rickair7777

Don't do that, that's what management wants...disposable youngsters willing to work for cheap with none of the worries that older employees have...house payments, health care, retirement, etc.

Rather start the kids sooner and return to aviation around age 40 (still have time if you can live without being a widebody CA). You can even still fly, just some sort of local low-key work without many overnight trips.

OnCenterline

Having kids is hard for any pilot, because you miss so much. I'm usually pretty positive on the industry, but unfortunately, of all the women pilots I've known that have had kids, I've only known 2 that have stuck it out--one was married to a GV captain at a Fortune 500 company.

Airlines usually force you to make a decision. A very dear friend of mine, a female FO, married another pilot. They had two kids, and she milked the leave for as long as she could. Just when she thought she had a plan figured out, she went to the Chief's office, and he said, and I quote, "You were hired to be a pilot, not a mother." She quit on the spot, and while she misses it (she grew up the daughter of a DL pilot), she has no regrets. Her husband now flies for a cargo carrier.

The truth is, it's hard because of the time away, and as has been noted, bidding reverse schedules means your marriage will take a huge hit. It doesn't mean it can't be done, but as every parent will attest, you have no idea what raising kids is like until you do it.

Unfortunately, you can't count on getting into training or management either, especially as regionals begin to farm out more of their sim training to save costs and keep their pilots in the cockpits.

If one of you agrees to be a stay-at-home parent, I think you will find it very rewarding. But two pilots, possibly working for two different airlines (you don't want to throw all of your eggs into one basket)? Especially at the regionals? Very, very difficult. Doable, but very difficult.

Electra

Melissa, as you can see, not a whole lot of positive responses here. The thing is, it can be done, but not everyone can do it. It actually really pains me to say it because I am a huge feminist and I believe in most cases that everything is achievable, but this is definitely one area where you can't be great at everything. Someone else said it above: something has to give. It really matters what your priorities are; if you want to upgrade to captain, work for a major, be insulated in case of furlough/bankruptcy, etc, it requires a bit of flexibility. Children, almost by definition, eliminate all flexibility in your lifestyle. Now, before we assign this as a "woman's problem", I might add that I work with a lot of oblivious men who believe that a little Skype while they're away and a paycheck every two weeks means they're good family men. Trust me, the kids miss their daddy, too (and the spouse probably isn't thrilled that hubby is at the hotel bar enjoying a nightcap while she's dealing with three little ones by herself). Frankly, if you want to be home for PTA meetings and ballet recitals and see your child crawl and speak for the first time, this isn't the job for you. Being away from home for 4 or more days a week takes a toll on any relationship, and it will certainly be many years before you and your S.O. could be senior enough to get more time at home.

There are no easy answers for how to be a mom and do this job, the short answer seems to be that it takes a village to raise a child. Again, I know friends who make it work with both being pilots, but I can see the cracks in the thin veneer... One Mom had a meltdown during a trip when she found out Dad's plane broke and he didn't make it home and the baby had to spend the night at the babysitter's house. I personally could not square the fact that if my airline husband and I had kids we'd rarely get to see each other bidding opposite schedules to make sure someone was home, and we decided it wouldn't be fair to each other or to the children. So we opted not to.

My priorities have changed significantly since I began doing this job, yours probably will too. My advice would be to wait on kids, try out the dream job. You might decided after a few years that the job isn't your dream anymore and you can drop it and find something else that might give you a stable foundation for your family... You can't give back the children when you find they aren't compatible with the career you love.

Intel33

I know this was not part of the question, and it sounds like you have done some homework, so you should know...But what ever you do, get your education first! Most majors, including Delta, require a bachelor's degree. If not required, it is what is competitive. Once you start flying, it will be much harder to finish a degree. The degree doesn't have to be aviation related and may be advantageous to do something unrelated. It may also open up other possibilities.

As far as the family and aviation go, there will be a sacrifice. Not to say other careers don't have to sacrifice something for family as well, but by its very nature, you have to travel as a pilot. I chose to leave the military just before 9/11 because it was the right thing to do for my family. It has certainly been "stable" from a family stand point, but I gave up the opportunity to fly bigger and faster planes because of it. I have a local job and I am home every night, but it has cost me both monetarily and experience.

The other thing that I didn't see mentioned, but you eluded to in specifying a domicile, is living in base as opposed to commuting. What is more important to you? Location or family. If your family is in a possible domicile, great, but as other have said, both you and your spouse will have to get that specific job. Getting ANY job with a major airline is tough. Getting it with a specific airline is even tougher, let alone for BOTH members of a couple.