There is no mentoring program other than the recommendation system UPS has. UPS line pilots can recommend folks who they think would be a good fit. I think the vast majority of pilots hired at UPS in recent history had recommendations.

Well ofcourse, I'm not advocating that you do this if you have a family depending on you, or if you already have a mortgage and such. This is definitely a better idea if you do live at home and don't mind eating ramen for 3 years. Personally, if I was 20 years old and had a willing co-signer, I would do it in a heartbeat. At 20, I ate ramen noodles all the time anyway, and I lived with 3 other people and paid $250/mo in rent, and drove a 15 year old honda civic that was ofcourse paid for. I could EASILY live off of $1200/month. Now, not so much. I have 3 kids, a new minivan, a mortgage, student loans, and a stay at home wife until August. Going to ATP now would be suicide. But if you still live off of peanuts, which most teenagers-23 year olds do, I say go for it!!

In addition to be qualified, I guess it's the 'ole, "Can I fly/get along with this guy for "x" number of days out of each month? I can see where that would weigh heavy in the mind of and interviewer/line pilot.

I bet you guys go some great stories!!!:D

Thanks.


atp

true, no argument there at all, but adding a trip to UPS or FEDEX is completely beyond the point, going to an airline now when times are bad, pay for a jet training class......etc.

it is a true mystery getting hired alot of places. at the point some of these guys are at and trying to decide to go or not to go, training or teach, it must be an individual choice, I just hope these guys/gals make decisions best for themselves.
Like LeoSV said, if you are young and don't mind low pay at first and can eat ramen noodles, then go for it. or not.

..and my comments are not an argument, just comments and an opinion, maybe advice in a way, that's all.

There will always be the doomsday people, screaming that the sky is falling. Yes the industry is facing some hard times but this is a great time to get into a career if its what you want to do. The time to train is not when airlines are hiring but when they are not. There is nothing worse than hearing about all these opportunities when you aren't qualified for them. There are some great opportunities to make 40k + as a CFI and you can build your hours there while waiting for the regional that you want to open up their hiring again. The debt that you incur is sizable, but if its what you want to do, its a small price to pay for a great job. As for ATP, I did my flight training there. The program is not for everyone. The pace is very fast and a lot of students can't pick up the skills in the short amount of flight time that they alot per rating (8 hours for multi, 25 hours for instrument, 4 hours for commercial, 8 hours for CFI, 2 hours for CFII). My CFI class started with 10 students and only myself and one other passed their initial, the rest were left trying to figure out how to proceed outside of ATP. If you feel confident in your skills and can self pace yourself you should be fine, but if not, I would go somewhere else.

"Yes the industry is facing some hard times but this is a great time to get into a career if its what you want to do"

That's the attitute that it takes to be successful in this biz. Some here will call it a stupid choice, but that really only applies to them, not you. Everyone is different and has different expectations.

At 20 you should be enjoying your prime college years(ideally), not worrying about flight school and seniority. I'd like to see the stats on how many plunk down the cash to save time(which it really doesn't if you find the right small school) and don't make it to a regional or a major. I doubt anyone but a 40 or 50 something career changer aspires to fly an RJ for an entire career.

I agree with most of what you say. I just don't see the need to get into $70K worth of debt to do it when it can be had for half that and in a similar time frame.

It's all about how you look at it.

Personally, I think you lost $25,000 by going to ATP.

Sure, you saved $5,000 over the super expensive price, but you paid an extra $25,000 more than you needed too.

I wouldn't say aspires to, however, it is a VERY viable option. Those of us who are career changers still dream of making it to the big dance. I'm sure there is "a career changer" out there saying that once they exceed the minimums for the major pax & cargo that they'll throw their hat in the ring. What do they have to lose? Nothing. At that stage of the game being able to compete is an accomplish in and of itself.


atp