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Are pilot jobs bunk?

Old 07-10-2006, 01:32 PM
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Default Are pilot jobs bunk?

I've been reading posts on other forums here at APC and I'm getting depressed. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm seriously considering going into aviation, but after reading so many posts speaking poorly about the job market and flight school debt, I'm starting to get scared.

The industry has got to be getting better after a bust like what 9/11 did. I mean, you can only go up from from such a travesty, right? By the time I finish flight school and get all of my ratings and hours...some years down the line, maybe 10 years, I'm thinking that the industry will have figured a way of becoming more efficient and pilots won't have to leave the country and fly out of Dubia or Singapore.

Are pilot jobs really bunk? Am I just being delusional, or do any of you agree that YES, the future will be better. If I don't go to flight school and become a pilot, I don't know what else to do? I've grown up on planes. My father is a retired 747 Cpt. that let me hang out in the cockpit during preflight checks. I love flying but I'm afraid that the "pilot's life" will create a definite strain on my marriage particularly if the future is dim.

Please help me see clearly through the clouds, and don't any of you advise me to go into accounting. Desk jobs drive me crazy!
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Old 07-11-2006, 05:51 PM
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I still think there are some really good flying jobs out there. More so on the corporate side. Some Part 91 jobs can have unbelievable job security. I once interviewed for Raytheon defense contractor. Flying the CEO around. Raytheon is a big company and not going anywhere soon. Also, mentioned in a previous thread, the "pilot pickup" thread, I metioned the owner of the Venetion hotel in Vegas kept one of his Gulfstreams at my home airport. He has 1 billion dollars worth of aircraft. I know a flight attendant that works for him and said that they treat everybody really well and excellent job security. Good luck
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Old 07-11-2006, 06:14 PM
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Originally Posted by ERJ135
I still think there are some really good flying jobs out there. More so on the corporate side. Some Part 91 jobs can have unbelievable job security....

...I metioned the owner of the Venetion hotel in Vegas kept one of his Gulfstreams at my home airport. He has 1 billion dollars worth of aircraft. I know a flight attendant that works for him and said that they treat everybody really well and excellent job security. Good luck

Ditto!!!

Toeman9:

You have really got to look past all the negativity that is spewed on some of the threads here at APC and other forum boards. If you have a desire to fly, for a living, just like ERJ135 said, "there are plenty of flying jobs out there." You've got to find your niche.

Best wishes & blue skies.

atp
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Old 07-11-2006, 08:54 PM
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This is a very cruel, at times depressing and tiring industry!

But I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else! As soon as I take off most of my concerns are lifted and I'm just enjoying what I do for a living.

But to answer you question, YES absolutly there are some very god flying jobs out there. You just have to figure out where you fit in to all of this. Fly pax in Alaska, traditional Airline, RJ's for a Regional, UPS, FedEX, or maybe a contract job overseas. Your imagination is almost the limit for what you can do. You just have to be smart, patient and a little careful in who you choose to work for.

I started out (in my student days) with dreams of 747 for UAL. I ended up in an aerostar flying checks at night and completly fell in love with flying freight.

Now I fly a Learjet (for the same company) and I enjoy what I do. I'm not sure what's in the future, but I'm not in a hurry. I do what I love to do and they pay me pretty decent.

Cheer up and GL,
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Old 07-12-2006, 05:26 AM
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Flying might be fun and tolerable while you are young, but someday you might have other needs and desires. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a flying job that both pays the bills and offers a chance at a life outside of work. Some don't care and are prepared to throw everything into the attempt. They don't mind being alone and poor. Others have fantasies that in three years they will get picked up by some imaginary company and will be treated well. Usually all they are left with is an $800 loan payment as a souvenir of an impulsive decision. You will have to ask yourself those questions.

SKyHigh

If you feel undecided at all I would move on to something else. This industry is brutal at best. Only the completely addicted should consider it.
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Old 07-12-2006, 05:31 AM
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Default Future

Originally Posted by toeman9
I've been reading posts on other forums here at APC and I'm getting depressed. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm seriously considering going into aviation, but after reading so many posts speaking poorly about the job market and flight school debt, I'm starting to get scared.

The industry has got to be getting better after a bust like what 9/11 did. I mean, you can only go up from from such a travesty, right? By the time I finish flight school and get all of my ratings and hours...some years down the line, maybe 10 years, I'm thinking that the industry will have figured a way of becoming more efficient and pilots won't have to leave the country and fly out of Dubia or Singapore.

Are pilot jobs really bunk? Am I just being delusional, or do any of you agree that YES, the future will be better. If I don't go to flight school and become a pilot, I don't know what else to do? I've grown up on planes. My father is a retired 747 Cpt. that let me hang out in the cockpit during preflight checks. I love flying but I'm afraid that the "pilot's life" will create a definite strain on my marriage particularly if the future is dim.

Please help me see clearly through the clouds, and don't any of you advise me to go into accounting. Desk jobs drive me crazy!

Things have not gotten better since 911. Planes are flying again but the pay is lower and working conditions more difficult. It may plateau for a while but the overall trend for the last 25 years has been downwards in regards to pay and work rules.

SkyHigh
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