PotatoChip

Totally understand your point. However, that's YOU. You have almost no idea about this individual. How can you assume this is a midlife crisis? Just an assumption?
I agree, there's a lot of real, tangible possible suck ahead when starting out, but is that worth giving up a dream if you have a supportive family? You think, just maybe, he can't fall back to his old career track?

Myfingershurt

The man needs to hear something other than rainbows and sunshine. Dreams are for the young. At a certain point you become responsible for more than just yourself. At that point, your job is to nurture the dreams of those that fall under that umbrella of responsibility.

Bahamasflyer

Not everyone even wants a family. Marriage and kids are not for everyone, just like college isn’t either. Don’t imply that past a certain age that people should just go that path because they mistakenly think that that’s “the thing to do”

Myfingershurt

Hey, moron, did you read the initial post, he’s already gone that path. He’s married with one child and another on the way. His time for being selfish has passed.

JohnBurke

Look at that. Name calling. A true professional, and very clearly an adult. Because adults engage in name calling.

Or perhaps that's six year olds.

If one wishes to pursue aviation as a career, it's as viable as any other.

Pursuing a career in aviation is not an act of selfishness. It's a career. Given the level of devotion necessary to make it viable, it's also a way of life, and will impact one's lifestyle, and that of one's family.

If one is simply looking for something to do that will have minimal impact on one's life, lifestyle, quality of life, family life, or other favorite life description, then aviation may. not be the best choice. If one is instead willing and desirous to make aviation one's life, then undertake it with a full understanding of what it implies: it's your other wife. Is your present one willing to accept that?

There are flying jobs you can do from home, meaning you can be home most nights. Because aircraft involve moving things and people to other locations and often staying with the airplane, the jobs that you can do which keep you home every night are few, and many of them don't pay well. The right corporate job may work, but you'll need to get there, and it won't be your first job. Or second or third in most cases. It won't be an entry level job.

You can remain in Philadelphia and fly; you can commute, or hire on with a company that does home basing. To get to that point, however, you do have an initial investment of time, money, and effort. You leverage your income and living against the ability to maintain a medical certificate, pass every checkride and training event, and against the inevitable furlough, closure, merger, layoff, shutdown, etc. You'll work in a job sector that's a leading economic indicator, meaning it's among the first to feel the crunch when the economy wavers. An airline executive sneezes and furloughs occur. You haven't been around the block until you've got one or two under your belt.

The DUI is old and while not in recent history, you'll be asked about it. If you can show that you learned and moved on and have a clean record since, that's great, but it is something that follows. After all, you're asking to be trusted with the reputation of the company, an airplane full of passengers, and the lives of those on the ground, too. Anything that reflects poor choices or actions harms one's quest to fly that airplane. The farther that event is in the rearview mirror, the better, and 10+ years in the rearview mirror is better than a recent one. Always own it, always be prepared to share it if asked, always be honest, and always show that you learned from the event.

If a marriage is so insecure that a couple can't stand time apart, then there are fractures to cement before embarking on this career. It's not a solo act: if you're married, your spouse his hired, too...just not paid, but must be equally on board with the job, because it comes with a cost to him or her, too. Your spouse must be ready to be a single parent a good share of the time, and your marriage must be solid enough that texting and calls can be adequate a good share of the time. It's not just a job. It's a shift in the way you live your life, and in the way your family does, too. Kids, as well. Tens of thousands manage just fine, you can too, but it's more than just words. It's full commitment by each one of you.

The job pays well, depending on the job. The job offers a lot of benefits, not all of which are material, or necessarily tangible. It is very possible to raise a family and have a flying career. it's not like it once was, with starvation for the first couple of decades. Well paying jobs are not typically entry level jobs. It's not the path to overnight wealth. it is a career that can be lucrative, but that plays out over time. Understand that before starting, and be prepared.

Only you can determine if its worth it. Looking back over the decades, my answer is yes, it's been worth it to me, and the cost has been high. I'm fortunate to do it, and to have been able to do it. it's not over. It's been a roller coaster of highs and lows, gut-wrenching pauses, drops, high speed and slow, excess cash and times of wondering where the next meal might be. There's been a sense of security, and there have been many times of doubt. There have been moments of injury, medical disqualification, companies folding and downsizing and furloughing. My oldest boy took his first steps and spoke his first words while I was in the field flying.

I have worked over the years doing other jobs in addition to flying, from the office to the hangar to the shop floor, and my place has always been in the cockpit. The times that I did something else, I felt it, a sense of squandering the gift and the opportunity, of misplacement, and of walking the wrong path. I put up with in-laws and peanut gallery fools who cast aspersions and doubt, who demanded to know why I didn't find a real job instead of that flying nonsense. The payoff was slow to come, and it's been yanked away before. There are no guarantees.

There are many who have undertaken their career with a wife, and with a child or two. It can be done. Don't let anyone tell you it's easy. It's not. Yet that which is worth the trip is seldom easy and seldom simply handed you. Everything in this life comes with a price. Lunch is not free. Neither is a flying career. That cost isn't found in the price of training; the true cost is assessed long after you have your permanent certificate in hand, and you're working, and it's not a once-and-done payment: you'll shoulder that cost throughout your career, as will your wife and kids. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can look over my shoulder at a long trail behind, one for which I feel every footstep, every hour, every mile, and know that for me, there wasn't any other way. Ask yourself what you'll see over your shoulder, several decades down the line.

I am satisfied with the view.

rickair7777

What JB said (that's my opinion).

And no name calling (that's official and subject to enforcement.)

Rama

Pilots Are in Demand Again, as Strained Airlines Go on a Hiring Spree - WSJ

Aloft0442

Thanks everyone (almost) for the insight and advice. I really appreciate it.

Myfingershurt

Sorry i couldn’t be all rainbows and sunshine. I only state my opinions. Do what you feel is right. But i don’t want to see you back on here in five years if it hits the fan.

horus172

Great advice