covsting76

After doing a lot of reading on this website and research I came up with a little plan to purse my dreams of one day becoming a pilot and would like to share it with you all for thoughts...

I'll keep it short and sweet...

I've always wanted to be a pilot since as early as I can possibly remember but for some reason when I went off to college I never pursed it. From what I have researched this is probably a good thing as having an aviation degree is not the smartest thing.

Anyway a long story short I graduated 2 years ago with my Bachelors in Business, currently have a great job with a solid company making good money. Since my company pays for continuing education I decided to pursue my MBA, figured it would be foolish not to take advantage of the free school. Anyway I currently have no pilots license of any sort, but I am certain this is something I would like to pursue. My plan is to finish out my MBA (2 more years), at this point I will be 28 years old, Bachelor Degree, MBA and 5 years of working experience in corporate America. As soon as I finish my MBA I told myself I would reward myself by pursing my dream and earning my ratings. My plan would be continue to work in the corporate world while getting all my ratings and then eventually if something opens up make the switch over to the airline industry. I realize this would be a pay cut for my but I would be doing something that I would enjoy (at least i think i would). I figured worst case scenario things down work out in the airline industry and i have my MBA and work experience to fall back on to land a spot back in the corporate world... Plus I have all my ratings (which is something I want anyway).

Realistically if everything works out as planned I figured I would be 30-31 years old by time I have enough time logged to even be considered for a commercial pilot position. My ultimate goal would be to somehow land myself a corporate gig but I do realize everything in this industry comes with time and experience and I need to start somewhere.

Anyway just curious if anyone has followed a similar path or has any suggestions or opinions.

Thanks for your time...

TI 3VOM

I think you have thought it out well, and most people on here would probably agree. Don't quit your job if your making good money to start flight training. My biggest suggestion would be to have enough funds available to finish an entire rating at a time. When you have to take long breaks during training (which is common with students who do not have the funding available, and pay as they go), you end up spending a lot more money to re learn everything you had already learned. Also avoid getting loans to fund training at ALL COSTS. They are almost impossible to pay back for the first few years. Start out with your private, see how you like it. If you enjoy flying, then add additional ratings when you can. After you get your commercial, if you are still interested in a pilot career, get your CFI and instruct on the side to build hours, but keep your current job if you can, unless you are very financially stable and have no debt. It is very difficult to support yourself on a CFIs salary and for the first few years at a regional. It will take longer to build the time, but at least you will be able to eat

Assassin

Good plan! Good advice up top. I would also start a separate savings account so that you can start putting money away, since you will need it the first couple of years on regional pay.

I'm in the same boat. Just finishing my business degree, with no flying experience. This forum has been more than helpful in opening my eyes to the stuff that goes on in the airlines.

From what I gather, the industry won't change, but flying planes sounds awesome, a dream since childhood for most of us. The trick, I think, is to figure out a good source of income outside of aviation, so as to not depend from the airline salary and fully enjoy the job.

That's what I plan to do.