There are some sweet gigs out there, you just have to NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK like crazy. If all you care about is the paycheck, aviation is NOT the route of choice. If you LOVE with a passion to fly, just tread carefully, and trust me... EVERY company has SOME sort of gouge on it wheather positive or negative, it's on some sort of Google or Yahoo search. I know of a Hawker 800 job I might try and take which pays $200/day which isn't a lot, considering they fly 400-500 hours a year, so do the math on that. However, if you have something else like flight instructing to help mitigate the income, DO IT! However, flight instructing while in a 121 carrier (airliner) is a big no-no. Airlines you're looking at 20-30k (if lucky) for the first couple years. If I were you, I would get a college degree in something OTHER THAN aviation. Business, meteorology, anything engineering, etc... so when you get furloughed (cuz you WILL eventually) all ya' gots' ta' do is review your college notes, and get a job making 3x as much the first year, buy your OWN plane, and enjoy a steady job/paycheck/flight time on your own watch.

Don't pay any attention to the Debbie-Downers. If you want to fly airplanes, go fly airplanes. I will say, don't be up and locked about being a major airline pilot. There are a lot of cool flying gigs out there. Find one that makes you happy. If you're in it for the money, you'll probably be disappointed, but that can be said of any career. Good luck.

BTW: Best piece of career advice is to never take what you read these forums seriously.

Tailwinds.

True. Take that sentence seriously. Seriously.

lol ok i will

Don't Forget
 

Don't forget about all the regional pilots who quit everyday out of depression, humiliation and disgust. There could be plenty of jobs. The problem is that most of them are not worth having.

Skyhigh

Be very careful about choosing this industry for a career. This industry is highly dysfunctional. There is no other industry that I can think of that has the regulatory, economic, and political pressures that this industry enjoys.

To be fair, I am part of the generation that has been hosed, and I would hazard to say that is a large portion of who is in the industry currently. Most of us got started in this industry right after 9/11. So we have felt the effects of 9/11, the economic downturn, and the age 65. I like most of my contemporaries am pretty jaded on this industry.

Having said all that, I still love to fly airplanes and I think that it's a good job. The flying however, is the only good part about this job. The rest of it sucks!!! Being away from home 300-400 hours per month (if you live in base), the fact that you could lose your job due to furlough or your company files CH 11. The only ones in this industry that make money anymore are the corporate execs. You will start at a Regional carrier making between $18K to $24K per year. Second year pay can usually get you up to where you can pay your bills, but not much else (roughly around $30K). Add to all of that commuting (if you choose to) and trying to commute on full flights with a low boarding priority.

I do think that there is going to be a pilot shortage beginning here in the next 3-5 years because there are going to be a ton of manditory retirements and there is no one in the pipeline. It's anyones guess to how much of a shortage though. The aforementioned shortage could be limited by anyone of the Legacy carriers caving on scope. Which would decrease the size of the Major airlines and increase the size of Regionals. Mergers could also limit the shortage due to redundancies in the route structures. Also, I think that foreign pilots / ownership are a huge threat to our industry. Just some thoughts...

Ya...because you're really slumming it! :rolleyes:

I have many friends who were business majors, and who got business jobs out of college. Most of them are gone more than my airline friends. Dudes are constantly on the road going to meetings and seminars. When they are home they work 12 hour days, come home eat dinner with the fam get to working on the next days agenda. They take Saturday off but then Sunday afternoon they get back to work to prep for the week.

The guys that make it to the exec level are either connected (family), went to an ivy league level school and are the golden children, or worked, probably much harder than we do, to get to that position. You think pilots are a dime a dozen, look at how many businessman and women there are... more like a penny a dozen. Oh ya, and they actually have to compete for their raises and promotions (gasp!)...not like the, move up because you're the next on the list, type of system that most of aviation has. Many on our profession probably wouldn't last in a system like that.

On the plus side, if they lose their job or want to make a move, they can move laterally much easier. They can get another job making the same amount of money w/o going to the bottom of the seniority list...which is a nice perk. I'm not saying business isn't the way to go, I'm just saying that it's not as easy of a career and many would think.

OP: If you're serious about going into aviation, make sure you go in with your eyes wide open. So many people go into with their eyes on the 747 and big paycheck only to realize their flying a barbie jet making peanuts.

I would seriously consider the military (check out the Air National Guard, prior to active duty). Great training, great pay, great people,and some of the most unreal flying you could ever imagine. Not to mention all the great places you will see. Be warned that there is a chance for UAVs, but in all reality that's a small percentage of pilots (although growing). After 10 years, you'll most likely have all the time and more importantly, the connections to go just about anywhere, if they are hiring.

Read up and get smart before you make the plunge. Hotmamapilot, while a little fanatical about her hatred for the industry, isn't afraid to tell you the dark side of aviation. Do discount what people like this, and don't just see what you want to. Goodluck!

Choose your path wisely and work hard. There are many of us who are career pilots who've never flown for the airlines and are quite happy!

:)Depression, humiliation and disgust Sky? That's a very astute description of YOUR Aviation career I believe. Regardless of Mr. Sky's continued and relentless potty mouth regarding a career in Aviation, do what your heart tells you. However, that being said, please study all the articles regarding a Pilot career. Ask lots of questions and whatever you do, LISTEN to ALL the different opinions when it comes to making the "go" or "no go" decision. Good Luck!:)

Everybody bags on SkyHigh, but he's probably the only one of thousands whose aviation career has faltered or proven impractical (at great personal, financial, and family cost) who just happens to come back here and tell us about it.

Do NOT do what your heart tells you, especially at age 18-24...your dream can quickly become a nightmare. This industry is nothing like what it was even a decade ago...and the likely inevitable ballistic trajectory of oil prices means that it's never going to get better. Remember, every time oil prices rise by one dollar, airlines have to find hundreds of millions in savings...usually at the expense of labor.

If you believe oil's headed back to $40/bbl, then you have a bright and shining career ahead of you, and the real pilot shortage should begin later this year.