Originally Posted by ryane946
I am 22, a CFII, and I have over 700TT and I intend on hiring on at a regional in the next several months.
I pick a decent, solid regional with decent pay and upgrade times (Skywest, Republic, AWAC, ExpressJet, etc..)
Spend 2-3 years as an FO. Suck it up and deal with the pay. I am young enough that 30,000 is plently for 2nd,3rd year.
Upgrade to captain. Spend another 3 years flying. Given all the upgrade times I saw, this is a reasonable expectation.
So now I am 27, making at least 65K, I would potentially have 5000TT, over 3000 PIC. I think these are reasonable expectations. Now I could stay at this regional job for a few more years if I desired to (make reasonable pay for being young and rack up experience), or I could go to a major.
Even in the poor hiring conditions of today, I have to believe that 5000TT, 3000PIC is plently for Southwest, FedEx, UPS, JetBlue, AirTran, Frontier, anyother "Major" that is hiring. Spend a few years as starting FO pay, and then sometime around age 30-35, I would cross the 100K threshold. My goal, and I get to do something I love.
Anything comes up, I have a degree in Aerospace Engineering and I will just get a job in that field.
Well that sounds exactly like my plan from the late 80's. Now I'm a junior reserve at a regional after 14 yrs in the airline industry. Got the same degree, but try getting a job like that w/ no experience and many years removed from school. Of course my timing has flat out stunk and I've bypassed some "better" opportunities in the name of family, but it just ain't that easy. That said, you also just described many pilots' careers who were in the queue at a different point in history, so it just might work out for you.
Bottom line is you won't know 'til you try so go for it - but only if this is
really what you want to do.