Something else to consider would be the military for aviation. It got me to where I am today at Big Brown.

 

Hey man, there are very few jobs in aviation that can accommodate a normal healthy family life. Even a local cargo gig can have you away from home a few nights a week, or keep you up all night while you try to sleep all day. Corporate/charter will give you 45 minutes notice for a three week trip. No matter how you slice it it is a difficult trick for a family to pull off. You also mentioned that you have a wife who is getting a PHd. I imagine that once she gets that she will want to go to work at something. It is hard enough to keep an aviation career going. Soon you will have two competing careers. Your best bet is to search the immediate airport for every metro and kingair, then start to search the surrounding cities. I have a wife and four sons. I worked as a professional pilot for over 15 years. When I was laid off from my last job over two years ago I realized that I couldn't go back. The pay is too low at most places and it is getting too difficult to shove the family into another UHaul and chase to dream across the country again.

SkyHigh

 

The answer to your question is simple.....it's who you know, not what you know....so network your a** off!

 

For sqaertner- You might try www.skyjobs.net to start. You have to sign up, but it's FREE. Joel

 

Most airlines today are lookign for a B.S. degree in basket weaving

 

Hey good luck to all of you in your flying careers but let me tell you it ain't that great of a career. I know flying is a great thing, hell I've done it for most off my life but read this. I have flown in every continent exept Australia and Africa. I was hired as a F/E in '96 upgraded to F/O in early '98, hired by a US Major in '99, furloughed from them in early '02. Hired by a cargo outfit (DC-8's) 7 months later, just to get the shaft 11 months 15 days later. Hired by a charter outfit (737-800) whith whom I flew for only 6 months because I was offered a Capt. slott at a regional flying the CRJ-700. Now I'm looking at being on reserve for who knows how long, barely making ends meet. Do yourselfs a favor, finish school, make alot of money, buy your own plane. But if you must just be patient and understand that the airline industry in this country stinks right now and it will for a while, you will make very little money for a long time, you will be trated like dirt by management, and your F/A will not look like Hooters girls.
Once you get the job, please shut up and listen to the guy next to you. He will most likely know more than you, remember its not just about what the books say, experience is not written on the POH or FOM. A wise man once said to me after I got around 1000 hrs, as a 1000 hrs pilot you know just enough to get yourself in a world off S _ _ _ T, but you know nothing about getting out of it.
One more thing, the airline industy is in bad shape mainly because of managements ability to get pilots to fly for less now that 10 years ago and their continued bad decissions. Mesa is one who treats their pilots like dirt and pays them as little as they can to fly as much as the law will let them. I know that to a low time pilot the idea of getting into the flight deck of a CRJ or ERJ is like a wet dream with Pamela Anderson. But just like the wet dream, after you wake up and smell the coffee your not going to want to tell your friends about it. The same can be said about many other small regionals, some are better than others though. Your best bet is to try and get into the Fractionals or cargo outfits, you will get great experience.

Good Luck

 

"Do you think that comming from an FBO not a "Pilot Factory" will hurt me when it is time to start job hunting? I would appriciate any advice"

No, the type of school you went to isn't important at all. It's about hours/ratings/experience levels. The pilot factory websites want you to think otherwise. Don't buy into it.

 

Stay away from the pilot factorys !! You have the basic ticket... With that 300 hrs and some persistance, you can go fly all summer and have 900 hrs by Aug... Go fly banners and skydivers. They will pay you at least. The pilot factory guys I've met aren't worth sh** and act like the airline industry owes them something because they dropped some cash. Try instructing at least... You gain so much more respect.

 

In Defense of the pilot factories...

I attend ERAU in Daytona Beach from 01-05 and graduated with a BA in Aeronatical Science. I'm now a CH-47D Chinook pilot in the Florida Army National Guard and have the approximate civilian hours as some of you posting here.

I am very glad that I made the decision to attend ERAU. Mind you, these are just a few defense points, but I will do my best to paint to total picture.

Overall, flight costs are higher than the norm and aircraft availability during some times of the year or after some syllabus changes is horrible. Expect to shell all in all about 30 grand for all of your tickets. (This is just flight costs) This would be a good time to mention that I attended school on a 100% academic scholarship from the Army that did not include flight costs. For what its worth to you guys, I never would have attended without that scholarship but it opened my eyes to some truths about life. Also, my freshman year, there was a 12% female student body. (It has since risen.)

