100% convinced that the strategy of some of these organizations is to hire young bean counters for a low salary and work them till they quit.
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That was me... then I started my own business and worked myself to death, oops.

Now I just want a happy medium. Enough money to get by and I would still like to be home with a somewhat realistic schedule. :)
 
heather.hins said:
Now I just want a happy medium. Enough money to get by and I would still like to be home with a somewhat realistic schedule. :)
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Depending on your definition of "home" and "somewhat realistic," being a pilot is probably not for you. If you want to sleep at home every night (or even sleep at night), it's definitely not.
 
heather.hins said:
That was me... then I started my own business and worked myself to death, oops.

Now I just want a happy medium. Enough money to get by and I would still like to be home with a somewhat realistic schedule. :)
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Ted DuPuis said:
Depending on your definition of "home" and "somewhat realistic," being a pilot is probably not for you. If you want to sleep at home every night (or even sleep at night), it's definitely not.
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I was going to ask what a "realistic" schedule is as well. Now, I'm probably not what the OP was looking for since she mentioned "other than airline", but I do have to say I have quite a bit of time at home. The only downside is when I'm working, I'm GONE. But usually that is not for more than 2-3 days at a time. The only "home every night" pilots I know are ones that can hold day trips at whatever airline/cargo operator they are at, CFIs, pipeline type jobs, and jump pilots. Most other pilots are in the business of moving the customer or the customer's asset (plane) where they need to go when they need to go. Not conductive to being home every night.
 
Rex Kramer said:
I was going to ask what a "realistic" schedule is as well. Now, I'm probably not what the OP was looking for since she mentioned "other than airline", but I do have to say I have quite a bit of time at home. The only downside is when I'm working, I'm GONE. But usually that is not for more than 2-3 days at a time. The only "home every night" pilots I know are ones that can hold day trips at whatever airline/cargo operator they are at, CFIs, pipeline type jobs, and jump pilots. Most other pilots are in the business of moving the customer or the customer's asset (plane) where they need to go when they need to go. Not conductive to being home every night.
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People fly airplanes because other people are trying to get someplace, or else they want to get stuff someplace. By definition, it's your job to travel as a pilot since airplanes are designed for going places. Yes, sometimes you can get into a job where you can have a base and you're mostly flying out and back somewhere every day/night. But it seems most of the jobs involve more travel and being away from home.
 
Ever thought of working at your local FBO? Lineman, airport manager - something like that? For a job that is aviation related it has pretty regular hours.
 
Heather, you might also contact "Women in Aviation". It's possible that they will have other suggestions as well. The FBO work makes sense to me. I know a woman who is the manager of an FBO in Pecos, has been for 20 or so years and is happy. I know another who does the bookkeeping at a busy FBO in Kerrville.
If you've owned your own business then you would have some understanding of those kinds of ops- that is you could learn quickly.
 
The OP specifically said as a pilot. I don't think she wanted to pump fuel or keep books. Heather my advice is find you an 8 inch concrete block. If you are right handed, place your left thumb on the block. With your right hand hit your thumb with a 32 ounce hammer. This will take your mind off aviation and let you focus on something a lot less painful than a career as a pilot. Just kidding, sort of.
 
Train to be an A&P mechanic. I've done it since high school. Never a boring moment. I must say I always enjoyed going to work on aircraft.

Kevin
 
You said you started your own business. If possible, do what I did. Hire enough people to allow you to take off two or three days a week and fly for a pt 135 charter operation. You'll get your flying fix, spend less money keeping current, learn a whole lot of things, and still have a day job to pay the bills when there is little or no flying work.

I am home every night. Yes, I do have to get up early for the charters, and sometimes get home late. Yes, I have extra paperwork to do for my own business while I am sitting waiting for the customers at some airport lounge. Yes, I end up working 70-80 hours per week for two jobs. But I get the majority of my flying fix for free, even get paid to do it.

The best of both worlds in my own little mind.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
. Yes, sometimes you can get into a job where you can have a base and you're mostly flying out and back somewhere every day/night. But it seems most of the jobs involve more travel and being away from home.
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One more reason the old guys sit back and grin when the young'uns are bragging about their Falcon, Challenger, G-IV jobs. Meanwhile the elders are flying their Citations and King Airs that come home almost every night.
 
wabower said:
One more reason the old guys sit back and grin when the young'uns are bragging about their Falcon, Challenger, G-IV jobs. Meanwhile the elders are flying their Citations and King Airs that come home almost every night.
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As you know, if I don't get out of flying Navajos, I won't be entirely disappointed. And I'm not a huge fan of jets.

Proof that I'm old at heart.
 
kmead said:
Train to be an A&P mechanic. I've done it since high school. Never a boring moment. I must say I always enjoyed going to work on aircraft.

Kevin
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I took this route also. You are correct, there never is a dull moment. Ive always enjoyed the work too, and ive got to see a lot of of country moving around each time a job ends.
 
Thank you again for the replies, it's a lot to consider. Sorry to be vague on the schedule piece but I just didn't want to be away more than I was home or need to move every few years. :)
 
heather.hins said:
Thank you again for the replies, it's a lot to consider. Sorry to be vague on the schedule piece but I just didn't want to be away more than I was home or need to move every few years. :)
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Hi Heather...I didn't read every reply so it may have already been posted. But, I was in your shoes about 12 years ago. I wanted to fly and thought it would be great to get paid for it. For me, however, I realized a couple things...being away from home that much wasn't good, and the exciting "pilot jobs" are hard to get (actually, so are the boring "bus driver in the sky" jobs).

I decided to keep flying as my passion, rather than let it get diluted and monotonous. My job pays the bills and it pays for my hobby/passion. Something to consider. ;)
 
Airport Management
Airline management (commercial, charter, corporate)
Dispatch & Scheduling (commercial, charter, corporate)
Flight planning & weather (commercial, charter, corporate)
Aviation security (no, *NOT* TSA!) (commercial, charter, corporate)
Pilot shop owner/manager
Flight school management

Aviation isn't much different from other industries - the same infrastructure services are always needed. This way you're in aviation business and can fly for fun (and sometimes, along for the ride that someone else is paying for....)
 
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heather.hins said:
Thank you again for the replies, it's a lot to consider. Sorry to be vague on the schedule piece but I just didn't want to be away more than I was home or need to move every few years. :)
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Then you'll most likely want to stay away from the airlines and quite possibly aviation as a career all together.
 
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