MD11driver

I should have put $80,000+...I wasn't quite sure what the Air Force was paying for a bonus nowadays...or even if they still were...

Thanks for the update...$100K for 10 years service. Not a bad chunk of change for a "stepping stone" to other things...

cactusmike

I hate to say it but going the COMAIR acadamy, or other affiliated flight school route would probably be the way to go. You don't get the experience that most do but you get hired at 300 hours (if you don't step on your crank). That saves you 3 to 4 years of instructing and instructing sucks.

captain_drew

OH Gawd!! Don't tell me you are the two guys in that new movie . .what was it Uppyerbutt Mountain?

I was thinking that he said something to the effect that he had "wanted to be a pilot since he was a little kid". S-o-o-o, WHY the hell did he take a 90 degree turn after the Bachelor's Degree?

At 25, I was a LT with more than 1000 hours (military time). He, due to the 'detour' now has 25 year old peers out there who are nearly AF & USMC Captains and Navy LTs who ALREADY have thier basic 'log book' time for 'THE interview'.

While at some time in the distant future, the Masters 'might' be a slight plus, for the immediate future, it was a dreadful 'mis-step', if in fact, his true dream has always been to be an airline pilot. All this due to the fact that he SHOULD have known that 'senority' is LIFE at the airlines and the sooner you get 'the number', the sooner life gets better for you out there on the Line.

Just my 2 pennies worth

dckozak

Hey you were in the Navy, right?? What's it about butts and Navy guy's??

rickair7777

Bite your tongue sir.

rickair7777

6 months at sea changes your perspective....

dittidano

I will tell you why I took a 90 degree turn after my B.S. in Aviation Tech( emphasis;aviation managament). Okay, I went to college for my undergrad on a full ride; to play D1 NCAA hockey. My senior year I was drafted in the NHL draft. I got drafted in the 7th round, which, is not to promising, but it means that I have a chance. After college, I went and played for a farm team(AHL) did not make it all season. My second year(this season) I played 1 NHL preseason game and about 1/4 of a AHL season, then I was sent down to the ECHL. While I was playing all this hockey I was going to school(online). Playing these minor leagues does not pay much at all. I worked every summer doing road construction and I made decent money doing that. While I played hockey, I kept on going to school because I got 33% of it paid for. It was not until this year that I realized that I will never make to the NHL full time. At this point in my life, I have decided to do what I love; that is fly. I know that it takes a lot of time to make good money; I dont really care about the money. I do have my ppl and I plan on going all the way. I should have been flying the last couple of years,however, I have made memories that I will never forget. I would not trade those memories or expierence for anything in the world. I have traveled the world doing one of my passions, I hope someday my other passion will allow to travel the world. I dont give a shi* if I am not a Lt. or Capt at the age of 25; I accomplished more goals by 24 than most people their whole lives. I plan on accomplishing more goals in my life; being an airline pilot. My decision might have been a mis-step, however, it was the most valuable mis-step that I have ever taken. Thanks for your advice Capt Drew; your advice would have been more relevant a couple of years ago. There is no real sense on why to tell me what I should have done.

FDXFLYR

Anyone coming into this career field needs a formal education in something unrelated to flying, something you can do sitting at a desk for two reasons. 1) pilots jobs are threatened to be outsourced to foreign pilots and our pay and benefits are constantly under threat of terrible cuts (but never management's) and 2) you never know when you may lose your medical certificate.

You have got to have a way to make a living other than being a door greeter at Wal-Mart or wearing a Homer aron at Home Depot. Putting all your eggs into a "pilot" basket is a sure way to long-term failure, I'm afraid. I hate to be a nay-sayer, but kids need to have options throughout life. Generate your options now while you can. You have a construction background, have you looked in getting a degree in Construction Management? Those guys are pulling in six figure incomes inside of five years from school, and their job cannot be outsourced.

Fly if you want, but have options so you can walk away from it when (not if) it gets to be too costly on your family life, your body, and not worth the pain and effort it takes to make the donuts for management stooges.

SkyHigh

I hate to say it but Capt Drew is right. The airlines like youth superstars. You will be at a competitive disadvantage since you will be at least 5 to 10 years older then the guys you will be interviewing with. Competition is fierce and it will be obvious to anyone interviewing you that aviation is a second or third choice for you. In addition, most can't wait to get out of college with a BS degree and hit the sky, you however took the extra time to get a masters degree and that says that you enjoy thinking about flying more than actually doing it. Not a great position to be in. I would stick with the education thing and get something useful like an MBA.

SKyHigh

PS My brother has a Construction Management Degree and has been doing better than an Alaska Airlines Capt and he has only been out of school for 8 years.

av8rnate

Here's the way to do it. Take dual credit in highschool to earn college credit hours. Meanwhile don't take all of the hardest classes in school; that way you will be able to work nearly full time when you're not in class. Take flying lessons on the weekends and all summer while attempting to work as much as possible to stay out of debt. Get your PPL at 17. BE NICE to everyone that walks through the doors at the airport and get their phone numbers, start NETWORKING early. You graduate highschool at 18 and get your Commercial liscense. Find a job doing anything what you can with your new CPL; so you can quit your other job and spend all your time flying. Meanwhile study for your CFI. Once you're a CFI it's not to difficult to find work, now you can build flight time while you get set up with on-line classes at Utah Valley State College, or Mt. State University. They both have good non aviation related on-line degree programs, and they give you credit for flight ratings. Eat apples and bread and live with friends or family to save money. Now you're 19 with over 1,000 hrs. plus an associates degree, and you are nearly debt free. Draw on that network and try to get on at the regionals. If it doesn't work out right away as soon as you get 1,200 TT get a gig flying 135 freight, there are plenty of those. You're now extremely marketable at the regional level 20 years old and you're quite a few years younger than your closest competition. You won't have a life outside of airplanes and you will cry yourself to sleep from time to time J/K, but you'll have time for social things later after all you're still a kid.

That's pretty much what I did and it's just been a couple years at the regionals and I've already got big nibbles to go elsewhere. I know that won't help you DITTIDANO, but maybe someone young out there is reading and you can pass on my strategy.