adam11891

I'm currently 28 years old working in construction management but am highly considering changing industries to become a commercial airline pilot. I wanted to fly when I was younger but my vision disqualified me from a potential military career. After doing some recent research I realized that my vision is not a career ender as a civilian pilot. I have done a lot of research and understand the path to become a commercial airline pilot at the regionals, but I have a few questions pertaining to my situation I was hoping to get some input on. My background is as follows:

B.S. Mech. Engineering
28 Years Old
Married and live in Dallas, TX

1. Is getting my certifications while working a full-time job frowned upon versus going to an ATP school, etc.? I do not want to take out a massive student loan to go to a full-time school nor do I want to put a large financial burden on my family by not bringing an income in during that time period. My wife is getting her masters so studying at night after work would be an easy habit/schedule to maintain. Current plan is to get my PPL, and during that, if I truly feel this to be the career I want to spend the rest of my life in, obtain my other certifications until I can instruct.

2. Is it realistic to expect to remain in Dallas and maintain a reasonable QOL at home? Is it a pipe dream to hope for a potential domicile in Dallas? I know this is a long way out with a lot of stuff in between, just trying to make the most educated decision for my career/family at the same time. I understand there will be nights away from home, but I am curious what a general expectation would be.

3. Would commuting from Dallas/Fort-Worth be a nightmare or reasonable? I fly out of there frequently, but understanding what the main bases are and the general industry is still unknown to me.

And yes I will be verifying I have 1st class medical rating before I go too far down this rabbit hole.

I appreciate any helpful, realistic, and practical input.

averagewhiteguy

Getting your certifications while maintaining full time employment can be a really great option as long as you have the time to fly consistently. Most folks aren't independently wealthy and have some level of family responsibility which makes living like a poor college student unreasonable. Working while completing flight training is an admirable thing and makes for some great tell me about a time stories in interviews later on.

As for the Dallas market, it's a great place for regional, low cost, and legacy airlines as well as a multitude of corporate operators. You have American and Southwest right next door with Flight Safety and CAE just on the other side of the field. This makes for some great networking opportunities no matter which direction you take. Good luck.

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SonicFlyer

You should talk to this guy:

Aviation Careers Podcast ? A Podcast about Achieving Your Aviation Career Goals

rickair7777

Your background looks like a good fit. Especially if your wife works, and even better if her work is portable.

Some of the big majors will give a slight preference to graduates of aviation universities with flight training programs. But other than that, any civilian program is about as good as any other in the eyes of major employers.

Regionals won't care at all. About anything. All they care about are that you have close to ATP mins and a pulse. But you need to understand what the majors want from the get-go, and factor that into your planning.

I think there are at least two regionals with Dallas bases, and two majors for sure. Those might not be junior bases, so you'll probably have to commute to work for at least a few months or maybe a year or two at some point. But IAH, PHX, LAS, DEN, ORD are all pretty close to you.

Commuting from one hub to another is harder, since you typically have multiple pilots from multiple airlines going BOTH ways. So you're at a disadvantage living in a hub, since commuting to any other hub will involve a hub-to-hub commute. But people do it all the time, and there are typically plenty of flights. If you can get hired at an airline which has a base there (AA and SWA), you'll be in great shape pretty soon.

Also of course discuss with the wife. You WILL be a gone a lot at some point, although that might only be for a brief period as a new hire at both a regional and a major. Demographics are in your favor with all the pending retirements, your seniority should move up quickly for years to come. You'll probably need to be pretty senior to hold "day trips (aka turns, out-n-backs) where you return to base each night.

Strongly consider an AA wholly-owned regional. Those have a flow program to AA, guaranteed without any additional interview. That way you'll have a guaranteed job in Dallas eventually. At least one wholly-owned (Envoy) has a DFW base (but you'd probably have to start at a more junior base). The flow takes longer, but you can still apply to any major off the street, including AA and hopefully get hired sooner.

Consider that airlines don't have many ways to screen pilots for quality. So they tend to screen heavily for any negatives: criminal history (even minor), perhaps even credit/civil legal history, college GPA, and aviation training record. Try hard not to fail any checkrides, be prepared and carefully screen your school(s) and examiners. Don't get into a training situation where you don't know the lay of the land. Personality/social skills is also a big factor at major interviews.

There's plenty of info here on APC, be sure and read some of it.

viper548

If you can train at least 2 days a week you shouldn't have any problems. Less than that and you'll be wasting time reviewing stuff every time you fly. There are tons of flight schools in the area. My daughter is checking out the options now. Envoy has a base at DFW and if you're wanting to stay here, I'd be trying to go there. SkyWest also has a DFW base.

PRS Guitars

OP,

What is your vision problem? I’ve had lots of people say to me “my vision kept me out of the Air Force” then when they tell me the problem, they were perfectly fine for the Air Force. Have you actually talked with an Air Force Flight surgeon? Have you read the AF Policies.

I failed my first AF entrance Flight Physical for an eye issue (accomodation), I did my research and realized the test was conducted incorrectly. I retook the test with an AF optometrist, and he told me I failed again. I said “what were my results?” He told me the number and since I knew my stuff, I said, “you need to check the tables, I passed.” If I hadn’t done my research, I’d have failed again.

You have to be your own advocate, no one else in the Air Force gives a crap that you want to be a pilot...they don’t even understand or get it.

Edit:

By the way, you are still young enough to become a pilot. I commissioned 6 weeks before my 29th birthday.

adam11891

My left eye has a slight astigmatism but my right eye has 20/100 vision with odd discrepancies in the topography, it can be corrected very well, but I have a family history of keratoconus. At the time when I was in high school that was enough. Now though I am not interested in the military with where me and my family are at in life. I appreciate the response.

adam11891

That is the plan. My neightbor is a pilot for Southwest and had the same outlook. My current plan is to get my PPL, really ensure this is the career path I want to take before taking the big commitment going after my other certifications. At that point it would be flying weekends and at least once during the work week. I did notice Envoy had a base here which would be ideal.

adam11891

That is great news. Most of the forums I have seen give praise to the full-time flight academies, but that is not realistic at this point. It's great to know it's not looked down upon to chase them individually on my own. I know the ATP academies, etc., might be the ideal candidate, but hopefully my resume and work ethic will help overcome that. I appreciate the kind words, sir. Thanks!

adam11891

Sorry about the multiple responses, still figuring out how to use these forums... To answer your responses:
My wife is a nurse, studying to be a Nurse Practitioner, so that works very well. As far as the other stuff is concerned: clean record, solid GPA in college, blah blah. It would be great to get on with Envoy here locally to minimize commuting, but commuting is part of the gig and I understand that. Obviously that is a ways away, but I would rather be prepared.

I live in the North Dallas area, so if anybody has recommendations for flight training, wants to me to get them breakfast where I could pick their brain in exchange, I would appreciate it. If there are any other tips or good pieces of advice to share with a new guy, I am all ears. Thanks for all the information.