Transition to Career Pilot. Is it worth it?

taters said:
all regionals are offering signing bonuses ...some as high as $80,000 (not a typo) inclulding the one I work for. Others will also pay for the new ATP class and sim stuff as well....just fill the gap to your 1500 hours and alot of things can happen fast from there.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
FlyingTiger said:
What's interesting to me is that I would of considered the op too old to look for a career in aviation, at least if he wants to fly for an airline, however the head flight instructer at our FBO just got hired by a regional at 52. I was rather surprised they would train someone at that age. Have we finally hit the pilot shortage the flight schools have been talking about in their marketing for the past 30 years?

On a personal level, I am also 47 and have 4 kids so I could never start flying as a profession and rely on entry level wages. That being said, I have my own law firm and could manipulate my schedule and use employees to free enough time to fly commercially on a part time basis. Do the regional airlines hire guys for part time work?? I would do that in a heart beat. Of course I need to log some serious hours as a cfi first.
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You'd be better off running for congress. Hundreds of lawyers have found this path to be a sound one. Decent suits, good insurance , free haircuts, doctor on call 24 hours, later become a defense lobbyist maybe! 47 too old for the majors.
 
I went to college in the 90's with the intent to fly for a living. When I graduated with Commercial ME IR though (and a bachelors + a few hundred hrs) I was unprepared for the life it would require to make my dream a reality. I was engaged, had obligations in a specific geographical region, and needed to make more money than flying offered. It just wasn't an option.

I've been employed and well-compensated for the majority of my (non-flying) career though, and have been home with my family most every night, even worked from home many years. I'm happy with my career and the options it affords me, but man I still miss flying. Thankfully we're in the midst of purchasing our first plane so although it'll be for pleasure instead of pay and it's certainly not the big iron of my dreams, I'm satisfied with how things are turning out.

I have to say though, when I'm your age (you're not that far head of me), if the industry picks up and starts compensating pilots well again, it will be difficult for me to not at least seriously investigate it. I can't remember his name but the author in flying mag that was a surgeon his whole life and recently started flying charter - I could see myself trying that change out at some point in life.
 
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Yeah, but even if it picks up you're coming as entry level pilot and that brings with it entry level pay, ain't no zero to hero for 99.9% of folks in the industry.

I always hear stories about people financing a ton of money for flight training, not even finished with it yet, and before they even make a single dollar flying, they decide to put a ring on the gf, launch out a small basketball team worth of kids, finance a house and 2 new Hyundais.

....Then they complain that no one can make it in the industry.

....Or they can't move out of their town, dude what were you thinking was going to happen, pilots tend to travel :dunno:

Can people not even take 2 hours of their life and google (like the OP did) and figure out what they are getting into before hurtling themselves into debt.

Financing a "established" lifestyle before you're actually established in said career = fail most often.
 
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jouleman said:
Anthony,

The pay or the job itself?
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The initial pay is REALLY bad, and most people are typically in debt, so it really doesn't make economic sense. However, some do it, and eventually succeed. It just takes a long time these days it seems.
 
RotorAndWing said:
They aren't low time pilots either.
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The ones I met were starting at 400hrs in a 207 and were bumped to the turbine planes around 750. Most of them were gone after 1500, a few older high time guys who had settled in PNG, but the majority were building time. I give respect, they were building time in some tough conditions.
 
Anthony said:
The initial pay is REALLY bad, and most people are typically in debt, so it really doesn't make economic sense. However, some do it, and eventually succeed. It just takes a long time these days it seems.
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Do the zero to hero course on a Visa card, get the turbine time as well, then do a bankruptcy.
 
Pghsteel said:
I'm thinking most people (meaning 99%) get into a aviation because of the love and passion for airplanes. Not the money. It's just in your blood. If you have to ask Then it's not.

I agree with James331
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:yes::yes::yes:
 
jouleman said:
Just read a MOST depressive rant by a anonymous author. He exhaustively penned his best examples of why not to enter into aviation as a career path. The poor hours, poor lifestyle, will ruin your marriage, multiple home moves, forever treading water financially, etc. I was like WTF? If we have no one who want's to be a professional pilot after reading that, who will ever fly airplanes?
I don't know if this guy is burned out or disgruntled, or just being realistic.

