Originally Posted by
IC ALL
"suggested the same junk advice the we've all heard...."
It's not junk advice. It's called paying your dues. If you aren't interested in playing, I suggest you find the exit now....
My friend, I think you misunderstood what I was saying.
I believe it is 'junk advice' for a magazine to suggest that you can just walk out and start some willy-nilly business to support yourself while immersed in a 7 day work week as a CFI, or flying some of the insane schedules of 135 freight, or flying 900 hrs/year and home and exhausted just 2 days per week as a poor regional FO. I've been there, I "paid my dues" and if there was some easy way to make more money we would all have done or be doing it now.
For a magazine to suggest that you drag your mom and dad into loan debt that will be difficult to pay back on regional wages and take decades to retire is "junk advice".
For a publication or a flight school or anyone to suggest that you have to do whatever it takes, at any and all financial costs, is what I call 'junk advice' that is ignorant of reality...not "paying your dues".
Aviation is still an enjoyable profession but the industry we are in now has changed, and the career-model that existed when we, or at least when I started 14 years ago is different now. Despite what has occurred over the past 9 years, many aspiring pilots continue with the belief that is perfectly OK to accept a ridiculous amount of debt to pursue an aviation career and that it will somehow magically all work out.
It is normal for someone entering the legal or medical profession to accrue a school debt of $80-100K or more because their profession will allow them to adequately service that type of financial commitment. I think it is, quite frankly, irresponsible for anyone to suggest that this is acceptable in aviation, especially in light of the fact that many pilots will never progress beyond the 'regional' 121 level.
Think about it....outside of perhaps some of the better Part 91 operations or the recent phenomenon of the one or two really good fractional operations, most operators (especially 121) will likely never again offer the compensation, retirement, benefits, and stability that is associated with other careers that require such a high-cost educational investment.