Drop Everything and Be a Professional Pilot

Would you change your career track and become a pro pilot?

  • I would do it mostly to become an instructor, because I love teaching

    Votes: 9 13.8%

  • I would do it, if it made as much or more money than I make now

    Votes: 28 43.1%

  • I want to do it for charity, but not professionally

    Votes: 6 9.2%

  • I've always wanted to be a professional pilot--everything else is secondary

    Votes: 13 20.0%

  • I want to be or have been a military pilot, but after separating, that's it

    Votes: 2 3.1%

  • I just like being a passenger with my spouse/friend/partner

    Votes: 1 1.5%

  • No

    Votes: 17 26.2%
  • Total voters
    65
spiderweb

spiderweb

Final Approach
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Ben
Would you? Have you already? (Pick as many responses as you like.)
 
I've recently bumped into several guys who have done it and they were glad they made the switch. One guy in particular went from making $30k a month to $30/year. Another guy just shifted responsibility around in his company so that he could try it out. It's tough because the starting wages are going to hurt most people who have an established career. It's a big price to pay in my opinion, unless you have the financial means to soften the blow.
 
The job, yes.
The reality of schedule / family early on, no.

Now I'm olderish and I have a neighbor that flies for American. It seems like he works about 30 days a year and he doesn't appear to be struggling financially.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
The job, yes.
The reality of schedule / family early on, no.

Now I'm olderish and I have a neighbor that flies for American. It seems like he works about 30 days a year and he doesn't appear to be struggling financially.
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Think of the instructional videos you could make...
 
I know some guys who fly for a living that I wish would be professionally about it.
 
spiderweb said:
Would you? Have you already? (Pick as many responses as you like.)
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Didn't drop everything. Did add professional ratings.

Still thinking about how much of IT to keep or phase out, and how much aviation to replace it with. Numbers show it's about a 3:1 ratio of hours spent working in aviation to make what I make in IT. So there's no fiscal sense to it at all.

It's most just a "What do you want to be doing in ten years?" kind of question.
 
Been one for nearly a decade now, love it, just got to explore and get the experience to end up somewhere comfy, minus the paperwork it doesn't feel like "going to work", plus the QOL is good.
 
I looked at it real hard many years ago, but I took a pass - I had an IT career going, and I saw how many guys in my Reserve unit were living as "Reserve Bums", during furloughs and downturns. And I think the actual flying, A to B, B, B to C, or back to A, just didn't hold much allure. I have a family member near the end of a military flying career, and he's gonna pass on flying as a profession, as well.

Not knocking it, and I don't really know, since I didn't do it, but it appears a little depressing; rigid, bureaucratic, crummy pay to start. I've heard guys flying for a living, civilian or military, say the last time they had fun flying was when they paid for it. YMMV, and it probably has its good points, after you get a gig that pays reasonable.
 
Sundancer said:
...it appears a little depressing; rigid, bureaucratic... I've heard guys flying for a living, civilian or military, say the last time they had fun flying was when they paid for it.
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Most of the guys I've flown with over the years seem to hate flying.
 
I'm sure you'll find just as much people working IT, engineering, etc that hate their jobs as well. Just like flying, those jobs aren't for everyone.
 
jordane93 said:
I'm sure you'll find just as much people working IT, engineering, etc that hate their jobs as well. Just like flying, those jobs aren't for everyone.
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Excellent point.

I'm a professional musician and a professor. I love what I do. There are times I don't like it, but they are few and far between. I honestly often think I'm very lucky to be living my dream.

But there are plenty in my profession who aren't so keen, and even some who hate it. One of the lowest job satisfaction numbers are found in orchestra jobs, and here's where this thread ties in with the other: Starting salary for the top five orchestras is $130k - $140k.

I have many many friends whom I came up with in those jobs who now have lots of money and little happiness. One would think that the phrase, "being an artist sucks," meant the pay--not the actual job--but not in those cases.

I AM lucky that I love what I do, and get paid well for it.
 
Sundancer said:
I looked at it real hard many years ago, but I took a pass - I had an IT career going, and I saw how many guys in my Reserve unit were living as "Reserve Bums", during furloughs and downturns. And I think the actual flying, A to B, B, B to C, or back to A, just didn't hold much allure. I have a family member near the end of a military flying career, and he's gonna pass on flying as a profession, as well.

Not knocking it, and I don't really know, since I didn't do it, but it appears a little depressing; rigid, bureaucratic, crummy pay to start. I've heard guys flying for a living, civilian or military, say the last time they had fun flying was when they paid for it. YMMV, and it probably has its good points, after you get a gig that pays reasonable.
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Depends on the type of flying and why you got into aviating.