I am about to embark on a Part 61 professional pilot course (PPL through Commercial rating) in an effort to get out of my current job as a paramedic that I have held for 29 years. I am 47 years old.

Is there any realistic prospect out there as far as employment in this field as a newer low time pilot, where one can make 45-50K annually?

Hoping it is not as dismal as that article would have one believe. ANY feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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My advice is to keep your day job while getting your private and commercial. While you are doing that, try to talk to pilots with various jobs and get a feel for what they do, meaning both the good and bad sides of what they do. Then maybe you can make some kind of decision. Jumping in with both feet at 47 unless you have some substantial savings and truly despise your current job seems pretty risky to me, especially when you don't even have a private yet. How do you know you'll even like flying an airplane let alone do it for a job with all that entails?
 
jouleman said:
Just read a MOST depressive rant by a anonymous author. He exhaustively penned his best examples of why not to enter into aviation as a career path. The poor hours, poor lifestyle, will ruin your marriage, multiple home moves, forever treading water financially, etc. I was like WTF? If we have no one who want's to be a professional pilot after reading that, who will ever fly airplanes?
I don't know if this guy is burned out or disgruntled, or just being realistic.

I am about to embark on a Part 61 professional pilot course (PPL through Commercial rating) in an effort to get out of my current job as a paramedic that I have held for 29 years. I am 47 years old.

Is there any realistic prospect out there as far as employment in this field as a newer low time pilot, where one can make 45-50K annually?

Hoping it is not as dismal as that article would have one believe. ANY feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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For the most part, I have no regrets.

Of course, my career path has been far from typical, and was definitely unplanned.
 
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Henning said:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
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Its a desperation move by DELTA ...every other regional bonus is in the 5-10k range...sucks to have no movement

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James331 said:
First off if you have to ask if this industry is for you, it's not.
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On the contrary, if you don't have to carefully evaluate whether something is a good idea before you devote your life to it, then you lack the good judgment needed to be a safe pilot.

No sane person wants to be a pilot (or anything else) regardless of any conceivable consequences. The intelligent procedure is (as the OP is doing) to investigate the potential consequences, including hardships, and then decide whether your passion is strong enough for it to be worthwhile.
 
acrophile said:
On the contrary, if you don't have to carefully evaluate whether something is a good idea before you devote your life to it, then you lack the good judgment needed to be a safe pilot.

No sane person wants to be a pilot (or anything else) regardless of any conceivable consequences. The intelligent procedure is (as the OP is doing) to investigate the potential consequences, including hardships, and then decide whether your passion is strong enough for it to be worthwhile.
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That sounds like a rather meek approach.

Figure out where your heart is, figure out how to make money with it.

Do not accept no

Always take it one step further than the next guy

Life is too short for compromises.
 
James331 said:
That sounds like a rather meek approach.

Figure out where your heart is, figure out how to make money with it.

Do not accept no

Always take it one step further than the next guy

Life is too short for compromises.
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Except starting at 47, he'll be 50 before he has the time in to get a job besides CFI or towing banners, maybe a pipeline gig. Getting hired for most gigs anymore you're at 1000+ hrs, 1500 with an ATP for 121. It's hard to send kids to college or make your mortgage on CFI pay (not to mention the $50k one spends to get to CFI), so unless one has the financials in place, or is just going to walk away and rewrite their lives, transition to career pilot from zero at age 47 is a complex decision that may not be feasible depending on your lifestyle and who depends on you.

It's much more feasible for those who flew young, but kept aviation recreational and managed to put 2500 hrs together by midlife crisis time. They have a better chance of surviving that first 3 years because they need much less reserves.

One of my favorite maintenance clients was a lawyer, Larry Spizer, made a lot of money as a lawyer, a lot. Loved to fly though. Went to work for NetJets last I heard.
 
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