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Old 06-02-2023, 08:42 AM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by JohnBurke View Post
Don't finance the training based on the misguided guess that you might have a magic bonus to pay it all back. If you accept the debt, own it, plan on having it for some time, and plan on it impacting your cost of living for some time to come. Any "bonuses" that exist now may not exist in a year or two; a number of those in play right now have expiration dates; these incentives are not sustainable.

Counting on a giant "bonus" that enables you to rapidly dispose of training costs is a bit akin to counting on a get-rich-quick scheme.
Yes that's a good point, thanks very much for pointing it out.
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Old 06-02-2023, 08:55 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by QRH Bingo View Post
This is what caught my eye. Were you referencing your current career in media looking murky or did I correctly interpret this to mean the aviation industry? If you were afraid to jump in because of a murky outlook, you may need to reevaluate this and its risk you perceive. Aviation goes up and it goes down. Actually, getting started in a downturn isn't necessarily a bad choice because it takes so much time to get the ratings and experience needed to get hired somewhere, it's possible that things begin trending up by the time you get there. (This assumes you take on as little debt as possible just in case the jobs do not materialize) The opposite can also be true, like now. Things are on the upswing and you begin training only for it to turn south right as you are ready to submit those applications and suddenly the music stops. You're left with no aviation jobs to apply for and potentially a mountain of debt knocking on your door for repayment.
Thanks for chiming in! Yes you are correct, I was referring to the aviation industry being murky. I am definitely aware of the ups and downs of this career. I think that what kind of turned me away several years ago was that I read a lot of doom and gloom stuff at the time and I am very risk averse as a person so I was like "no, this sounds awful" and put it in the back of my mind. I have since learned that calculated risk can be good and I think my lack of taking risks has led to this point in my life where I am not where I want to be, life and career wise. Looking back, I wish I had started training back when I last was looking into it and, other than covid, I would have been getting in at a good time. Oh well.
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Old 06-02-2023, 03:26 PM
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Originally Posted by HockeyFan View Post
Thanks for chiming in! Yes you are correct, I was referring to the aviation industry being murky. I am definitely aware of the ups and downs of this career. I think that what kind of turned me away several years ago was that I read a lot of doom and gloom stuff at the time and I am very risk averse as a person so I was like "no, this sounds awful" and put it in the back of my mind. I have since learned that calculated risk can be good and I think my lack of taking risks has led to this point in my life where I am not where I want to be, life and career wise. Looking back, I wish I had started training back when I last was looking into it and, other than covid, I would have been getting in at a good time. Oh well.
Over the short run, pursuing a career as a pilot can be very risky financially. If you are determined to pursue it, historically you will come out ok financially in the long run. The hard part is reconciling the rough parts financially with having a family that needs you to be doing well right now. Not starting a family until you are doing well financially is advisable, but not always doable.
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Old 06-03-2023, 03:24 AM
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Originally Posted by HockeyFan View Post
Thanks for chiming in! Yes you are correct, I was referring to the aviation industry being murky. I am definitely aware of the ups and downs of this career. I think that what kind of turned me away several years ago was that I read a lot of doom and gloom stuff at the time and I am very risk averse as a person so I was like "no, this sounds awful" and put it in the back of my mind. I have since learned that calculated risk can be good and I think my lack of taking risks has led to this point in my life where I am not where I want to be, life and career wise. Looking back, I wish I had started training back when I last was looking into it and, other than covid, I would have been getting in at a good time. Oh well.
have you even been on a discovery flight yet? Maybe start there and even see if you’re really interested.
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Old 06-03-2023, 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by JTwift View Post
have you even been on a discovery flight yet? Maybe start there and even see if you’re really interested.
I'd definitely get a PPL, or at the very least solo before you drop everything and invest in career-track training. Not everybody has the aptitude, or actually enjoys flying.
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Old 06-03-2023, 10:18 AM
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I have not been on a discovery flight yet and that would definitely be my next step before making a final decision. Great advice, thank you all!
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Old 06-06-2023, 05:58 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by HockeyFan View Post
.............. I have been very interested in aviation since I was a kid, always had the bug to fly. I never pulled the plug on training due to the cost of training and for a long time, the state of the economy making the career outlook murky. But now with the current outlook for the career being good, I am wondering if now would be a good time to reconsider whether to jump in. My main concern is the cost,....................
I had to reread your post fully to garner your "true" interest in flying. You are asking the right questions regarding training and costs, education to get to a major job. Have you done your homework on the career it's self? It sounds like the airlines are your interest, no surprise, most pilots (myself included) looked to the airlines for a variety of reasons. Some food for thought; if you get to an entry level airline job, are you onboard for 3am wake ups for an 6 am flight? This is standard fare for pax carriers, regional and mainline. I didn't do that, I got to start my day considerably earlier, flying packages for "next day" delivery. Backside of the clock, or very early starts and sometimes very late finishes are the norm in the industry. Seniority, the backbone of the profession, ensures you will start out with the worse schedule on the days those senior to you bid off (holidays, weekends) until you have enough seniority that you can bid away for the worse and someone hired after you gets the crumbs no one else wants.

