fly87

Will try and make this short and sweet. I appreciate these forums and any feedback received.

Currently I hold a commercial mei with around 700hrs. I am 33 with 3 kiddos, am debt free other than the house. I married young and couldn't make it flying for $300 a week so I took a better paying sales job. Economy wasn't very good for pilots at this time. My current job pays around 90k salary. I miss flying so much I'm to the point I have to return. My question for anyone out there is should I try for atp get my cfi or finish my ba in aeronautical? Or do both? If I was to become a full time instructor I would have to relocate my family. Small town here. It's my understanding that all majors require a four year degree. I'm at a point where I could easily pay cash for classes to finish my degree. On the other hand if majors didn't require a four year I would just hammer out the remaining hours to 1500 as a cfi.

Any insight would be great! Cheers!

cons

Welcome to the forums.

As long as your spouse is good with it, it's definitely doable. As long as your finances are in order, it's doable. You're still young enough to be able to make a 30+ year career out of flying professionally. Also, you'll eventually have a higher salary as a pilot.

If your goal is eventually to get to the majors, then yes you will need a 4 year degree to be competitive. You can get your degree online over the next few years while you build your hours.

Do you need to get your CFI? Maybe. There are other ways to get to 1500 hours (you're already halfway there). There are 135 operators out there that hire low time pilots. However, you say you're already an MEI so getting a CFI and/or CFII shouldn't be that difficult. Does it make sense to pack up the family and leave for a CFI gig? I don't know, that's your call.

cons

Also, majors won't hire you at 1500 hours. Regionals yes, but not the majors. Thus you have some time to work on getting the 4 year degree.

flyingfalcon

If you want to instruct then I would get your CFI / CFII. But if you'd have to move even to do that you should look into part 135. As far as the majors it's pretty much a requirement to have a 4 year degree. (Other then some of the LCCs or flowing to AA, which isn't the best plan to have but certainly a nice backup) Liberty University has a good online program that you can finish pretty quick.

fly87

Thank you for the feedback, I meant 1500 for a regional. I got accepted into Liberty, it costs a little more me being in Texas but just the website alone is so much easier and so is the application process vs all the other schools. I am going to pay for my classes tonight and get started. Should finish this year if not first quarter next year. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the hours needed. I will be looking for a135 to see if anyone is hiring. The fact that I'm still working full time at my current job makes it difficult unless I found something full time that paid. I definitely want to aquire my cfi just for the experience. I also think it would make me a better pilot in the long run.

Thanks

Minimums

I just wanted to add that I also took a few online classes at Liberty and was impressed, you’re making a good decision there. I personally would do everything you can to keep that 90k paying job as long as possible. Is there anyway to finish the CFI quickly on your own and build time near your small town? When you hit 1500hrs, you’ll be hired immediately by a regional and could knock out the degree at the same time.

fly87

I could easily obtain the CFI quickly. The kicker is lack of students and too many instructors. The school has changed hands a'lot since back when I was working on my private. I even remember then it was hard for a CFI to get enough hours to suffice. For a minute I considered getting a 150/152. I want to pursue the CFI and I'm 100% positive I will get it in the near future. As for the 90k, I don't want to give that up until I'm finished with school and have something lined up like a CFI job. I'm fortunate enough I could make it off my wife's salary but its risky in itself and I don't want to take that chance.

cons

Since you mentioned it in the previous post, maybe buying a plane to build the rest of the hours is another viable option. Maybe try to find a partnership in a Cessna/Piper if you can't do it on your own. There are expenses involved in aircraft ownership so definitely research it before purchasing (ie maintenance, insurance, engine/prop overhaul, fuel, hangar fees, etc) .

This way you don't need to quit your current job, you don't need to move the family, and it could be something they would enjoy as well with some cool cross country trips. You can build your time as fast, or as slow, as you want. At 60-70 hours per month, you could get to 1500 within a year.

DontLookDown

Moving a family for an airline job to live in base is understandable.

I couldn’t fathom doing it for CFI work though.

You have an MEI, so you have multi time. You should just get current and fly survey for 6 months. Your family would most likely rather have you live long distance for a bit then uproot their lives

fly87

I have been looking at getting a plane pretty hard. There is a 150 for sale nearby that has good logs and lower engine time. Haven't looked into surveying as of yet but I definitely will. As for flight school it closed down. I did however find a 172 I can rent. I start classes on Monday. Thanks for all the advice.

I think I'm ready for a change in scenery.