to be or not to be
 

For the last few day I have been struggling with the decision on whether to stay in the military or get out and pursuit my dream of become an airline pilot. Am a currently 29 years old, single with no kids, and have a BS in Business. I have been literally glue to the internet for days trying to do my research to help me make the right decision. From what I have read in articles and forums, all the signs point to staying in the military. But event-though the wage suck, quality of life decrease substantially and I’ll be in huge debt from flight school loans, somehow I still would like to pursuit this dream. I finally came to the conclusion that pilots are either stupid or crazy; stupid in the sense that they had no idea what they were getting themselves into or crazy in the sense that they knew what they were getting into but did it anyway. To be honest I think I might be crazy enough to go for it.

My biggest concern at the moment is the cost of flight school. From what I have notice, the entire profession pilot training program range from 70,000 to 100,000. Am worry that that I won’t be able to pay that amount back making 20,000 a year

The question I have is; have any of you knowing know the risks you were taking and did it pay off (it doesn’t have to be monetary)

Do any of you know of or would recommend National Aviation Academy flight training program? The program is 19 month and cost 79,000. By the time your finish you’ll have all the rating plus complete your ATP written plus 400-500 actually aircraft hours

Were you drinking while writing this, perchance? I ask because I want to give you the benefit of the doubt in regards to the myriad grammatical and spelling errors. Typos perhaps...

What is it about this career that makes it your dream? Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years after stepping down this path?

And no, it absolutely has not paid off. It has caused me near financial ruin, stress beyond belief, the choice to postpone having children until my late 30's (which I still haven't due to responsible financial reasons), loss of work (furlough), and a vehement hate for the industry that makes it hard to ever have a positive/optimistic outlook regarding anything with wings.

I've had the opportunity to travel A LOT for both business and personal trips. That's been the best part. It's not worth it though. I would go back in time and tell myself all of this if I could.

No, did not pay off. Moved from airline industry into a parallel aviation job, but not piloting. I did more school and gained more experience to get to that point, but the basic "aviation degree/flight training" to get to an airline absolutely did not pay off.

Most of us realize how crazy this idea is now.

You won't be paying off 70-100K, it'll be at least 100-140K with interest. Think of what you can do with that money?

By far the best idea if you still want to get into the game is to get a decent job, scrape by and go to flight school while working or when you can. The value of this is huge in terms of not being under the burden of debt.

It sounds like you love flying. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself if "love flying"=airline pilot? As if airline pilots are the only people that can love flying?

As far as national academy, it has the word "national", so it must be good.

sorry about the grammatical and spelling errors, I should of done a better job at prove reading. in 5-10 years I see myself as a captain at a regional airline and looking to move up to a major airline.

if you don't mind me asking, at what age did you start flying and were you aware of the hardship you face?

It sounds like you love flying. Have you ever stopped and asked yourself if "love flying"=airline pilot? As if airline pilots are the only people that can love flying?[/QUOTE]

I wish I had the money to fly recreationally or even own my own aircraft but I understand where your coming from, maybe I’ll just have to work hard and hopefully I can afford to do that one day

Fine. That's a best case scenario. Here are some things to consider. Your regional airline could furlough. You'll have to wait it out or start all over again at another regional. Your regional could disappear completely a la Comair. You'll have to start all over again somewhere else. Your regional could ask for concessions, again, and again, and you'll find yourself hating management and the entire industry. You could get in trouble, or fail a training event, for any number of reasons, and your chances of a major job will fall tremendously. You'd better think of becoming a line check airman, so you better also get good at playing the political game as it is at many regionals. Any large economic downturn will stifle your plans. Mergers and acquisitions are inevitable and will also stifle the best laid out plans.
What you see today is not what will be in 5-10 years.

And FWIW, I had the same plan. Now working at Target down the street is looking more attractive every day.



I started flying at 21. Graduated with a BS in Aeronautics at 24. I grew up in an AF/airline family, and was blissfully unaware of what was to come. I knew I'd be away from home a lot, I knew I'd "pay my dues", but had no idea how bad the regionals would become. I went to work for a regional airline that had pay scales topping at $140/hr. Second year FOs could be at $39. That all vanished within a year of working there. Since, I've made over $40k once in eight years of flying professionally.

Throughout college we were reinforced with idea of how lucky we were to be graduating at a time when entry-level aircraft were the new "regional jets".

If you are in the service and thinking about separating, find a community college to use your Post-9/11 GI Bill at. There's your cost problem solved (I'm assuming you have at least 3 years active service, so that's 100% tuition and fees plus BAH and books). So what if you have a BS already, 1-1.5 years of time and GI Bill eligibility to get ratings for free and get paid to do it is a no brainer.

I actually haven given that much thought but its something am going to explore

thanks

I made a career jump awhile back and so far do not regret my choice. I would recommend getting a private before deciding to separate. You never know if you'll even like flying or if you are just attracted to the perception of what pilots stand for to you.

There is an oppressive amount of negativity on this board. Every negative opinion must be taken with a grain of salt as usually the angriest voices are also the loudest. I know plenty of people who are moderately happy at their respective regional and others who have been lucky to make the jump to a major during this time of no-movement. Whatever you do, don't come into it with delusions of grandeur. It will be a long, hard road.

I have few hours of flight time, I just don't have a PPL. I feel if I was to get out of the military I could focus more of my time on pursing my goals