rickair7777

You pays your money, you takes your chances.

There's risk. But people do it because of the high reward potential. That potential is unusually high at this exact moment in time due to retirements.

If your family has a history of (non-lifestyle induced) medical issues, that would be cause for consideration. But if your genetics are decent, you can really improve your odds of staying healthy with diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Also the better majors (and some regionals) have loss of medical disability up to age 65. If you're young, you'd probably just want to start a new career. But if you're 50+ at a major, you're covered to age 65. Not full pay, but 60% (non-taxable) of major captain pay is still quite comfortable.

PotatoChip

Hahahahaha to this thread.

You. Are. Going. To. Be. Away. From. Home.

You have a LONG way to go.

Do you LOVE the idea of flying for a career?

If no (and even if yes depending on circumstances), find another career.

This career can be great, brutal, and most often both with varying percentages to either column. I have a three year old and a three
Month old and just spent six weeks away in training, and now am Junior with 13 days home a month. It blows sometimes. Ask my daughter. Ask my wife. I love what I do, but it comes with serious baggage (pun intended).

Jeff90

Hi Jordan11

These threads can be brutal and a place of learning grounds. Kuddos to you posting on here looking for real advice. Now I’ll tell you my story. I had 3 kids married when I started the rest of my pilot training from instrument onward to being a CFI MEI and CFII. Moral of the story it can be done. Flying is my passion I love it way more than I should.
What you have to realize is to get to the big airlines of today you will have to be gone probably more than you would like. Now there are home every night jobs if your willing to move to let’s say Miami for starters or Dallas. But even then training could be in a totally different city and be upwards of 3 months at some carriers. There will be give and take no matter what you choose.

What does your wife say? Will she move for the QOL to be better? When you get into real Avaition there are all kinds of jobs you never even heard of so research your area see if there something close or maybe youll have to move?

You will have to be gone some but maybe not like your thinking

Regards

JohnBurke

My next scheduled work day will enable me to look back and see two months at home. I took five days of vacation during that time, but the rest is simply time off (and getting paid).

Conversely, I've had days in which I went to work and came home ten months later. That's a long day.

If you're planning on aviation staying in it's current state for very long, you're making bad plans. Things are going well now. They won't be going well in the not too distant future. Aviation runs in cycles. This cycle will end sooner than most think, and those who have never been through the wringer are in for a very rude awakening.

As for time home with the family, you you might focus on learning to understand quality, vs. quantity. The two are not the same.

kevbo

You should have waited to start a family AFTER you have some seniority at a major.

4V14T0R

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DontLookDown

I think what KEVBO is trying to say is that there are other options in aviation that could provide the more typical 9-5 life. A&P mechanic is a great example

PRS Guitars

So you are seeking advice from folks on this board that you think have been bad parents themselves...

There is a balance, yes it’s great to be home for every child event. There is also something to be said for working hard to provide for your family. Some younger guys don’t quite get this concept, they want it all, because their parent enabled that when they were younger via helicoptering. Or they want their wife to equally support the family, it’s what they’ve been told for years. Time to man up and get to work (many will scoff at that last comment, but it’s true).

With that said, my advice is to get going now while the kids are young, that is the time when it’s easy to move the family around etc. the key will be your wife, she needs to be on board and you need to prep her that the first years will suck, but there is a potentially big payoff down the road, and this job can provide a great lifestyle for your family.

JohnBurke

Zing.

My kids look back at a life with dad in aviation, and my oldest remembers sitting on my lap starting the APU in a WWII bomber. My youngest remembers accompanying on 135 freight runs, and those in between remember drop zones, hangars, and riding along when gave a checkride. They each have their pictures in the engines of a 747, and recall feeling the temperature change as we passed over them as they stood at the end of the runway as we took off in the 747, and felt our vortices.

The kids also have memories of dad at recitals, games, school assemblies, spelling bees, and every high school graduation, junior high promotion, and every elementary school event. Dad was there when they got their eagle, when they got ready for the school dance, and I was there for each of their births, and I cut the cord. Point is that an aviation career doesn't preclude a life with a family, and even times away from home weren't in isolation. I've participated in an evening prayer from half a world away by phone or skype. I've been involved at every step of their lives, and the vacation times are memorable. This year I celebrated my wedding anniversary with a trip with the wife, and was there for each birthday, funeral, holiday, and event within the family.

How you conduct your life, especially with a family, is largely up to you, not your employer. Quality is the key factor. You can stay home 24 hours a day and never have a quality experience with your family or be a good parent: that's all on you. You can be gone 10 hours a day for a 9-5 job in a cubicle and never have a good experience, or be the greatest parent and spouse in the world. That's up to you. Not the company. You can be gone for months at a time and be a great parent. Again, this is up to you.

Kids in school sometimes do a "flat stanley" exercise, in which the parent takes a paper cutout of a person to work, or on travels, and photographs the "flat stanley," and sends descriptions and pictures to the class. Other kids had a parent that worked in an automotive shop or a bakery with the flat stanley next to a loaf of bread. I was able picture flat stanley next to a loaf of bread in twenty different countries, combat zones, multiple oceans, world cities, parks, museums, hotels, rivers, and places that few get to go, just from the regular work day. Again, what you bring to the table as a parent is up to you; there is noting wrong at all with working in a bakery, and there is nothing wrong at all with flying for a living. Neither preclude you from being a parent or being part of your family. It may require that you grow outside your shell and expand your horizons somewhat, but this too, is up to you.

Waiting to start a family until one has secured a job with a major airline is idiotic. One might never have a family. One would also miss out on many of the great experiences and opportunities along the way.

When I was first married, a company closed a location down, and to keep employed, we moved to their headquarters. We made very little, and got a small two-room basement apartment. When we married, I bought a good bed, and when we arrived at the new place, the mattress foundation structure wouldn't fit through the door with the angle of the stairs. It began to sprinkle. I had no way to cover our things outside, so rushed them in, and lacking any other tool at the time, used the saw on a swiss army knife to cut the box springs in half after removing the fabric. I moved them into the apartment, and used lumber scraps to splice it back together. We had that box spring for seven years and several kids. It's a small thing, a blip on the radar, but little experiences like that, a part of the journey rather than a wealthy want-for-nothing destination, is what makes a rich carpet to look back on. Everyone has their own story, but waiting until one has arrived will leave one missing out on many of the best parts.

If one waits to start a family until arriving at a major, one needs to ask if the family is worth the time at all, given the priority to get to the major. If the family is the priority, and I submit for most of us it is, then the journey will suffice. Take the family on the journey. You'll be glad you did.

kme9418

I tell folks it's ABOUT 10 years from PPL to a "major". I'm not here to argue about the timeline but I wouldn't place money on 5-6 years. It took me 19 via the military. It's pay now or pay later but there are a lot of dues to be paid. If you plan to stay married (which I recommend), then you need to do some expectation management with the wife. If you aren't willing to move to a base, then you WILL be gone from home more on your off time. If she's not ready to support and sign up for that lifestyle, better to figure it out now than later. However, most 6 figure jobs either require travel or really long hours whether flying or not. If the FAMILY wants to live the 6 figure lifestyle, then the FAMILY needs to admit that it has costs associated with it and fully support that DADDIES HAVE TO GO TO WORK. If you know of any 6 figure jobs that work 9-5, M-F with relatively low stress and home every holiday and kid event, then please PM me. Until then, I think this career offers a great lifestyle if the FAMILY decides to keep a good attitude and take the good with the bad.