Originally Posted by
Turbosina
I'm sorry. It's like the worst possible time to just be at the level where you're employable at a 121 carrier.
When I graduated college in '94 I was beyond broke and couldn't afford proper flight training, plus the regionals wanted 3000 TT and a Shuttle landing to sit right seat in a Metro.
Then when I finally got all my ratings including my ATP, I got an interview at a regional. That was scheduled for 9/15/01. Needless to say the interview was cancelled.
Focused on my non-aviation career, got comfortable, finally got tired of cubicle life and decided to reapply...
... Just as 2008 happened.
By the time the regionals were hiring again it was 2013. I finally got on the bandwagon. Twenty years after I'd originally hoped to start.
I highly doubt your wait will be that long, though. And you've got a solid plan in placetplace, which is great. Good luck to you, and to all of us. We sure could use some right about now...
Timing is kind of bad but at least this is a career change for me, and while I have a pretty good amount invested I was never all in.
I know plenty of guys that borrowed 80k and are at the same spot either as a brand new FO about to be furloughed or they are still grinding away as a CFI with almost zero flying which means zero billable hours which means zero pay. They don't have a backup plan so the next year or two (or five) is going be rough to say least.
Things will turn around faster than 08 and 9/11 - I see this as a strong sucker punch to the economy and not a drawn out chronic issue.