13pro

Hi all. Looking for advice. Currently a low time (500hr/121 time) regional FO. I started this as a second career about 2 years ago. Sat reserve for over a year, then had a line for 2 months before Covid. At 42 years old, and facing at best another year + of reserve (or at worst furlough) is this career worth it? I know things will come back. Not worried about that. But the delay from Covid really messes up my timing. I know at any point, the income at a Major, or even at a LCC is significantly better than a regional. But to spend potentially another 7-10 years at a regional, with probably pretty poor QOL for at least the next couple years, is it worth sticking around. Is life THAT much better at a Major? As a junior FO at a major or LCC, at probably 50 years old, is it worth it? Or should I just bail and go back to a “regular” career?

Any words of wisdom or advice are appreciated!

Beagle Capt

Well, your family comes first. For what it’s worth, I started flight training at 18, first flying job instructing at 22, cargo then regional at 27, and 17 long years later flowed at age 44. Made more after one year at AA than top scale widebody capt (CRJ) at Eagle. There’s always turbulence in this industry (never saw 9-11 coming), but survivors succeed by persistence. This too shall pass.

TripleSpool

My first question would be: what is your other job and is your family situation conducive to the long-term sacrifice of absence (that’s personal so no need to answer). At 50, let’s say, you have another 15 years of far better pay but once again, as you are living it now, the reserve/commute lifestyle can really take its toll. Personally, I find it harder to tolerate the things today which I so easily did at 24 (I’m your age btw). So all in all, the sacrifice can truly be worth it if you land a job with a legacy of your choice in even less time than predicted. If not, and if your alternate job offers more stability and better cumulative pay, I’d say drop it like it’s hot.

Surprise

Also worth answering is whether you actually like flying.

riel39

Bingo!

This job is too easy to walk away from.

KSwift76

Yes. Yes it is!

bababouey

This is the only question to ask yourself. I rationalize all the crap things about this industry with the fact I don’t sit in an office and go to meetings all day and answer emails. If you love flying, then you can make this work. If you don’t, you’ll resent your choices.


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ZeroTT

Words of advice:

the industry has always been cyclical but no one has EVER seen this. Nobody knows what’s going to happen

Hours and seniority never hurt you

Wait a year and reassess. Things are changing every week.

look carefully at your furlough recall policy. You may get a freebee pass back to your old career that you could keep for 2-3 years while building seniority

aa73

Is it worth it? Short answer, yes... long answer, yes. Worst day at the airlines is better than your best day at a 9-5. Simple as that

Caveat... you gotta love to fly, for the above to be valid.

20 years at AA through some of the worst times in aviation... still head to the airport with a big ole goofy grin every time. As that’s not due to being funny looking

Good luck.

DOGIII

It is relatable when our personal timelines get derailed. Just know that in the not too distant past (as recently as 2010-2012), upgrades at regionals were around the 6-7 year mark and moving on could have taken a few years after that. Plenty of pilots were making second career moves at your age even with that career progression timeframe. So while the pre-Covid environment was definitely much more pilot friendly, in the big picture - the industry does go through these cycles.