Questions about careers in aviation - Time away from home
 

I am about to attend flight school at college and im very excited. I have, however, heard a lot about the demanding hours and time away from home that seem synonomous with the pilot job. Its very likely that i'll be married by the time i graduate so i was wondering if any of you had suggestions for pilot career paths that would allow me to spend a good amount of time at home (at nights after work of course). I am not set on getting in a big airline i would be very happy with other jobs. Thanks for your help. (I'm not sure if this is in the correct thread if not I apologize but I didn't see another one that fit)

Being a CFI. You get to come home at night and a day off every now and then. Try and get a job doining line work at your flight school so you are around all the time and they get to know you better. Then get your CFI there and hopefully they will hire you. Then you will have a steady stream of students from the college and will get plenty of hours in. Best of all you will be home every night.

^ I've been seriously considering that. I know for sure that I'll be getting my CFI and the university I'm attending has an awesome deal where they will hire you as a senior and you can stay as long as you like. Any other ideas? If I flew for a small regional airline would the hours be as crazy as they would with a large airline? Also what kind of jobs could I get flying a float plane? (I'm going to come out of college with a Commercial license, CFI, Multi-engine rating, Instrument Rating, and Multi-Engine instructors rating and im planning to get a Seaplane rating also :D )

Freelance flight instructing would allow max flexibility and nights at home, and it's easy to get into. After you build a reputation and get into some advanced skills (MEI, GPS, Glass, Cirrus, etc) you can make an acceptable living at it. The downside is the risk, stress, and monotony. Light airplane general aviation is simply not as safe as most turbine jobs. A good pilot can control a lot of the risk, but if you do it long enough, you will have a near-miss or two...or maybe it won't be a miss :(

You could probably find a small turboprop regional with one base and few overnights. But in the long run the work environment and pay would wear you down.

Most large regionals have local trips (home every night)...the problem is that they usually go pretty senior. I would guess in the typical regional domicile you could fly all locals after 2-4 years as an FO or 8-10 as a captain.

After you get some experience, a corporate job might be ideal for you...if you get the right job, you might only do two trips a month. In some cases, the owner might let you fly home commercially and then return later to fly him home. If he knows he's going to be in Aspen for a week, it would be cheaper to fly you home than pay for your hotel and meals.

You will have to make sacrifices regardless of which track in aviation you take. It's just one of the many things we do. Some of us are luckier than others, but it really just depends on the path that you are presented with and where you want to be in the end.

As a CFI, you'll be local based, unless you do a lot of specialty work where it could take you across the country.

Charter operators hauling freight will have nightly runs. Some companies you get the same thing every night, so you'll end up in the same place all the time at least.

Most airlines, as a start you'll get the worst routes/schedules based on seniority.

As far as getting married, you're young, and just getting started. I thought the same thing when I was headed into college.(Not saying you shouldn't, but things happen, people change, needs change)

^ True my career choices are going to be vastly different depending on whether I have a family or not. If I don't it wont be an issue, but I was just making sure there was a way I could work with it if i did in fact get a family early on out of college. I'm willing to make sacrifices but if I have a family the idea of being totally gone 20 days a month isn't appealing to me. Like i said this is all speculation I may go bachelor for a long time :cool: . What about flying bush planes? I realize that would mean relocation to Alaska, Canada, or some such place but it would have a more regular schedule would it not?

Very cool flying, but I'm not sure I would recommend it to a family man. That kind of flying is about as risky as it gets in the US...and they do not usually take low-timers anyway.

Oh ok thanks I realized the risk factor but I was kindof in the dark as to the hour preferences. And oh man do I know about the stress factor involved in teaching! I've given guitar lessons to have a form of income through high school and It's very stressfull but in a strange way I love it. Well I'm not sure what I'll end up doing but I'm glad to see that there are careers flying that would allow me to have a home life also. I just dont think the airlines are for me :) . But I'm sure I want to fly so this is good to hear.

I know that at Allegiant they don't have many overnights. There must be some other airlines that are the same way so you could look into doing that as well.

That's true, but they are about the only major that can make that claim due to their unique business model.

They want at least 3000 hours right? Could you explain their "unique" business model to me?

They are not a "hub-and-spoke" airline, they primarily serve tourists to vacation destinations. Their pilots are based at these destinations, when they come in to work they fly to another city, then turn around and fly back to their domicile. I think they might do one long round-trip or two shorter ones each day.

I think most or all of their schedules do not involve overnights away from base. Most airlines need to have crews overnight at outstations so that they can work the early-morning flight back to the hub for those people making connections.

Because Allegiant's "hubs" are tourist destinations, most travelers are not going there to make a connection, and do not need to arrive at some ungodly early hour. This allows the first flight of the day to be outbound, vice inbound. Saves on hotels, and gets the crews home each night.

Sounds pretty good thanks Rickair. Now I figure i'm gonna instruct for a while since I'll come out of college with CFI, CFII and MEI. Then who knows. I find the jobs most people dont like rather attractrive (ex. Flying banners, teaching, pipe patrol, dusting crops, especially bush flying). I could also see myself island hopping maybe. I have a couple more questions. What types of planes would it be best to build time on in college? They have Maule MXT-7-160's, Maule MXT-7-180's, Piper Arrows, Cessna 172RG's , Beechcraft Duchesses's , And american Champion Citabria's. I'd like to get time in all of them at some point (want that tailwheel, complex, and high performance experience) but which would be best to build time in? Will it matter when i'm looking for a job doing something like I'd enjoy (I'm probably not headed for the airlines)?

For most professional jobs, multi-engine time is key. It is hard to get at the entry level, and expensive if you have to buy it. If you have an opportunity to work as an MEI that would be my first priority.

Other than that, if you are interested in non-traditional flying, I'd fly the Maule and citabria. Everybody in professional aviation has a complex and high-performance endorsement so that won't set you apart, but a bunch of tailwheel time will help make you competitive for those non-traditional jobs.

Hawaiian Airlines flying 717's interisland-0 overnights per month, just once a year during recurrent. Of course it is a unique situation.

Thanks alot! You've answered a lot of my questions! I'm ready to get started now but I still have a couple months til graduation :rolleyes:. Thanks for all your help.

Part 135 flying will keep you close to home most of the time.
Choose the type of flying that will work for you and your desired lifestyle.
You don't have to buy into the fact that the only career in aviation is with the airlines.
You will eventually need or want a social life so plan for that too.
But don't make your family suffer from your choice to "follow your dream" because it's not fair to them.
Good luck in whatever you decide and have fun along the way.

this man speaks the truth even though he sounds like the south african dr. phil.