Originally Posted by
Motosaki
Thank you all for the feedback. 20,000 is a much sweeter sounding figure than 75,000. I remember reading in another thread that anyone interested in pursuing a career as an airline pilot should be prepared to be six figures in debt by the time it's all said and done. Where does the extra eighty or so thousand come into play?
I also should probably mention that I have no college credits. I typically do very well on tests, but aside from high school the only formal training I have that I can put on paper is being MECP certified (which is completely unrelated to avionics) I have been told that airline companies only care about having experience, and lots of it, but something about that doesn't add up to me. Would not having a degree be a major obstacle in me trying to become a successful pilot?
As for making 20,000 teaching CFI that is fine with me. I expect to be scraping pennies for years. As long as I am working around aircraft and all the ambience that comes with them, my initial pay is not a concern as long as I have opportunities to advance and eventually make a decent living. Again, thanks for all the feedback you have given
*edit* let me rephrase. I will work for any company, doing any type of flying for them. I don't have to be working for an airline, although I would love to do that. My ONLY goal is to be flying a plane as my career, with a stable company, and stable pay. Money is not an issue as long as I can at some point be making enough to support a family, but I understand you have to work towards that.
With the price of fuel, you can probably get all of your ratings for about $40K (including CFI/CFII/MEI), but this can vary by location.
People often talk abot spending "$100K" to get into the airlines because some folks pay that or more at the large schools...and they usually reget it.
You might have to buy some ME time at some point, and at the entry level you may not make enough money to live on, so you might consider that an additional expense also if you have to borrow or spend savings.
Most regionals prefer a 4-year degree, but will not enforce that when they need pilots badly enough. But you can assume that you WILL NOT get a major airline job without a 4-year degree.
Be careful about being to willing to work for little or nothing just to break into aviation. Employers have mastered the art of luring young pilots for peanuts...but too often the stability and acceptable wages that you dream about never materialize. Your attitude actually is considered a disease in professional aviation....it's called Shiny Jet Syndrome (SJS). The problem is that when you work for nothing there is a probably a middle-aged professional pilot who is going to lose his job to you because you're cheaper. Of course what goes around comes around...YOU might get replaced by a low-time 22 year-old after you are established, making good money, and have a wife, kids, and mortgage.
I'm just being informative here, but if you made that post on other forums you would receive profanity in response.