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remember that you will sit in the right seat for 3-4 years cuz you won't have an ATP.
Get some more experience flying before you HAVE TO GO TO A REGIONAL. Fly more IFR and practice REAL approaches, so when the time comes you will be ready. I know a lot of companies will ask if you have your CFI when you interview. So do what you want but everyone here has been there. |
Originally Posted by MillerTime
(Post 117255)
remember that you will sit in the right seat for 3-4 years cuz you won't have an ATP.
Get some more experience flying before you HAVE TO GO TO A REGIONAL. Fly more IFR and practice REAL approaches, so when the time comes you will be ready. I know a lot of companies will ask if you have your CFI when you interview. So do what you want but everyone here has been there. |
Ok, so I made up my mind and doing the CFI thing.... (yes yes the right decision), but....the only thing that worries me honestly is getting students....
We already have 6 or 7 VERY high time insctructors that really do instruct for the beauty of it.....so you can imagine....a student walking in is like throwing raw meat in a pack of hungry wolves:eek: And yes, my home base is the really the only airport I'd want to flight instruct at...but...we'll see how this goes. Do any of you know anything of SLM loans for flight training? |
hey Shaun, who did ya get hired by? I think i remember a post about you talking about applying to regionals.
Shanejj - The fact that you have 6 or 7 very high time instructors is a great thing! You have people that you can ask questions to if you ever get stuck on something...theyre there for advice! Also, it will inspire you to be a better instructor. Trust me, your not behind the curve at all. I didnt even begin college until I was 21. (btw, are you going to college?) |
If you have a CFI and CFII you're pretty much have your choice of schools to teach at right now. Currently the regionals are hiring with very low times and flight schools can't keep instructors. The upside is choosing where you go, and the potential for an increase in pay rates (this hasn't happened but the supply/demand might dictate this in the near future). Build time as a CFI, get your degree and by the time you graduate you'll have enough time to take your pick among a variety of options.
I've had a few former coworkers jump ship to regionals and fail out of class. They didn't have much time and this puts them in a very bad position. Their times were too low to go to another regional, plus they just failed out of class. Second, no flight school would take the time to hire them and train them knowing that they've already bailed on their previous CFI gig for the first chance to fly jets. I decided to instruct a bit longer and have options when I move on versus the other route. The pay isn't too bad where I'm at, the bennefits are great, and I'm working 9-5 during the week. |
What's wrong with being 25 and not at the regionals yet? I'll be 25 in June and will be just finishing up my Instrument/Commercial by the end of the summer. I'll probably be 27ish when I'm ready for the regionals, but I'm going the CFI route. I don't want to pay out of my arsh to get the multi time built up. Besides, if some realy starts their flying career @ 30 with the regionals, and the extension of the mandatory retirement age to 65 passes; it will give some one 35 years of flying. Not bad! I only started when I was 22 because of financial/personal reasons. So take it easy on us "ol' folk."
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Shane, I have two pieces of advice for you.
1. CFI is definately the way to go. You are only 19. Most airlines won't hire you until you are 21 anyway. As a CFI, I average about 80 hours a month. I am young (22) and my flight school has a lot of "lifer" flight instructors. It turns out the younger students tend to like you. Don't worry, after 1-2 years of CFI'ing, you will have MORE THAN ENOUGH time to go to any regional you want! This is your big advantage. Not being able to spend more years as a FO at a regional (if you get hired at 19, you can't upgrade to captain until you are 23). 2. Are you going to go to college??? This is incredibly important if you want to have a good career as an airline pilot. Period. Most majors WILL NOT hire you without a college degree. If you decide not to get a 4 year college degree, you are costing yourself a good MILLION(s) dollars over your career. The fact is if you don't get a 4 year college degree, your career will likely end at a regional airline, making $90,000 a year. You will be excluding yourself from all the good jobs in aviation (major airline, cargo, corporate). With a college degree, your career is much more likely to end at a major airline making $200k a year. BIG DIFFERENCE! And that adds up over 10,20,30 years! Sure, you might get hired a few years earlier if you don't go to college, but your argument about getting a job right now is like: Two 18 year old kids graduate high school. One goes to work at Safeway saying, "Hey look, I am making more money than you." The smarter one goes to college, does not make any money for 4 years. But we all know who is WAY better off in the longrun. Yup, the kid who went to college. If you do not get a college degree, your career will likely end at a regional, making 90k tops. If you go to college, your career will more than likely end at a major airline making 200k, or perhaps FedEx or UPS making 250k. BIG DIFFERENCE! Suddenly those 4 years at regional pay are made in less than a year at a major airline. That's the best advice I can offer for a prosperous career in the airline industry. |
Originally Posted by ryane946
(Post 120806)
Shane, I have two pieces of advice for you.
