MLCCPilot

Just my 2 pennies, but skip ATP, better to use a part 61 that will save you tens of thousands. The only reason I even entertained the idea is I am 10 years older then you. NO ONE I have talked to have recommended ATP, everyone said stay away and that included two ATP grads and one DPE in the area. You can do a part 61 just as fast, although it will probably take a bit longer, but even if it takes you 18 months to get all your ratings knocked out. Your still a working CFI by 35.

GSP848

I'm a private pilot, almost done with Instrument. I'm 27, married, one little one and want some more. I am currently a police officer and make about 70k. Although I want a good return on my investment getting into this career, my plan with my wife has always been to prioritize family and QOL over crazy money, potential upgrades, etc. until all our kids would be older and I am more than okay with that.

I've done all my training through mom and pop shops while keeping my full time job for the money and benefits. Full time work and part time flying is working alright for training but I don't believe its a viable option for getting to 1500. A flight before work every day will take 3-4 years to get to 1500 hrs.....I want to instruct full time when I'm able to but obviously with a family, I can't really take the "hope nothing happens" strategy for health insurance and my wife is concerned about the pay cut I will take.

She has it in her head that I should just instruct part time and keep my job like I have been doing, but like I said.....that's one student before work every day with no days off for 3-4 years.......She doesn't seem to understand. Are there some instructor jobs out there with some kind of benefits or are they all 1099 type employment? As long as I have basic benefits for the family covered, we can find a way to make the pay cut work for the year or two that it takes. Any thoughts on that and advice on how to help her understand that 4 years to 1500 isn't a real option?

TeamSasquatch

Get a CFI, then worry about the job. But yes, you should be able to find full time CFI work that has an option to get insurance (you’d have to pay for it). I’d look at university programs for this. I did the part time instruction thing for ~5 years. Probably cost me a million in wages and QOL down the road (2009~2014 time frame). Not a lot of jobs either then…. But in todays world, 5 years is a huge deal. Lot better outlook. If you want to fly, knock out the CFI in the mornings and evenings and once you have it, time to figure out how to get the time and insurance. If QOL is important to you, not working full time and instructing part time makes more sense. If you bust your butt instructing, you can get the time and maybe even pay for some kind of “Obama Care”?

GSP848

To clarify, If QOL is important, DON'T try to work full time and instruct on the side? Just instruct full time. Or did you mean the opposite? Sorry.

MLCCPilot

I don't know what state you are in but is there part time Police Officer work in the area? At least in my state we have tons of opportunities for Sworn Officers to work part time. So maybe you can flip the script and CFI full time and PO part time. If not you can look for part time jobs that offer benefits to keep insurance. That's what I had to do, I found a part time job that offers full benefits so that when I start training full time this summer my family won't be without medical insurance.

chihuahua

If you want to prioritize QOL and spending time with your family while your kids are growing up, becoming a junior airline pilot isn't the way to do it. I know everyone gets shiny jet syndrome, but once you've gotten to fly one a few times, it becomes routine. If you want to build a lot of hours fast you're gonna have to instruct full time and quit your job as an officer. Once you go to a regional, your schedules are going to be complete garbage because they are all shrinking and will be operated understaffed for the next few years until they have to be shut down. The writing is already on the wall, every month regional seniority lists shrink. Barring anything like WWIII, which would probably lead to everyone getting furloughed anyway, this trend will continue. You'll for sure be spending most weekends and holidays at the hotel bar.

If you enjoy flying, keep instructing part time, and maybe make the career switch when your kids are more grown up and you are ok with spending more time away from home. As with anything, it's all tradeoffs. You can have the flying career or you can have the QOL at home, but you can't really have both until you get some seniority at whatever you want your permanent job to be, and no matter what you do, that will still take years, even if everything goes perfectly and no external events out of your control take place.

GSP848

I actually interviewed for a part time sworn position for the county conservation/parks department when I was midway through private but decided against it since they had no benefits. I will definitely look into that more when I'm getting close on my Commercial/CFI and see what other agencies may offer.

GSP848

By prioritizing QOL I am thinking more of things like not taking the first available junior captain upgrade or new airplane and remaining a senior FO on the plane I'm on, etc. etc. I definitely love flying and want something bigger than a 172 but I don't really care to chase different planes. I can't have any seniority if I don't start junior. With swing shift, court obligations, and overtime, my current schedule isn't ideal either so I'm thinking stretches of time at home vs away kind of even out. However, I also recognize I haven't lived a single day in that life yet so I don't really know what I'm talking about, I'm just going off of what I've read on forums like this one.

That is an interesting point about the regionals that I hadn't considered. I'm curious to see how all that will be handled, if another segment of the aviation industry swallows them or what. I don't really have my heart set on anything at the moment other than flying for a living so I'll just have to see what it looks like when I'm at that point.