I think you lack the ability to think critically...

If it works out then it is a good investment. Getting a $75k loan, and making that amount back in 2-3 years is a really good investment. Extrapolate it out over the life of a career pilot and you'll see that it is an exceptional investment, especially considering that it could likely result in multiple millions in earnings.

But it is high risk due to a catastrophic medical and economic environmental factors beyond one's control. At the moment however the outlook is very positive for the foreseeable future.

 

How much did it cost you? How much were you earning from your day job when you did this?


I argue that it is not possible to get to ATP without debt for most people unless one has family helping, gets military trained, is independently wealthy, or has an exceptional income.

 

It is difficult to enjoy life while working your way through college and flight training, unless all that is your idea of living good. It's much easier for rich kids since "life" doesn't get in the way as much. Once your 9-5 job starts paying decent, it's hard to take that much of a cut. This is a poor kids perspective. Once I got a six figure day job, chasing the pro pilot pipe dream felt really dumb.

 

You really can't pay back
$75k in two or three years as a fledlging pilot. Realistically it takes at least 2 or 3 years or more to get to the regional level. No way to pay down debt as a cfi, and even in the regionals, you need to get to the fourth or fifth year level to make enough to pay for more than basic living expenses.

 

I counter your argument to show the OP that it is possible. There is more than one way to do it, and this is just my experience. It's a long story, but maybe one the OP may benefit from:

I did not have family help, nor was I independently wealthy. I would say my income during the entire time was average, or maybe even below average. Without pulling out old receipts, I don't recall the total cost for my training, but I kept costs as low as possible by piecing my training together from different outfits with the lowest rates, and only committing for each phase of training when I had the money.

In high-school I bused tables, mowed lawns, worked at a hardware store, and pumped jet fuel at the local fixed based operator. I used the money I made to get my private license from a mom-and-pop place in my hometown. I went to college on an Air Force (AF) scholarship to avoid student loan debt. While the military covered tuition and paid a meager monthly stipend, I worked part-time jobs in order to eat and live. I did not do any flight training in college as I was expecting to enter AF undergraduate pilot training (UPT) after graduation. After experiencing the unexpected lesson of what "AF needs" really means, I was re-assigned from UPT to a non-flying billet as a logistics officer. At the time I was a single, new officer making about $40K the first year. To pay for the rest of my ratings, I kept my living expenses and costs as low as possible. I rented a house with several other officers, rarely went out to eat, and continued to drive my paid-for 12-year-old Honda. I focused intently on getting my ratings during nights and weekends when my day job did not interfere. I obtained my instrument and commercial at the base aero club. I took leave to attend a 10-day certified flight instructor (CFI) course out west. After obtaining the CFI license, that's when everything really started to pick up. When working a full-time job during the day, and instructing on nights and weekends, more money built up in my savings account for future ratings than any other time during the process. To the OP, getting your CFI is extremely important in the process. It allows one to build hours fast while adding more money into the savings account, all while keeping the income from the regular job flowing. At the time, the AF was offering an early out program to officers, so I left after two years of active-duty (AD) service and transferred to a part-time Guard unit. I worked part-time as an officer in a non-flying billet in the Guard and full-time as a CFI during the week. During that time I paid for my CFI-Instrument and multi-engine instructor ratings from the money I had saved from AD and from the money I was making as a CFI. In May of 2007 I accepted a job with a regional airline where they paid for the airline transport pilot (ATP) type rating several years later when it was required. Not counting the private license I obtained in high school, total time after graduating college to getting my first airline job at a regional was from Feb 2005 to May 2007, or a little under 2.5 years.

It may be tough in today's environment to obtain one's ATP without debt, but it is possible. In my case, the 1,500 hr requirement was not in place, but after obtaining the CFI license, a pilot's hours can grow very quickly. So instead of reaching one's objective in 2.5 years like I did, maybe it will take about 3.5 to 4 years to reach the ATP minimums in today's environment - but doing it debt-free is absolutely possible.

 

Martin, Martin, Martin. There you go again. Why do you feel the need to insult people who have the audacity to disagree with you?

Economics. Pilot training. Landing airplanes in the Hudson River. Finance and investing. Is there a topic where you're not the expert? Oh, wait ... maybe it's professional aviation.

My father observed that we have twice as many ears as we have mouths, so we should spend twice as much time listening as talking. In order for you to benefit from that advice, you'll need to watch and listen with your fingers off the keyboard for a long time in order to get your proportions back in balance.

Maybe then you could spend some of that time working on your Commercial or Instrument certificates. Until then, you're really in no position to be assessing other people's critical thinking skills. You don't even know what you don't know yet.






.

 

When it comes to Internet communication we have 5x as many fingers than eyeballs though, that's how I justify this pointless comment.

 

I find there is a lot of negativity with flying. Negative people who want to pull out the tape measure for a little d**k measuring contest.

That being said, I am only going this route because I have my entire training paid for. Being debt free will enable me to be able to survive the low paying jobs. I am 30 now and starting commercial training. Its highly advised against by the negative type who have nothing good to say about aviation. My pilot frinds however are excited about it.

I am not going to get rich. Salaries are already on the decline outside of aviation. I went from 240k to 52k in 2 years. I decided I would rather be flying making 30k than continue down that path. If you want it and can handle it, why not do it.

 

I want to know what field you were working in that had that sort of salary drop in that timespan!

 

Defense contracting. Going from job to job as they continue to lay off people.