Without a doubt, in the college environment, ERAU has the greatest core of aviation academia anywhere in the country. I will go as far as to say that the experience level and overall quality of classroom training exceeds that of any of the military classrooms. In the cockpit, the training exceeded the quality of my FBO private pilot experience but that's all I have to go off of. In certain aspects, ERAU flight training exceeds the quality of Army flight training but Army flight training is a totally different animal. In other aspects, ERAU needs to step up the quality. At ERAU, very few of my professors did not serve in the military as pilots. To your left and right for the most part sit extremely motivated and bright students. Their parents are not exceedingly wealthy either.

This awesome core of students is the top reason that I would suggest anyone attend the school. You WILL meet some of the best friends you will ever make. What other college's favorite movie is Top Gun ? (from facebook.com's school pulse) I specifically enjoyed not having to explain myself when I go off on a tangent about aircraft and flying because the guy sitting next to me is trying to do the same thing! Just from students efforts, several aviation clubs exist on campus. Whatever aircraft fetish you have, could probably be satisfied by an existing club. The top rivalry at the school isn't frat vs. frat, guys vs. girls, its Aero Engineers vs. Pilots (Aero Science). I've met REAL life f*cking nerds... I mean REAL REAL nerds and that's just awesome! They happen to be some of the coolest guys ever, by the way. And yes, the pilot group is regarded as a bunch of drunk idiots by the engineers. (Which is also cool.)

The college has the greatest Air Force ROTC program in the country without a doubt. 3 of the 4 Air Force ROTC roommates I had at ERAU are now pilots in the Air Force. Nearly all the Air Force friends I had at college are now Air Force pilots. Given the standards for exceptance, thats pretty good. The Army ROTC program is not the full glory of it's sister branch, but has produced a HUGE amount of military pilots even in the time that I was there. The school also added an extremely well run and successful Navy ROTC program and it has two routes for the Marine Corps. I would venture to say that the school puts out more military pilot officers than any other civilian school in the country.

The bottom line is, never again will I recieve such well rounded and insightful training as what I recieved at ERAU. Note: Well rounded but heavily, heavily aviation. College does not make you educated, YOU make yourself educated with your motivation level. Many of you know this, and you've never been to college.

If you can afford it, or if you are a superior canidate for the officer corps of today's military, then I suggest ERAU. The funny thing is, I am saying all this after I attended there, after I've started paying the bills, and certainly after dealing with the universal bull**** that IS going to college. If you're not motivated, you'll go home after your first semester and say that it's a bunch of crap. (another universal college truth)

Just my 2+ cents. Haha. I had a GREAT time.

Forest Lightle
ERAU Class of 2005, Daytona Beach
Florida Army National Guard
1/111th AVN
CH-47D Chinook

 

In today's hiring environment, getting hired is a function of: knowing someone and knowing how to present yourself (assuming that you are otherwise qualified.) When you approach the career pursuit from this angle, you will quickly see the benefit in building your network now. Since you are in business school, and you indicate that you aren't from a "pilot factory", I'll assume that you aren't in a environment conducive to networking, but do the best you can. BTW, no one really cares where you got your initial ratings. I'd suggest that you finish your degree, then find a job CFI'ing at the largest school you can find so that you can continue working on your network of friends. Move on when you can, but don't go to work for some small outfit that will limit your ability to see opportunity. Move on to a regional carrier, but only after you have a fairly large network of friends, because you want to know people other than pilots from one commuter airline. Network there as well of course, but you're trying to ensure that you don't limit yourself to being only a Comair/ASA/Mesa/Chitaco/TSA/etc pilot when you go looking for a job at a point in the future.
If you do this, you'll find that you have more job leads than you can follow up on in about ten years.

During college, take as many "human behavior" classes as you can. Read up on the classics like "How to Win Friends and Influence People". In short, learn to be a nice guy. Treat people well, and be a sincere team player.

Finally, If I had to do over, I'd start atttending hiring seminars NOW. If you attend one of Aaron Hagens seminars now, and continue over the next few years, you will be able to count it as nothing more than professional/personal development. BTW, it IS professional/personal development. Besides, it will allow you to tell an interviewer, "no I didn't prep for this interview"

Good Luck,
skybolt

edit, Aaron Hagen, aka AlbieF15 can be reached at Emerald Coast Interview in Pensacola.