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Hello,
I am a 26 year old female, have about 55 hours and am close to getting my Private Pilot License. After my Private, I plan on transferring to ATP (is this a good school?) for the rest of the licenses I will need to become an airline pilot. What worries me is investing all this money only to not find work when I graduate. With all the major airlines letting pilots go, isn't there a flood of more experienced pilots looking for work? I'm still paying off my college loans (have a BA from UCI) and will need to make a minimum monthly payment of $1,000 after adding my new school loans to my current balance. I am really excited to keep going with my dream of becoming a pilot, but worry about this being the right time to pursue that dream. Please provide me with any advice you can.

Thank you for your time.

-Lily

lily,

This industry is cyclical. What goes down, in this case, must go up.

Something I would consider though. Right now, there aren't many jobs out there to be had with low time. If I were in your shoes, I'd look around at other options than a pilot factory. You'll blast through the ratings, learning the minimum required and chances are this industry will not be in recovery mode in six months when you have the ratings. I would find a lower-cost option where you live. Work full time to pay your loans/rent/flight expenses so you aren't trying to pay even more than that $1k a month. I'm on my third year of making less than $25,000 and things are beyond tight with $700 in college loan payments

If you can commit 3-4 days a week to flying and stay committed to studying on your own time you can easily be instructing within a year. You'll also have at least $30,000 less debt to worry about when you're instructing and working as a first year F/O making poverty wages.

A lot of these guys who are currently being furloughed came in with low time, no instructor ratings and no real experience outside being an F/O. I highly doubt many will continue this persuit because they'll be spending a ton of money just to keep working.

If its what you really want to do then dont give up on it. Just do your best not to get dragged down in debt in the process. Eventually there will be a shortage of pilots in this industry. This industry was looking a massive retirements in the near term until they changed the age 60 rule.

Many of us where working on our ratings or instructing when 9/11 happened and we could have quit then as the industry tanked but looking back it was a great time for people to be working on ratings or instructing because airlines weren't hiring. When airlines aren't hiring you aren't losing out on potential seniority that others would be getting. By the time you get qualified and start looking for a job the industry should have cycled and start recovering.

Now there are alot of factors that can change any of this but that goes with everything in life. Good luck

That's me! I quit my CFI gig in May of '04 with 1,300 tt. I was really frustrated and it seemed pointless to continue. I searched the FAA database and discovered that many of my felllow instructors and my students as well are with the regionals. Most are captains and one, I thnk, is with FedEx.

I spend alot of time kicking myself (but not too hard because I make more than any of them).

Historically, this has always been true, and eight months ago I would have agreed. However...crude oil prices are a wild card, if they continue to rise, the average citizen could be priced out of routine recreational air travel.

This would cause the airlines to shrink permanently, putting many pilots out of work for years (until many senior pilots retire) and virtually precluding any significant hiring for years or decades. Even if you did get a job, you might be stuck at the bottom of the pile for most of your working life.

Personally I don't think current oil prices are economically justified, but they appear persistent, and there is more to market value than simple common sense.

If you go down this road be prepared to find that road may not go far.

This is the flip side...it often pays to use industry downturns to position yourself to take advantage of opportunities which will appear when things turn around.

We simply don't know what oil will do, or how fast the industry will pursue alternative fuel sources (which are very limited for airliners).

I don't think anyone can know for sure how things will play out vis-a-vis oil. The optimistic (but realistic) approach would be assume the best, but keep the worst in the back of your mind so you are not blind-sided if it comes to pass.

Thank You
 

Thank you very much to everyone that responded to my questions. My two loves in life are traveling and flying and I know I'll always regret not pursuing my dream of becoming a pilot. ATP is the cheapest option (they charge $99/hr, my current school charges $150/hr), so that's why I'm switching schools. However, knots build up in my stomach when I begin to think about not being able to find a job in the industry after so much work and money has been invested. I just don't know.

Do you think I'll have any kind of advantage at all being a female? I hear we're a minority and that sometimes helps moving up the ranks faster.

What do you think about job opportunities with corporate flying?

-Lily

At one point, there would probably have been preferential hiring at most airlines, and it may still exist at some majors. There seems to be quite a few women in the junior ranks at the regionals, so I kind of doubt they need to give extra credit nowdays.

Corporate flying jobs depend on:

1) Who you know
2) Turbine time and experience in specific aircraft.

If you know someone, you can get a bizjet job with 300 hours (assuming they are willing to eat the insurance penalty for your low time).

The only way into corporate is through networking...you WILL NOT get that at ATP. You would want to do your training at a larger general aviation airport that has a lot of part 91 and 135 activity. Network, and stay there to work as a CFI. Once you get 1000 hours you will be more insureable.

If you are a cute young lady you will have a natural networking advantage compared to pimple-faced 22 yo male CFI's. No need to flame, this is just the facts...I trained several young women back in the day, and they all had six-figure corporate jobs before age 30.

If you want to network in the corporate world. Find an FBO and start working there as a desk attendant. Find one that has a flight school and you could be networking and getting a good discount on your training. If not directly, chances are that many of the instructors won't charge you dual. This is what we did for the fuelers and desk workers at the school I worked at. We weren't getting paid while working with them, but in most cases they were making a lot less than us and who's to know when that help we gave them up to solo may come back to help us some day.

You may have an advantage, but it's not because you're a "minority". You follow me?

Be careful how you play that card.