The posters of "Zero to hero" make a nice catch phase on an advertisement, but they leave out much detail between zero (no hours) and hero (1500 hrs total flight time). A lot of discussion on these boards about reaching "hero" status. A lot of people have fallen short, after spending a lot of money attempting to get there. If you really love to fly, the trials and tribulations will harden you but not discourage you. Times are good, look at some of the comments from old salts about the good old days when nobody got a sh##y job with less than 1200 or more total time and 500 or more multiengine flight hours, let alone a right seat on a passenger jet with 1500 hrs total and 25 multiengine. Get your PPL, read, read, read, about flying professionally and ask questions, a lot of them. Get in for the right reasons, not just because the getting is good.
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Old 06-07-2023, 10:26 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by dckozak View Post
I had to reread your post fully to garner your "true" interest in flying. You are asking the right questions regarding training and costs, education to get to a major job. Have you done your homework on the career it's self? It sounds like the airlines are your interest, no surprise, most pilots (myself included) looked to the airlines for a variety of reasons. Some food for thought; if you get to an entry level airline job, are you onboard for 3am wake ups for an 6 am flight? This is standard fare for pax carriers, regional and mainline. I didn't do that, I got to start my day considerably earlier, flying packages for "next day" delivery. Backside of the clock, or very early starts and sometimes very late finishes are the norm in the industry. Seniority, the backbone of the profession, ensures you will start out with the worse schedule on the days those senior to you bid off (holidays, weekends) until you have enough seniority that you can bid away for the worse and someone hired after you gets the crumbs no one else wants.
Thanks for chiming in! I have done a good bit of research on the life of a pilot and am aware of the schedules and quality of life, especially at the lower seniority levels. To be honest it has been one of those points that has given me second thoughts on occasion. Definitely why I need to actually start flying first before making a final decision, because if it is indeed something I am going to enjoy doing, which I think it would be, then I would be willing to put up with the early rough times.

Originally Posted by dckozak View Post
The posters of "Zero to hero" make a nice catch phase on an advertisement, but they leave out much detail between zero (no hours) and hero (1500 hrs total flight time). A lot of discussion on these boards about reaching "hero" status. A lot of people have fallen short, after spending a lot of money attempting to get there. If you really love to fly, the trials and tribulations will harden you but not discourage you. Times are good, look at some of the comments from old salts about the good old days when nobody got a sh##y job with less than 1200 or more total time and 500 or more multiengine flight hours, let alone a right seat on a passenger jet with 1500 hrs total and 25 multiengine. Get your PPL, read, read, read, about flying professionally and ask questions, a lot of them. Get in for the right reasons, not just because the getting is good.
This is good advice, thanks. I do want to make sure I am getting in for the right reasons, so if I can start with some lessons first before diving in headlong I think that would be best. I have an acquaintance who offered to take me up in his 172 sometime if I wanted, that was a couple of years ago and I was too busy at the time but I might reach out and see if the offer is still good.
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Old 06-07-2023, 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by HockeyFan View Post
Thanks for chiming in! I have done a good bit of research on the life of a pilot and am aware of the schedules and quality of life, especially at the lower seniority levels.


That's definitely a thing. But if you hustle and get in while the retirements are still flowing you can mitigate the time spent paying dues. And even most of the dues paying is fun in the beginning, you just don't want to be doing it for a decade or two. Once you get established at a major, life is pretty good even at fairly low seniority.

At 50% or better in the FO ranks, life should be very good, especially if you live in base. If QOL is a big concern you should try to figure out how long to reach 50% as a regional FO (don't worry about CA, if you upgrade you won't b there long enough to matter much). Also research majors, how long to move up on the junior fleet(s).
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