Hi everyone.

I'm in my thirties and recently finished my degree in Math with a 3.43 gpa. It's been my childhood dream to fly. I have more than enough money saved and will attend a local school with a great reputation as I would like to avoid the painfully expensive academy route.

After high school I enlisted in the military and, afterwards, worked in blue-collar construction. My question and concern is will airlines throw my resume straight into the trash?

I ask this question because my experience in college, networking events and career fairs has been unfruitful and a few times degrading. Most, if not all, have made it obvious they perceive me as beneath them.

Is an airline career possible for me or should I not waste thousands in flight training to just end up back in construction?

Please, really would appreciate honesty... even if it's displeasing.

 

You won’t know til you try. I know two carpenters/home builders that fly for legacies. Both, however, we ex-USAF pilots.

GF

 

No hindrance at all.

 

There is no reason why you can't pursue aviation if you want to. The hardest part of learning to fly is paying for it.

Opportunities for new pilots are the greatest now that they've ever been.

You have a degree, you have a trade, and you have a work ethic and life experience. That puts you well ahead of others, I'd say.

 

Not an ex-USAF pilot but that's still some positive news. Thank you.

Great to hear. Thank you.

Thank you too.

I'll be checking this thread often to read any other input, whether good or bad.

 

Not really sure what the issue is. A math degree sets you up for more schooling, teaching or government work.

Moving on from that, no one cares what your prior life background is as long as you’ve got the hours to be competitive.

Get your licenses then get your first flying job as a CFI etc. then get your ATP mins, then get a job at a regional and go from there.

 

Quite the contrary. It shows tremendous effort and determination on your part. I have heard that Delta looks down on people that didn’t go straight from high school to college with a degree in four years, but I know for sure the other major airlines value experience such as yours.

 

I usually cringe when I read these midlife career (crisis) changer posts. The fact that you have the money to pay for training, a college degree, and prior military experience (not required but a plus in my opinion) puts you way ahead.

I've given thousands of hours of instruction to people from all kinds of backgrounds (including construction). My only suggestion is to perhaps consider obtaining your private pilot and at least your instrument rating before you decide on flying as a career. Flying isn't exceptionally difficult but it takes a certain aptitude. I'm always amazed by people who want to sign up for 6 figure debt (not your case) and they've never logged even one hour of flight time.

On a side note, a friend of my mine is a plumbing contractor (owns several businesses). He's super smart (German guy, has a MBA). He lives in a $2 mil home, just bought a new $250K Audi (cash), along with all the other toys (all cash) and is in his 40s. He could retire tomorrow. He shows up to flight lessons covered in dirt and stinks. He still gets in the trenches. He's saving up to buy a turboprop (TBM) when he finishes his ratings. He wants to spend summers flying around Europe with it. Makes me wonder if I made the wrong decision in life.

Best of luck to you. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

I'm a lowly regional guy working for an AA wholly owned, but I'll give you some of my personal anecdotal information. At ATP-CTP this recruiter came in and told us that a couple years ago the majors used to only hire guys who were astronauts because there were so few jobs, but times are changing quickly and now they just want people who are competent and qualified. She even told us that Delta was currently the easiest Major to get into and they were hiring guys they wouldn't have even called a year ago, granted this was last April and I'm sure things have changed since then. I mean, UPS is already hiring pilots without college degrees.

I don't think having a 'blue-collar' background would hurt in the slightest. Nobody cares where you came from as long as they can rely on you professionally and they enjoy being around you. I came from a military/construction background as well and, if anything, it gives a lot of common-ground stuff to talk about. If I interviewed somewhere and the pilot group didn't like talking about building house projects, cars, power tools, etc I'd moonwalk right out the door. Also, there are a lot of veterans, pilots, non-pilots, enlisted, active, guard, etc. Military seem to be drawn to this career field. I wouldn't worry about 'being looked down on,' because in my (albeit limited) experience, the most despised pilots are the ones with superiority complexes because of where they came from. Maybe that attitude is more common among the old-schoolers in the majors, but I haven't seen it at all where I'm at. And even in the majors, at least half of those guys are civilians who had to grind it out somewhere that wasn't glamorous.

 

That's what I'm hoping for. Thank you.

Thanks for that bit of information about Delta. I'll keep that in mind.

Thank you. If I can't find the answer on my own, I'll send you a PM. Promise not to bombard your inbox.

Good to hear someone's personal experience with a similar background. Thank you.