Good luck to you as well friend and a happy New Year.
I think the 1500 hour rule has just exacerbated a writing on the wall being ignored problem that was in progress anyway. The change in mandatory retirement age about ten years ago kept a lot of grey heads in the US pool for five more years as we continued on out of the horror show that occurred in 2008 and onward which slowed the needs of an industry that was on short final. Well the mothership has landed, worldwide big airships are selling like hotcakes, people are lining up to pay too much money for too little space and Robert's your uncle somebody gotta fly these things. The job suction starts at the big show, sucks all the regional pilots up, the regionals suck up Part 135 pilots and any other pilot they can legally let fly their turboprops, and the corporate, charter, and air freight outfits suck up any 500 hour CFI or Commercial ticket holder they can find. Correct me if I'm out of line, I'm not up on all the requirements for each level. Point is for the next five years, mandatory retirement will outstrip the ability of the flight schools to manufacture CFI's and move students up the line toward eventual ATP status. We may see the same thing that happened in the medical field, we'll be flooded with pilots coming in from other countries with work visas to fill some of the holes and keep wages down, lobbying to extend or remove the mandatory retirement (It should be removed, and replaced with a medical requirement) and of course the inexorable push to load automated cattle cars with no pilots and robots for cabin crew.
I completely agree. And the bolded part is why I no longer give any preference to ex-military in my hiring. I don't avoid hiring them of course. But I also don't give them any kind of preference because I simply have not found where picking the candidate that has a military background translates into any greater chance of ending up with a successful hire.
Meh, my experience was different. I have flown professionally and driven trucks professionally. Never wanted to do living out of suitcase aviation and never did, never wanted to do over the road trucking and never did.
@ARFlyer lol tell your boys to get it together.
Words lost in translation due to not knowing the tone of voice? That has never happened on the internet ever!!!
BS in Business can help get you on in the management side of an airline if the unfortunate event of losing your medical happens. Obviously would never wish that upon anyone. Things like your eyes going bad or loss of hearing from events out of ones control can happen anytime. Diabetes is for the most part preventable if you know your family has a history by being berry dilegent with your acting habits.
They’re hiring school bus drivers in my town at $14 / hr and $1000 bonus! If I lose my medical, I could easily go from a flying ambulance driver to a bus driver and still get by.
No, but a BS in lots of other things can allow for some very good plan B options. And even a BS in BS will get you jobs you would not otherwise be able to get.
Airlines are a field where having a degree makes you more employable. There are jobs you won't get unless you have a degree. Doesn't matter what the degree is in, just that you have one. Aviation is far from the only career field where this is the case. There are lots of jobs where you will not be considered unless you have a degree or happen to be related to a key person. Doesn't matter so much what the degree is in, just that you have one. So your degrees would most definitely open doors for you that would not otherwise be open. Whether or not you care about those particular doors is a different matter, but that doesn't change the fact that having your degrees will give you options you wouldn't otherwise have.
School bus drivers still need medicals. There are fewer disqualifies for DOT physicals but lots of things that will cost you your FAA medical will also prevent you from getting a DOT version.They’re hiring school bus drivers in my town at $14 / hr and $1000 bonus! If I lose my medical, I could easily go from a flying ambulance driver to a bus driver and still get by.
If you're not a book learning kind of person, professional aviation probably isn't going to be for you. A whole lot more to it than just knowing how to handle the plane and just skating by on a lot of that other stuff can be dangerous.
Ahh, that's what I was worried about. I guess in that case its on to option two because there is no way I could afford flight school on top of a four year degree unless I hit the Powerball