Hello,
Thanks again for all of your very insightful input. I was hoping to find a job at my local airport (Long Beach, CA - LGB), but was told that I shouldn't quit my job when the economy is so bad (I have worked as a marketing assistant for 4 years at a software company in Irvine). How do I go about finding the closest FBO? That would be ideal since I would be able to network at the same time. Thankfully, the Long Beach ATP location is in Flight Safety building, so maybe I can meet more people there.

Thank you for the heads up on not trying to pull the "minority" card. Every school I've looked at has really pushed this as a HUGE benefit, so I thought I'd ask a more unbiased audience.

Thanks again for all your help!! I'm so happy I discovered this site. It's wonderful!

 

Lily:

I currently fly out of SNA with Royal Aviation...Very small, but very good instruction, flexible schedules, inexpensive (relatively speaking), sounds like it would be closer to home for you too. I am also interested in splitting time with other pilots. Let me know.

 

Hi Mark,
How much do you pay per hour and would the school be able to accommodate me going 4-5 times per week?

I live in Long Beach, so it's it's easy for me to fly out of there (and less busy most of the time), but SNA would work on my long days at the office.

 

Lily,
Ahhh, this is the magic question. If only I had a crystal ball.... I wouldn't be stressed about this industry, that's for sure! ha!
You mentioned that you have a good job now... I would really consider hanging on to that job and building hours (after you get your ratings) on the side. We really don't know what is going to happen in this industry over the next few years and you have plenty of time to ride the wave and see. And still remain employed.

This industry started morphing a few years ago, but it isn't done - not by a long-shot. The oil prices have left an indelible mark on the airlines and many just simply may not recover. They are losing millions with every dollar it goes up. The industry has never been in this position before, so it's anybody's guess as to what will happen.

Honestly, I think you're in a pretty good position. You still have a while before you will be looking at any kind of flying employment so you can witness first-hand what happens in the short term, while losing nothing. Then you will need to build hours and still watching what happens with the industry. By the time you have the requisite hours to apply for the airlines you should have a pretty good idea if this is the career path you want to pursue, or just fly for fun.

What I'm trying to say is, don't put the cart before the horse. If your passion is to fly then don't give it up. But don't make any rash decisions right now either. Things may completely change in a few years.

It's late here, I hope all this rambling made some sense....

 

Follow your dreams!