Beaverbeliever

Hello all! I’m 23 and currently working on finishing my 4-year degree while working a temporary contract position unrelated to aviation until June 2018. I live in the greater Portland area in the PNW. When I was a kid, my dad held a PPL and was part of a flying club, and I often got to go up with him in a C172. That definitely planted a seed that has more recently begun to take root and bloom into a desire to pursue a pilot career in the airline industry. I am engaged to be married this summer to an elementary school teacher who is understandably hesitant to relocate, but has agreed to relocate to the PDX area while I begin flight school. My tentative plan is to undergo flight training at a part 141, and then try and CFI for the school to build part 121 hours. From there, I would love to get on with Skywest or Horizon and be based in PDX, and eventually work up to a job with Alaska out of PDX as well.

My main concerns are forced relocation after joining a regional job. For example, if I am selected for training, is it normal to be assigned a base like DTW or MSP after IOE without a choice? I probably won’t be at this point until 2020, would the pilot shortage lead to regionals being more flexible by that time? Because of my soon to be wife’s profession, it may make it impractical for me to pursue this field for many reasons. Eventually the plan may be for her to stay at home, however the economics of that seem impossible on single-income from a regional salary.

I am mainly seeking “what would you do in my shoes” type of advice with this post. I am willing to accept that entering this career is not practical for my situation, but I would love to find a way to make it work.

aviatorpr

Great time to enter the industry.

First thing, bases are constantly opening and closing because in the regional world, your company is a contractor. You mention MSP or DTW. Skywest doesnt have a base in DTW currently, but Endeavor and GoJets do. MSP, Skywest has a base there. Both of those are related to their Delta flying. They may no longer fly for Delta come 2020, but yes, as a new hire, you are only able to choose where there are openings in the company bases. So if nothing on the west coast is open, you will be forced to where there is an opening like MSP. The catch is, you do not ever have to move to where you are based. Most pilots in the industry commute. You will be able to fly for free as a space available passenger on flights operated by the company(Delta, American, United) your contractor company(Skywest) flies for. You can also jumpseat on practically any air carrier, so you can catch a ride on Alaska from PDX to MSP if thats a route. I'm sure others will chime in with a more detailed post, punching this out on my iphone so trying to keep it not too long.

Beaverbeliever

Thank you for your input. I have read about commuting, but it seems like it may pose problems if the volume of the flight is low to base. My biggest worry is for reserve as well, if I am given a short call to MSP, that flight is well over 2 hours by itself from PDX. Even SLC is 1.75 hrs from PDX. I am still very new to this, so if I am understanding or interpreting something incorrectly, feel free to call me out on it. I appreciate being correct.

javaflyer

Many airlines have a commuter policy in place to protect you in case you don't make it because of flights canceled, etc. In most cases you need to give yourself 2 commercial flights to get in position for your trip, although each airlines policy may differ....it takes planning and usually flying down the day before your trip starts. Usually requires a crashpad or hotel stay. Some flight schools offer flow through to the regionals that you have mentioned, Utah State University comes to mind with a flow through to Skywest. I'm sure there are others if you do some research. Also Ameriflight is doing an open house at their PDX hangar this Saturday 3/25. They are currently running ads on APC about this. Would be good to check them out, even though you don't meet their requirements. It would be a good chance to see their ops and it is close to you!

Beaverbeliever

Thank you for the info. I'm not able to make it up to PDX this weekend, but will keep posted on future events. Forgive me if I am wrong, but from what I've read on Ameriflight doesn't get that many hours for their pilots, and the pilots spend a lot of time away from home. The only advantage that I can easily see is reduced hours for part 135 entry over part 121, but I may be better off being a CFI for a few more months to fulfill the part 121 requirements, and go straight into that.

TiredSoul

Forgive me for being blunt but I think you're worrying about the sky falling down.
There's nothing to be concerned about till....you actually start applying for jobs and you make decisions based on:
Convenience
Time off
Pay
Commutable
Aka QOL or quality of life.
Don't talk yourself out of an airline career before you've even started.

Beaverbeliever

My fiancee agrees with you TiredSoul. No point to be unsure over details that are years ahead. Thank you for everyone's input.

scottm

It is the ultimate gamble, to invest so heavily in preparing yourself for just one job. Nearly any other education can still be of value if your goals need to change, but not this one. It is kind of an "all-in" investment, make or break, do or die. Will the job of airline pilot be rewarding 42 or 47 years from now when you reach retirement age? Will it be rewarding ten years from now when you finish your education and experience? The goal for most pilots in training is widebody international pilot, but less than 2% of commercial pilots have that job. The rest of us find happiness the best we can. As long as you understand you will probably face layoffs, bankruptcies, paycuts, and a wide range of indignities, even if you become a senior pilot somewhere, go for it.

Beaverbeliever

Does anyone have any recommendations on financing for flight school? I have heard Sallie Mae and AOPA may be good options. Are there any others I should look into? How much will they be willing to lend?