rickair7777

Not sure if you're an army helo pilot...I'll assume not...

Flight Safety is good but still expensive. You can get everything you need at a small school or FBO.

As a military guy, you need to be aware that you will need a 4-year degree to achieve a reasonable income level as a pilot. The GI Bill will pay some of your flight training, but you are probably better off using your VA benies for college. Unfortuntaely, most flight schools that accept VA students will adjust their VA pricing above normal prices. This means you pay about as much out-of-pocket as you would have without GI Bill, and the school pockets your GI benefits! Go to college (a state school) and do flight training on the side.

I'll summarize the usual path for civilian flight training, but first I would suggest that you attempt to get a fixed-wing military flying slot. You'll need the college degree, but as a former military member, you will have an advanatge getting in. This is the best path to a major airline job, because airlines prefer ex-military, your training is paid for, and you make good money while in the military. If you don't want to do active-duty military, you could get your civilian training then join the Air National Guard...numerous benefits there.

Civilian Training: What airlines want is ratings and flight experience. They don't care where you got them (unless it was in the military). You will need Private (PVT), Instrument (IR), Commercial(COM), Multi-engine(ME), Flight Instructor (CFI), Instrument Instructor (CFII), and Multi-engine Instructor (MEI). This should cost roughly $35K at your local airport or at most small/medium size schools. WARNING: There are numerous small-time scam artists and large "glossy-brochure" flight schools who will try to sell you on the idea that their training is "better" or that you need ADDITIONAL jet or airline operations training. They will usually want to charge you $60K-100k+ for their unnecessary crappola. Since the FAA sets and closely monitors training standards, most schools and instructors meet the requirements. You need to find one that will get your basic ratings done in a reasonable time (6-8 months full-time) and won't charge double what they should. Try to find a LOCAL school, every town has them...if you move across country and find yourself in a scam, it's hard to go back. Also any school that wants ALL of your money up front is a big red flag...walk away immediately. You will want to pay in installments of 1K or 2K max. Remember some of the biggest schools with the smoothest fast-talking salesmen are the biggest scams...the bigger the brochure, the bigger the lies.

Flight Instructor: Now that you have your ratings and 250-300 hours, you can get a job as a CFI, probably teaching PVT, COM, and IR students in single-engine airplanes. You will do this for 1-2 years until you 1000+ total time (TT). You will also need 100+ multi-engine time (ME)...you can get a job as an MEI or maybe just rent 100 hours worth of airplane time ($$$). CFIs and MEI's make $10K-30K/year

Night Cargo: Next step is flying overnight packages from small towns. You will start in small single-engine, single pilot airplanes that are often poorly maintained, and fly in night, weather, mountain, and probably icing conditions...if this sounds dangerous, that's because it is! You will usually do this for 6-18 months. Pay is $20-25K. If you have a degree and hiring is good you may be able to skip this step and go from CFI to regional airline.

Regional Airline. You will start out in a turbo-prop or small jet (Regional Jet or RJ) as first officer (FO). This will pay $15-20K at first. You will fly as an FO until your seniority allows you to upgrade to captain (2-12 years). Once you upgrade to captain you will be acquiring turbine (jet) Pilot-in-Command time (PIC), making $30K-70K. Turbine PIC is what the major airlines require in their candidates. How you got it doesn't matter as much as the fact that you have it. A this point you probably have 5000+ TT. An F-16 pilot with 1500 TT will have 1000+ PIC because he is always the PIC in an F-16.

Major Airline: Once you meet the minumum experience requirements, competetion is severe. Military pilots go to the head of the line here. In addition to your flying background, they will look at other "whole-person" factors as well. If you get a job at a major airline, life might be pretty good in the long run.


Notes: The estimated times at each job assume no catastrophic 9/11 like events. This would delay hiring for a period of time.

You will need an FAA First Class medical to be an airline pilot. Get one before you start training to make sure you qualify.

Get a PVT license first BEFORE you commit yourself to professional pilot training. Make sure you actually enjoy flying.

Expect to get furloughed at some point in your career...there are a lot of ups and downs in this industry.

Remember: Be wary of big-name "glossy brochure" flight schools that want to rip you off...anyone who says the airlines "prefer" their graduates is lying. Airlines prefer pilots who have appropriate ratings and flight experience. Visit any school before signing up, and talk to some instructors and students, not just the salesmen.

There are a FEW shortcuts to an airline job, but they are expensive and have potential negatives...do your research if you think you want to do a shortcut program.