There's lots out there outside of the airlines
 
If money wasn't a factor, I'd quit my job (which I do actually love) and split my time between instructing and flying for charity. But I've got kids to raise... mouths to feed.
 
I did. Left active duty a little over a year ago to fly. I was making a lot more money back on active duty, but like Jordane93 said.....sitting in a cubicle Monday through Friday making sure the PowerPoint fonts are all correct and the proper color is a miserable existence.

I don't regret it at all.
 
I probably enjoy my day job equally as much as flying. However, it pays a lot more than being a pro pilot and I'm still at the top of my game so therefore I'm keeping my day job. I think my financial responsibilities are already covered, so if I can't continue what I'm doing now I'd jump right away into the pro pilot thing.
 
Just beware... many smaller shady outfits out there intentionally "misinterpret" the rest rules. They will try to tell you that being "on call" is rest until they actually call.
 
I love my current job right now. If I were to fly professionally, I would be a sport CFI or a commercial/CFI glider pilot. But say if I was able to get a medical I would be a regular CFI or a commercial airplane pilot. Either way I don't want to fly full-time nor be an airline pilot or corporate pilot. I would fly commercially in small airplanes or be a CFI part-time on my days off from my main job.
 
I switched over to flying full time around 15 years ago. Was a software developer before then. I was still really young though (just finishing up college), and without a wife or kids it wasn't a particularly tough decision. The pay cut is a lot easier to swallow when nobody else is affected by it.
 
I'd do it, but only to fly corporate jets/smaller stuff. None of the big iron ever appealed to me. Of course, making the pay match would be the real determinant, and I don't think I could even match half of my current salary with a freshly-minted comm'l certificate. I'd have to luck into having a relative hit the lottery and need a pilot for their personal jet . . . don't see that one happening.
 
Geeze, I work 7 to 7. What a bunch of wieners.

Hmm, I guess I never had any desire to fly the big birds. Doesn't seem fun to me. Rules, regs, responsibility, schedules, busy airports, hotels. All things that make flying less enjoyable. Heck, makes everything less enjoyable. I'd probably fly private jets or turbo props if the opportunity arose, but I don't see that being a possibility until later in life when the kids are out of the house. I have too many lives to care for to take a pay cut now. Someday, when I grow up, I'd love to fly some nice wealthy person around in his/her PC12, King Air, Citation, etc. It'll happen ;)

On another note, are flying or working in a cubicle the only two job options available these days? Surely if you don't fly for a living, you could find something that doesn't involve a cubicle.
 
I just did it...well, about a month ago. Flying Part 135 for a cargo/charter company at KADS.
 
I got to do it for a while. Enjoyed it and life happened. My then employer gave me other opportunities to excel, staying close to aviation. Having moved on to a new employer and doing nothing related to aviation professionally, I miss it. A lot. Working on figuring out how to get back in. On my terms.
 
Kritchlow said:
Just beware... many smaller shady outfits out there intentionally "misinterpret" the rest rules. They will try to tell you that being "on call" is rest until they actually call.
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So if you can prove it, drop a dime and out them. Otherwise stop perpetuating this myth.

That said, I couldn't do a 9-5, M-F desk job, just isn't for me. I'm also a workaholic, I'm down to 8 days off this month, just to make some money after having been in training for the last couple months and not making much over min pay. I enjoy it, but most people would look at my schedule and say, no way.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
So if you can prove it, drop a dime and out them. Otherwise stop perpetuating this myth.

That said, I couldn't do a 9-5, M-F desk job, just isn't for me. I'm also a workaholic, I'm down to 8 days off this month, just to make some money after having been in training for the last couple months and not making much over min pay. I enjoy it, but most people would look at my schedule and say, no way.
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Lol!!! It's not a myth, and I'm not a rat.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
So if you can prove it, drop a dime and out them. Otherwise stop perpetuating this myth.
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Truly, if you think this is a myth you are super-duper naive.
The fact that 135 outfits purposely misinterpret rest regs is commonplace and well known.
 
Could not afford lessons till I was in my late 30's. I would have loved to be a professional pilot but banked my money on a BSME degree. I fly for pleasure. Right now I am looking at a tail wheel plane that I can put floats on. That truly would fit my mission and something the family could enjoy..
 
Kritchlow said:
Truly, if you think this is a myth you are super-duper naive.
The fact that 135 outfits purposely misinterpret rest regs is commonplace and well known.
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I'm not pretending it doesn't happen. But to talk about it in generalities doesn't fix anything. Spill the beans, out the morons and we can make progress towards ending the BS.
 
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