Lagoon

I was speaking with an instructor at a famous flight school that prepares students for careers in commercial aviation and he said that he chose to focus his job searches on regional airlines since the corporate aviation lifestyle was not to his liking.

He said that at least with regional/major airlines, there is a schedule. But with corporate aviation, they could call you in the middle of the night and ask you to fly someone to Beijing.

So I focused on commercial aviation and talked to some folks in the business. From what I heard, between being on reserve for 18 days of the month and commuting back and forth to home, sleeping at crash pads, and seeing your significant other 4 times a month if you're lucky and earning about $35K for the first 3 years, I decided that aviation may not be the career for me.

Mind you, I started training a while ago and got my private license and I am very passionate about flying. I love it. It makes me happy and makes me feel fulfilled. But when I looked deeper and spoke with enough people, I felt that commercial aviation didn't look like the right career path for someone in his mid 30s.


So are there aviation jobs out there that are worth investing training time and ratings to get a good return on your investment and lead a decent lifestyle, with a normal or semi-normal social and family life?

I mean this from both a financial perspective and a lifestyle perspective. Sure, we would all like to have weekends off, but to be home once a week is a little too much of a compromise just to follow a dream.

galaxy flyer

Airplanes fly places, crews are away from home. In 40 years of flying, it looks like most pilots are away 12-17 days per month. Yes, there are senior guys at airlines, standing reserve at home (lived in base) and work little, but it's probably a minority of pilots. I know corporate pilots who ard gone lots and skid who only fly 6/8 days a month. A friend just got a Global job for a family that bought the plane to conduct business and get home. We'll see?

GF

RI830

Another 121 vs Corporate lifestyle thread?

To the OP, your CFI buddy is giving you a worst vs worst scenario.
No corporate outfit is calling at 2am to fly to Bejing in an hour.
Simple logistics mainly prevent that. Ther are jobs that have perpetual on call and pop up trips but there are just as many scheduled/non-pop up departments.

For the 121 world, it runs the gamut too. A FNG at Great Lakes vs the guy who is #1 on the list at and Legacy.

I have done the regionals and now am at great corporate gig.
I have no intention to go to a major, but that is my opinion alone.
You ask 10 guys what is best and you'll get 12 answers including 3 disertations.

Good luck in making your choice, but I don't think bailing on avaiatikn is a wise move.

Likeabat

My Dad spent 20 years at a Fortune 100 flight department and never did an overnight. Worked M-F on a scheduled part 91 shuttle - often only flying 2 legs in a 5 HR duty day. Home every night - All weekends off. And they shut the shuttle down mid-December and started it back up after Jan 1st.

Now that is very rare, of course - but just an example that corporate aviation lifestyles can vary widely. Some are horrible such as you described. Some have very good schedules with scheduled days off.

Lagoon

So you invest time and money and take the risk knowing that it may or may not work out the way you had expected?

Sure there are no guarantees in life, but perhaps I can work a regular job and in the meantime earn my ratings on my days off and then see if I can find a good corporate gig. The only problem is I'm in my late 30s so time is of the essence.

wildcat1

No. Your time has passed.

I'm going to assume you are at zero time. If you quit your job and work full time toward getting your certificates, you can be a commercial multi-engine by the end of this year. Then, you'll need a few months to become a flight instructor. If you really hustle, you can be at 700-800 hours by the end of next year. You'll need 1500 hours to get an ATP. So, two years from this December, you can take that exam after taking a two week course, on your dime. With that ATP, you can go fly cargo, charter or at a regional for roughtly $45K a year (you've probably spent $40-$50 to get here). They'll fly you 500 hours a year. You'll need 6,000 hours of so to get an ok corporate gig. 10,000 or more to get a great job. So, you are 6 years or more from an average corporate job and 14-15 years away from a great job.

Or, you can take the 2.5 years to get to a regional and go to work for $45K ish, commute to where ever they choose to base you, fly 100 hours a month with the hopes that some day you'll get to upgrade and then every major "will hire you". But, the reality is, by the time you make captain the airlines will be all but done hiring and they'll have a glut of 40 somethings that have 20-25 years until retirement. So, you'll be a regional pilot for your entire career, working quite a few hours for much lower pay.

At your age, you are better off just learning how to fly and doing it as a hobby and keep doing what you've been doing.

Lagoon

I have a PPL. How is it that a CFI at my former school got a $60K job fying right seat on a corporate jet with about 800 hours of logged time?

BoilerUP

What type aircraft, in what location, and 91 or 135?

That has certainly happened before, but is the exception rather than the rule...and when low-time pilots do get hired into 91 operations, they often (not always, but often) are hired at below market compensation.

That said, one doesn't "need" 6000 hours to get a "ok corporate gig"; I got a good 91 job (albeit on a light jet) with less than 2500tt.

Network, network, network...

MartinBishop

I bought everything you wrote up until this point.

Titos

He's pretty much right. What's your argument?