navigatro

who wants to work that hard at age 65?

lots of better/easier ways to make $ at that age/experience level.

Or just enjoy retirement, if you can.

mooneymite

As one of those guys who went from the top of the 121 pyramid to 91K, it wasn't about money at all. I have plenty. It wasn't about not having interests/activities to fill my day, it is all about the flying.

My background was military and major 121 flying with a few hours of general aviation at the beginning. NetJets provides me a great opportunity to fly and travel on the company dime. Do I work harder than at the airline? Yes! Much harder. Do I make less pay? Yes, much less pay. Do I love my job and look forward to it? Yes.

With all the scheduling and financial pressures gone since the kids are all raised, this is almost pure fun. I fly around an a beautiful jet, stay in (mostly) great places in (mostly) nice hotels with (mostly) great captains for 7 days, then go home and practice retirement for 7 days.

I recognize this is not for everyone, but if you love to fly/travel, feel too young to quit and flying co-pilot doesn'tbother your ego, NetJets is a terrific gig for post-121 pilots.

Flyfalcons

Those that can get through training, anyway.

flyboy041

Netjets is a horrible gig for post-121 pilots. There! I fixed for you. Who is their right mind want to work that hard at 65? Just lugging those oversized luggage day in and day out would be enough to reduced your lifespan.

jtf560

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. It isnt the easiest job, but some do enjoy it. It helps when you aren't desperately searching for more money and look at the glass half full. I almost always have a good time at work. If you constantly compare what you are doing to flying heavy iron at the airlines withtheir pay and schedules, you will be forever unhappy. Your attitude going into is vital.

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Toolman78

Exactly how I feel as I approach retirement from a 121 in January. Looking forward to the next chapter.

GeeWizDriver

Glad you’re having fun. Glad you don’t need the money.



Where, oh where, is the “face in palm” emoji?

germanaviator

Sure sounds like it.

I gotta say: When I turn 65 I might still want to fly now and then but I won't be choosing to be away from home for seven days in a row, flying a non-cabin crew, possibly non-APU Jet, which I have to stock and clean and load and unload myself. Not at 65+. Not my idea of fun.

Fair play to those who truly enjoy this, I don't. Yes the flying can be fun, but it's only a small part of what we do. And the long days, multiple changes and time away from home make this fractional business more like work than a paid hobby...

Boeing Aviator

My two cents. I’m a United pilot that provides career counseling and pilot mentoring to many pilots getting into the industry, some of who are in mid to late 50’s. Some who have been out of the industry for several decades.

We are on the cusp of a global pilot shortage. We are not there yet. There is a perfect storm in the brew on the horizon for the following factors:

1: Massive Airline Retirements

2: US Airline industry growth.

3: Historic low for new pilot starts.

4: Successful pilot union pattern bargaining.

5: Asia to need upwards 200,000 pilots over the next 20 years.

All of this will totally dry up the US airline pilot market, including the current 20,000 US regional pilots who will mostly fill the US Legacy hiring needs over the next 10 plus years.

The reason for all the above, you can’t look at what the US pilot market looks like today, or years past to extrapolate what the pilot market will look like in 5 to 10 years. I’ve tried for the past few years and it’s moving much faster (for the better) then even I anticipated.

My opinion your opportunities as a retired 121 pilot in five years will be far greater in terms of opportunities then what you see today. I believe a huge portion of the fractional and corporate pilot ranks will be retired 121 pilots.

All that being said I agree with many others that the current fractional pilot working conditions are very difficult and are not for all age 65 plus pilots.

Not sure where you live but I’d recommend trying to be a contract cooperate pilot. Work when you want and not when you don’t want to work. A good career path towards that goal is getting hired as a full time or part time instructor at CAE or Flight Safety. They hire alot of retired 121 pilots. There you will not only get type ratings but meet countless contacts to venture into the contract corporate flying world. Alot of 91 operations and even some 135 companies hire contract pilots to fill in for their pilots when they are not available. If you have a type rating and instructor time you are a shoe in.

I’d also recommend keeping a watchful eye on the website https://www.climbto350.com/ For less then $20 a month you can see many job opportunities postings first hand. But most importantly how it changes even more in pilots favor in the years to come.

As an example you will find a lot of charter jet jobs will hire you as a captain. Years ago at most bottom feeder 135 companies, your day off was yesterday when you didn’t fly on call. Today they actual have guaranteed days off and many home base.

The primary reason to visit this site over the next five years is to witness first hand how desperate these companies become as the pilot shortage becomes more of a reality.

Any way best of luck, hope some of this info was helpful.

viking767

Thanks for all the replies. Lots of good info, I appreciate it.