Originally Posted by
jdavidbakr
Hi all, been enjoying lurking on the forums here. Love the vast expanse of opinions!
I'm about to turn 45 years old and am a computer programmer. Been infatuated with flying my whole life, especially the airlines, and have been seriously considering a career change to become an airline pilot. Even if all I was able to do is retire as a senior captain at a regional I should be able to earn more than I make now by about 5-7 years into that position; being able to go to a legacy carrier would just be gravy. The problem, as it is for many people, is financing - not just the $65,000 I anticipate for the training to get to my Commercial/CFI/CFII ratings, but the loss of income during the year that would take plus the loss of income early on in the career, all while having small children at home. Do you all have any ideas or suggestions about ways to finance this? Has anyone here taken a similar path and can share your experience? Thanks in advance!
Subscribed.
I'm in the almost exact same boat as you jdavid. I'm age 46, 25 years into my career. I'm bored, burnt-out and going no further.; I've done all I'm going to do. I have 8 years to go to max out my retirement at age 55. I'm married with a six year old. Wife has a good paying job.
I recently connected with a airline pilot who worked in my career field and left it to fly. We are meeting tomorrow, he wants to help me chart a course to an aviation career. My wife is a major obstacle to making a change for me, a major obstacle. That, and my own feelings of guilt that I should be dumping this money into my son's college fund, not chasing my own dreams.
I see that I have 8 years to get as much training and experience as possible. If a great opportunity opens up before then, maybe I'll modify the plan. I see opportunity in aviation, something I don't have in my current occupation. So, it's either sit and wait to retire, or be productive and open a new chapter.
We will see.