Originally Posted by Tripper

Hey Steve..I was in a similar situation to you. At 38 I enrolled in a flight school which guaranteed an interview with a Regional Airline. The cost of the program, including my housing and stuff, was around 60k. I had 23 hours when I started. I, as you, had a dream that I needed to pursue. Fortunately, I was financially able to do it. I was hired at age 40.
I just thought I'd share some of my thoughts with you...from a Regional Airline side...
Yes...it is a rough lifestyle...and will be challenging at first. You will be scattered all over the country and really never feel like you have a home. You will be eating crappy airport food and somedays you will barely have time to eat at all. You will be working long hours...not necessarily flying, but on duty for long hours. Sometimes you will be extremely busy and other times you will be sitting in the corner of the airport listning to your ipod bored to death. You will think the company is abusing you, and they probably are! You will be living out of a suitcase for the majority of the week in hotels...sometimes I felt like I was in prison because I had no car and there was absolutely nothing to do anywhere around the hotel. You will sometimes be eating hotdogs from the gas station across the street because you got to the hotel so late that nothing else was open...Sometimes you may be able to convince the girl at MacD's to let you "walk" through the drive-thru. You will be getting to the hotel late and leaving early, sometimes with 5-6 hours of sleep (The FAA rest regulations stink). You will miss alot of events and functions with your family and friends. You will be made to work on your days off (Junior Assigned). If you don't live in your home base, you will have the stress of commuting.
Now...with that being said...You will also get to see many things that most people will never experience...A meteor shower at 41,000 feet...Hurricane Katrina over New Orleans...Incredible lightning shows from above a thunderstorm. You will also get to do many things that very few do...Land a Jet/TP in minimal visibility...On your long overnights, go to cities and towns that you would never get to experience.
Fact is, as with any job, there is good and bad. The grass always looks greener and 'sometimes' it is. This is true for those looking for a career change "TO" or "FROM" the industry.
Another big consideration is your family life. I have a very supportive wife with no children. If I had children, I honestly don't think I could have done this career.
You are doing the right thing by asking people on this board for there thoughts. I know alot of them are negative...but the fact is, there is a good bit of negative to the job. But, there is good too...probably one of the biggest is the fact that you can say to yourself, "I did it!"
Unfortunately, I think this is one of those decisions that you have to look very deep within yourself and tell yourself Yes or No. "Not" making a decision is what will eat you alive!
Best of luck to you, and if I can be of any more help, please let me know!