Originally Posted by
elijahmike1
I am a 31yr old firefighter for a major dept in metro Atlanta. I have a wife and 2 kids and "survive" on 50,000 a year. I have always wanted to fly. I was close to joining ATP's self paced program (0-hero). Im a vet so after VA would have taken on about 40K grand dept. I began to question my career change and if it was possible. I read an article that said ATP is now only hiring 30% of their grads for CFI positions after completion of training. I called and questioned and was told "your the type of person we are looking for, older, professional, and would not have a problem getting hired as a ATP CFI...for sure" Yah...OK. Then I became concerned w/ the pool of potential pilots growing everyday and nobody hiring. So I questioned...was told "the best time to train is during a downturn and that I would have no problem in 1 1/2 years getting a job that the "regionals will be hiring like crazy". When I asked about the ridiculous pay, that I had no idea was the case BTW, I was told that it's only like that the first year and it's realistic to make 35K-40K in yr 2 and then upgrade to make "good" money. Then I stumble on this forum! Anyone out there who can offer good advice that is not just disgruntled would be appreciated. Be safe!
I wouldn't. The boom of airlines hiring in the next few years isn't going to stop six months after that, it will keep going. When everybody starts hiring, all the furloughed people will get hired first, followed by the rest of the bunch, so it'll be even a year or two after that starts before you might have a shot at an interview. So let's say three years from now you get a job at a regional, and you have a relatively short upgrade of two years, that means it'll take you five years just to get up to your current salary. If you "survive" on 50k, how will you do for no more than 25k for the next five years? My suggestion is wait for when things start up again. Their zero to hero programs can take as few as 90 days, anyway, so if things look really good, you'll only be 3 months behind the curve.