Sr. Barco

This is a question for pilots starting your career with the goal to work for a 121 carrier. How is the career of airline pilot viewed compared to other professions? Is this career viewed as lucrative or viable anymore? Do you know many people who are actively pursuing this career? The reason I ask is I know perceptions and expectations change over time. Once you’re into your career you quickly lose touch with the path you took to get to a 121 carrier. My background is all civilian so I’m especially interested to know the thoughts of those of you following an all civilian path.

Thank you in advance!

Rama

Depends who you ask. It is lucrative flying for a legacy, someone who's spent a career at a regional may not think so.
I am happy where I am. The legacy and better freight outfit contracts pay pretty well. A widebody f/o can make $200k+ a year in today's climate.
Of course that may all go out the window in a few years.

Beaverbeliever

I have 0 hours, but am planning on starting training in the next year or so. My ultimate goal is Southwest. I know a lot of people dream of flying the wide body to exotic locations, but I would rather make a career out of narrow body (preferably 737) domestic/Americas flying. A big pull for me also is that even on reserve, Southwest pilots get to fly. I know it is not Herb's airline anymore, but his finger prints can still be seen all over the company in my opinion.

For me there is definitely an allure to the airline industry, and I have a fascination and interest in aviation. There are other jobs that I could probably make money and sleep in my own bed every night, but I feel that I would always regret not pursuing my dream career. There is a long way between me and a Southwest F/O seat, but each step of the way there has a huge intrinsic reward associated.

rickair7777

Do NOT commit yourself emotionally to a single major airline.

Most folks will need to apply to all of them, and take the first job they get.

In some cases you may flat rule out certain companies, usually based on geography (ie live in NY and not moving, don't apply to Hawaiian.)

If you do happen to wind up with two job offers in hand at the same time, then weigh geography, seniority progression, compensation, etc.

An example...the problem with SWA right now is seniority...the pilot group is relatively young so your progression will be slow compared to most legacies...this impacts QOL short-term and compensation long-term due to significantly slower upgrade to CA. And right now the difference is measured in 10+ years.

Beaverbeliever

Absolutely, I totally agree. If a major calls me before Southwest does, I'm not going to hold out at the regional level to wait for a call that may never come. A benefit I see in any of the 3 legacies is that if I choose to stay on a 737 airframe, I may see better lines and QOL than if I continued to upgrade to larger airframes and stay more junior in relativity.

Speaking to this point, is there a publicly available webpage to see how many pilots for each airframe are at each domicile for the 3 main legacies?

Sliceback

" A benefit I see in any of the 3 legacies is that if I choose to stay on a 737 airframe, I may see better lines and QOL than if I continued to upgrade to larger airframes and stay more junior in relativity."

If you stay on n/b's at one of the Big 3 you'll be pretty senior relatively quickly. Maybe 10 yrs to be a top 3-5% FO???

Sr. Barco

Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure if my original post was clear. I flew part 135 cargo for 2 years, commuter for 4 years and for the past 17 years I've been at a major. In this relatively short period of time the industry has changed drastically. I ask the question from the point of view of what is shaping up to be a real pilot shortage. I'm curious to know who is coming to the front door, so to speak. In other words is the career of airline pilot considered old and outdated? Is the burden too high and reward too low? Is the tech industry, or other industries for that matter, a bigger draw? I'm hearing there is less and less interest for the career and the "younger generation" is opting for quality of life as the highest motivator. I'm wondering what the overall opinion is of the airline profession.

Beaverbeliever

When I tell people about the "journey" through the ratings and hour building, the massive amount of money involved, and the poor pay at the regional levels, they look at me like I'm crazy. Maybe I am crazy, but the end goal is to be at a major, where the pay makes the "journey" worth it. In other words, I think people that might be interested in the profession are deterred the barriers of entry. For many reasons I believe this is good, as it weeds out people that aren't interested in putting in the work, and a pilot shortage means better jobs are going to be available to people willing to put in the work, and airlines will hopefully pay those people what they are worth.

Quarryman

Over a $100k (plus compound interest if you take loans or partake in any other pay to play scam like a training contract) for a job that pays sub par for years until maybe one day you get a call from a major.

Maybe.

Many thousands of pilots have put in their dues to see nothing in return. They are still stuck driving regional trash or being bent over day after day for the 135 Man. But as day turns into night and night into day the bank never sleeps. They get paid. You suffer to pay them back.

Skip this career. Get a license to fly for fun.

Bhounddog

This blog does a good job discussing the pros and cons of the career:
The Truth About the Profession - Home