Go Back  Airline Pilot Central Forums > Career Builder > Career Questions
Looking for advice from veteran pilots >

Looking for advice from veteran pilots

Search
Notices
Career Questions Career advice, interview prep and gouges, job fairs, etc.

Looking for advice from veteran pilots

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-06-2014, 05:36 AM
  #11  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Hilltopper89's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Oct 2012
Position: 737
Posts: 1,061
Default

Originally Posted by gringo View Post
I had LASIK done about 7 years ago. Went from 20/400 to 20/20 instantly, and it hasn't changed since. I wish I had it done sooner.

If your goal is to fly for the airlines, the advice I'm going to give is going to vary from the other advice (all of it good).

If I had to do it all over again, I would use a program like AllATP's and get it done. When I got my ATP, I used their course. I was amazed at how much quality (multi-engine) time my instructor had racked up in such a short amount of time. Basically, it took him maybe a year to accrue the flight time it took me 3-4 years, working on my own through Part 61 schools and as a CFI, and I never got as much multi-time (piston) as he did. Plus, he had professional networking opportunities I never had simply working as a CFI. I forget which regionals he had guaranteed interviews at, but it certainly made life that much easier for him.

The reality of the matter is, if you want to fly for a living with the airlines, you've just entered a race, one against time, other pilots, and yourself. The airlines are starting to hire, and the wave is coming. The sooner you can get on that wave the better your career will be. Delta at 33? Or United? American? Not only possible, but likely.

Staying out of debt is important. But the fact remains that if you want to move fast, you're going to have to use debt to your advantage. Only you can decide how much debt is too much.

If I had a chance to do it all over again, that's the way I would go.
Be aware that Lasik is an instant disqualifier if you ever decide to pursue the USAF/ANG. At least it was before I retired. PRK yields similar results and is not disqualifying.

As others have said, an aviation degree is useless. It's hours, experience, and progression that airlines like.
Hilltopper89 is offline  
Old 01-07-2014, 05:34 PM
  #12  
New Hire
Thread Starter
 
Joined APC: Jan 2014
Posts: 6
Default

If I had to do it all over again, I would use a program like AllATP's and get it done. When I got my ATP, I used their course. I was amazed at how much quality (multi-engine) time my instructor had racked up in such a short amount of time. Basically, it took him maybe a year to accrue the flight time it took me 3-4 years, working on my own through Part 61 schools and as a CFI, and I never got as much multi-time (piston) as he did. Plus, he had professional networking opportunities I never had simply working as a CFI. I forget which regionals he had guaranteed interviews at, but it certainly made life that much easier for him.

The reality of the matter is, if you want to fly for a living with the airlines, you've just entered a race, one against time, other pilots, and yourself. The airlines are starting to hire, and the wave is coming. The sooner you can get on that wave the better your career will be. Delta at 33? Or United? American? Not only possible, but likely.
Point well taken. This is, of course, the other side of the argument, and it does have quite a bit of merit. I'll just have to save up some cash and weigh my opportunities. Like I said earlier, I would really like to work full time on getting the ratings done and building time, but I want to make sure its worth my while when I do so. Thank you.

Also, I've looked at ATP, but i've heard some horror stories that contrast with your instructor's, which actually sounds pretty good. I guess I would need to look at the specific school, and its reputation, which I know varies between locations.
SempreInVolare is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
P-3Bubba
Major
114
11-08-2013 07:16 PM
ERJ135
American
26
02-26-2013 05:54 PM
TruthHurts
United
64
04-02-2012 10:23 AM
bgmann
Regional
31
11-19-2011 07:33 PM
skippy
GoJet
14
05-14-2009 11:12 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



Your Privacy Choices