Agreed, but still go read the link from the first post. Get it in ur head early that there is alot of not so awesome things about aviation careers, mostly first few jobs you have may not pay so well. Kinda sucks after dropping 40k+ on flight training. But if you love to fly, you got 35 good years left for airlines, more for other stuff. Like others have said, would be tough getting int the majors by 40, but if you haul through your training and start building time its possible. Heck, thats a 25 year career, pretty good. But there will be guys in your regional sim classes that are pretty much kids. 23 years old to be exact. But there are many guys that switch careers, or decide to go airlines later than sooner. Dont let the young guys like me intimidate you away from your dreams! Good luck!

 

Why so negative? He may have been saving his money, serving our country(GI bill), or learning what he wants to do over the past 20 years. Maybe all of the above? People dont need to be rich to find the thrill in doing something new, if you can come out non top then more power to you. If he is passionate about it let him do it. Not all plans are perfect, we all have risks. But it is good to point out that a "career" at a regional is hard to do without getting furloughed or flat out laid off. Just choose wisely.


More jobs than just airlines out there as well. took me 3.5 years form my first day of training to find a job I could stay at the rest of my life and be adequately paid... if I liked small towns. But i dont so Im out eventually. Plus, im not flying heavy metal, and thats what I want. Others like my coworkers dont mind 91 corp ops in small planes. Its still FUN!

 

Because the thread was titled "reality check". This means alerting him to the possible reality. It doesn't mean the certain reality, but as you know, often times it's hard to see through our own perceptions and preconceived notions. Reality can be much different. People don't need to be rich, but they do need to be able to support themselves in retirement!

 

I'm fine if I have to spend my 20+ year career at a regional. I will be getting my military pension when I retire this August. That will supplement my income.

 

Good, but 20+ years? Do you understand how long it takes to build up 1500hrs? If you are starting at the "same place", in other words, earning your private certificate, that "20+ yr career" at a regional may not be realistic. Again, this isn't meant to be "negative", just to make sure you are aware of the nature of the industry and career path. There are a few relatively "reputable" regionals, but you can't just ask for a job and be granted one immediately either, you may need to work with a more bottom-feeder before you you can move up to one of those regionals. Again, not 100% of the time, but very common. Starting off at "zero" with that many years to mandatory retirement, it's just good to be aware and realistic about how much time you will spend with a certain regional or how that may be impacted. That is all.

 

You're 30, unattached, read the comments on this very good forum, weighed the good and the bad, and it sounds like you still want to fly. Go for it while you're young.

 

From reading forums like this, I imagine it will take about two years to get to 1500 hours. That is in addition to about the 6 to 8 month process to get all my ratings. That means I will be applying to fly commercially at about 43. That is 20+ years. I also think I will interview well for any job. A disciplined 43 year old ex military guy with a Masters degree in meteorology that has been in aviation meteorology for over 15 years.

 

Iv been flying for 4 years, and im just shy of ATP mins. However, my first 2.5 years I only flew an average of 2-3 hours a week. If i didnt need to work full time on the side I could have been done much much faster, and had another year or two of CFI'ing by this point. heck I would have been able to get in the regional before the whole 1500 hour rule but nobody told me about it and I didnt hear about it til it was too late.
It is certainly possible to fly 1500 in your first two years, but that really depends on what your job is right after you get your commercial. I still havent met anyone who truly fly's 1,000 a year. If my memory serves me right you are looking at training in S, SE WI like what I did, keep in mind winter flying will be tough. No flight school planes can fly into ice (clouds in the winter) so you better be busting you butt on nice weather days and every summer day.

 

Understandable. I apologize. It just sounded like you were saying the industry isnt something he would like and he shouldnt try it, and you had nothing about the good parts you get in reality. So it just seemed like a post meant to turn him away.
Even with all the negative there are still a few positives that keep us in it.

 

You really have no idea how long it will take you to reach that 1500 TT mark. It depends are far too many factors, many of which you have no direct control over - e.g. maintenance, weather (you know this!), availability of instructors (or eventually students), health (personal and economic), etc....

I fly professionally now and I've been in my job (actually flying) for 3 years this month and I've flown less than 1000 hrs. I seriously doubt that I will fly anywhere near 500 hrs in the next year - so that would make it well over 4 years until I reached a 1500 TT mark from zero.

It is one of the many different scenarios that could play out on this road to a professional pilot career.