1. CFI is definately the way to go. You are only 19. Most airlines won't hire you until you are 21 anyway. As a CFI, I average about 80 hours a month. I am young (22) and my flight school has a lot of "lifer" flight instructors. It turns out the younger students tend to like you. Don't worry, after 1-2 years of CFI'ing, you will have MORE THAN ENOUGH time to go to any regional you want! This is your big advantage. Not being able to spend more years as a FO at a regional (if you get hired at 19, you can't upgrade to captain until you are 23). 2. Are you going to go to college??? This is incredibly important if you want to have a good career as an airline pilot. Period. Most majors WILL NOT hire you without a college degree. If you decide not to get a 4 year college degree, you are costing yourself a good MILLION(s) dollars over your career. The fact is if you don't get a 4 year college degree, your career will likely end at a regional airline, making $90,000 a year. You will be excluding yourself from all the good jobs in aviation (major airline, cargo, corporate). With a college degree, your career is much more likely to end at a major airline making $200k a year. BIG DIFFERENCE! And that adds up over 10,20,30 years! Sure, you might get hired a few years earlier if you don't go to college, but your argument about getting a job right now is like: Two 18 year old kids graduate high school. One goes to work at Safeway saying, "Hey look, I am making more money than you." The smarter one goes to college, does not make any money for 4 years. But we all know who is WAY better off in the longrun. Yup, the kid who went to college. If you do not get a college degree, your career will likely end at a regional, making 90k tops. If you go to college, your career will more than likely end at a major airline making 200k, or perhaps FedEx or UPS making 250k. BIG DIFFERENCE! Suddenly those 4 years at regional pay are made in less than a year at a major airline. That's the best advice I can offer for a prosperous career in the airline industry. |
CFI and college...
CFI and college are the proving grounds for pilots and adult human beings. Building skills, character, contacts, experience, knowledge, the broader viewpoint, the complete picture.... our society values these things and for good reason. The tendency of young pilots is to rush for line seniority forgetting that human values equate more to happiness than external success. But even a second year FO salary is adequate for a twentyeight year old, and those who take the trouble to experience university and flight instruction gain world of development as human beings for taking the trouble.
I have a friend who skipped college during the computer programming boom in the early 80s and went directly to work. He does quite well for himself. From time to time he takes vocational classes to beef up his skills, and he has moved up steadily up in pay and position. He makes more than most of his peers, in fact. But to me he is shallow, has a narrow view of humanity, lacks a broader understanding of computer science, and certainly lacks a sense of the wider scheme of human existence. He lives for bigger houses and newer Buicks. He has no idea what makes the world go around. Does he seem happy? Well, yeah I guess. But his mind is fallow and even if money truly satisfies him what sort of person does this portray. There's no easy solution to building a quality mind. |
Originally Posted by Cubdriver
(Post 123516)
CFI and college are the proving grounds for pilots and adult human beings. Building skills, character, contacts, experience, knowledge, the broader viewpoint, the complete picture.... our society values these things and for good reason. The tendency of young pilots is to rush for line seniority forgetting that human values equate more to happiness than external success. But even a second year FO salary is adequate for a twentyeight year old, and those who take the trouble to experience university and flight instruction gain world of development as human beings for taking the trouble.
I have a friend who skipped college during the computer programming boom in the early 80s and went directly to work. He does quite well for himself. From time to time he takes vocational classes to beef up his skills, and he has moved up steadily up in pay and position. He makes more than most of his peers, in fact. But to me he is shallow, has a narrow view of humanity, lacks a broader understanding of computer science, and certainly lacks a sense of the wider scheme of human existence. He lives for bigger houses and newer Buicks. He has no idea what makes the world go around. Does he seem happy? Well, yeah I guess. But his mind is fallow and even if money truly satisfies him what sort of person does this portray. There's no easy solution to building a quality mind. |
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