Considering Flight School- newb alert...
 

Hey all,
Apologies in advance for the long post ahead...

As the headline implies, I've recently begun considering a career path as a pilot; more specifically, commercial piloting. I've long had a fascination with flying, but only ever gave it cursory consideration as a career option. With very little foresight, I wasted a lot of time in college not really figuring out what the hell I should do or at least see myself doing with my life. All I figured was that I'd probably not end up playing baseball for a living. I was the first in my family to go to college, so I had no real helpful advice or direction from home.

Here's my profile in a nutshell: Born and raised in NYC (definitely looking to get out sooner than later!), now 26 years old, with a BA in Philosophy (a guy with no career conviction studying philosophy...who woulda thunk it?)and minors in Economics and Psychology, good grades, wide ranging work experience from hospitality and customer service, to my current dead end and wholly unfulfilling situation in medical administration. Don't know how relevant this is, but I exercise consistently and am in good health; perfect vision. Although I haven't very extensively yet, I love to travel. And this may be somewhat of an oversimplification, but I also love the idea of having essentially a mobile office cruising at 40,000 feet; would seem to be a rather cathartic (albeit very calculated and meticulous, I'm sure) work environment.

Throughout my life, it's never been a question of effort, but always one of conviction, so I have no doubt that I'd be able to successfully deal with both the academic and physical rigors of flight school, if I choose to commit.

I certainly don't have the expendable income to pay for schooling up front, so I know hefty loans would be in my future. But as stated above, I'd be sure to ride this thing all the way through.

At this point, I'm just looking for some direction from insiders for someone in my situation. Anything from program suggestions, to student life insights would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Be as blunt and straightforward as possible!

Thanks in advance.

Try going for a discovery flight at a nearby flight school; that should be enough to get you hooked. If you decide you want to pursue aviation further, go get a medical certificate and begin your private pilot training. Maybe check in here again to find a good flight school and/or the schools you should stay away from.

It sounds like you're already aware of the costs and the potential need for having to take out loans. You will need to be patient. Do some research and crunch some salary numbers to get an idea of how long it could take to pay these loans off.

After completing flight training, in order to build hours you can expect to work [generally low-paying] low-time jobs (instructing, banner towing, surveying, flying skydivers, etc.) for approximately 15 months give or take. That's if you have your sights set on working for an airline. Other jobs out there will require you to have more flight experience.

Remember that ultimately it will become just another job; it has pros & cons just like every job does. But I can think of some much worse ways I could be spending my time.

Good luck!

Hello Rnfnr, I'm similar to Matt, I have the passion for flying ever since I was a young boy, although I'm way to old(I'm in my mid 40's) to get started now to pursue commercial airline pilot career. May be some day when I can afford flying lessons and get a personal pilot license. For right now flying will stay as a dream......If you don't mind, I'm writing an essay for my school about a Airline Pilot career, can you please answer 3 questions for me, also hopefully these questions will have more insights for Matt in his desire of changing career.

1. What made you chose to be a Pilot career?
2. Did you have second thoughts that Pilot career was not a fit for you once you started working as a pilot?
3. Will you ever get burn out flying?

Thank you for your response. If other pilots would like to chime in I greatly appreciate it.

This goat ride will cost you 100k in loans if you have nothing to put down in cash. How much will it cost you after all the interest is paid?

'Bout tree fiddy.

Do not ignore the devastating effects of compound interest on being a debt slave for the rest of your life. The economy is unstable and it will pop. What will you do when the demand lessens for pilots? Can you pay back those loans? Can't discharge them in bankruptcy so how much is your left testicle worth? Probably not enough.

You asked me to be blunt so I will: choose another career. This one isn't the one you want when you owe your soul to the company store.

I appreciate the suggestion and insight. Already see some good deals on groupon :)

I appreciate the scary, albeit necessary insight. I certainly don't have anything substantial to put down up front for this gig. I did read a couple of articles saying that there will be a continuing upward trend in demand for airline pilots to meet the expanding growth of international airlines. Is there any substance to this?

Only until the economy pops. One more banker war, one more oil spike, one more international crisis and it all comes tumbling down. Ask anyone who had it all perfectly planned on 9/10/01 how he felt two days later. History repeats itself.

I gotcha. I'll try to temper my discouragement as I titillate the possibilities for now lol

Just curious, how are flight schools ranked if at all? Or is it simply just the certifications and experience that are considered for employment?

I trained at a somewhat renowned flight school.
In my opinion, the school you acquire your ratings from is practically irrelevant.
Certs, ratings, quality experience, and a good attitude are what you need to land the gig.