Oh boy, where do I start with this one....
First off, welcome. You didn't specify, and there are many different pilot jobs but I'll assume that you're interested in a career with a major airline (like Southwest or United).
You are not too old by any means but at your age you will probably want to be aggressive about pursuing the various steps in a pilot's career progression. Ideally you'd like to have the worst of the dues-paying done prior to age 40-45. Traditionally a new pilot (except military pilots) would work under horrible pay and benefit conditions for about ten years before getting into a decent job, normally at a major airline...but after that the pay, benefits and Quality-of-Life were outstanding.
Well, things have changed a bit since 9/11. The bad news is that most of the good major airline jobs are gone...the QOL is lower and the pay is nothing special, you can make the same or usually better money with any professional job. The good news is that there is currently a high demand at the entry level, and you can probably progress to regional captain fairly quickly. This demand is probably due to the fact the long-term prospects are not particularly attractive anymore.
Do you know much about regional airlines? If not then you have a LOT of reading to do. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you understand what regionals are and how they work because you will be spending a number of years, possibly you entire career at a regional.
It sounds as though you don't know too much about aviation. Many professional pilots come from flying families and are already familiar with the aviation world. Some recomendations....
1) Sounds like you have a day job...KEEP IT for the time being.
2) Find a school or FBO (Fixed Base Operator) at the nearest small airport and take some flying lessons. It is normal for many folks to have rough spots in their training, or problems with certain tasks, this is normal so don't let it bother you.
3) If you enjoy the lessons, get your private pilot license and do a little recreational flying. If you don't enjoy this you really have no business trying to become a professional pilot.
4) If the lessons go well start researching training options...there is no "Pilot Degree" in the US, but rather a variety of licenses which you will need. You will almost certainly have to pay for these yourself, except for the ATP which may be provided by a regional airline.
PPL: Private Pilot License
IR: Instrument rating
COMM: Commercial License
ME: Multi-engine License
CFI: Flight Instructor
CFII: Instrument Instructor
MEI: Multi-engine instructor.
ATP: Airline Transport Pilot.
There are MANY different programs that will accomplish these ratings, from 4-year university programs to 6-month cram-courses. Cost is anywhere from $35K to $100K+. Employers only care that you have the ratings and whatever flight time they require (usually 500-1500 hours for a regional airline), they don't care where you got the ratings (except military pilots always go to the head of the line).
After you have some private pilot experience you will be in a much better position to decide if this is something you really want to do.
If you have any more specific questions feel free to ask.
Last edited by rickair7777; 06-26-2007 at 08:14 PM.