"I too hear of so many former pilots moving on to fantastic careers outside the cockpit - yet I'm hitting wall after wall."

I think there is a lot of embellishment and a lack of concrete examples in those who tout alternatives to the career. I, too, would like to see more people really break down how they did it, what they made the first year, and how life is now. It's easy to say they are hiring cops in Tacoma and they start at 60K. But that's just someone reading an ad in the paper. I want to hear from someone who actually did it...

 

I totally agree, except I was in Airport Management/Operations. Try landing a decent paying management position outside of aviation and HR will tell you that you have to start from the bottom like anyone else or that you are over qualified for the job or something to that effect.

If things don't work out w/my medical, I've decided to enter the Health Care field. I still may have to start at the bottom, but a least I'll have job stability and a pretty decent salary....enough to keep a roof over our heads, the lights on, the cars rolling and food on the table.



atp

 

USMCFLYR

Don't forget that you have your military experience as a back up. If you ever do end up on the street and need to find a job outside of flying make a resume that focuses on your role as a military leader and do not mention that you were a pilot.

Skyhigh

 

It is not easy to start over for anyone. I was totally kicked to the curb by aviation. At 36 I was laid off and reduced to living in a two bedroom apartment on $1300 a month of unemployment insurance with a wife two kids and one on the way. No health insurance and no employment prospects. Today I have the lifestyle I dreamed of as a major airline pilot except that I do not have to leave home.

However I have told my story many times before on this forum. You want others to jump in but I am a rare and special person. Most ex-pilots prefer not to think about flying anymore. Like war scared veterans they keep their past aviation lives to themselves. Guys like myself and Tony Montana don't come along everyday but they are out there. I know of three ex-pilots who now own their own construction businesses and haven't touched a plane in years. I have a long time friend who left flying to become a cop and loves it.

They are out there and you have already been offered a few stories but you will not find many who venture onto a forum like this. I personally know more ex-pilots who have made a successful transition out of aviation than those who have made it to a good flying job. Right now somewhere in America there is an EX-ATA guy who has his back to the wall and is facing the reality that he must seek work outside of aviation. It stinks but once the new path is choosen it can lead to a better life.

Skyhigh

 

Last weekend on the news I saw a story that claimed that exposure in a four hour flight in a jetliner is equivalent to the same amount of radiation as a chest x-ray. Add that up over a 30 year career.

Skyhigh

 

And too much Alar (the psticide they spray on apple groves) will give you cancer..................if you eat a bushel a day for 10 years!
America's scare tactics.

USMCFLYR

 

A chest X-ray a day is a big deal. And, lets not forget that every year we are loosing more of the upper atmosphere. Soon a decade of exposure could be a deadly.

Skyhigh

 

maybe then airline pay would go up

 

Stay inside your house then Sky. As for me - I'm going out to fight tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it! It is all about attitude.

USMCFLYR

 

Hey Sky, flying that little 150 of yours is more likely to lead to death than radiation from being an airline pilot. Especially since I flew it upside down under the Vantage bridge....