The economy can turn around tomorrow and mainlines will not be hiring. Places like RAH already have it in their contract to fly up to 99 seat jets... regionals with their crappy pay and work rules will grow, while mainlines are outsourced to the regionals. Sad, but true.

This profession is eating itself apart from within

 

are you not listening? ask yourself WHY you want to be an airline pilot?
you are under paid, overworked, exposed to extreme civil and in some cases criminal liability, treated poorly by your employer and a whole list of other reasons NOT to fly for an airline. As for flying for a regional airline... take all the above, double it, take it to the max, and you'll only have an inkling of how bad it has become.

take that other guys advice. Invest the same time and money and get an education in Law or Medicine... make great money, run you're own practice, and buy yourself a nice King Air 200 to go play pilot in with the wife and kids.... most of us, if given the choice to do it all over again, would not do things the way we have.

Yes, flying is fun, yes flying is a sick addiction to which we all suffer it's curse... but, if you can live a better quality of life doing another thing you like, it will allow you to more fully enjoy flying so that it stays fun and enjoyable instead of becoming just your job.

 

It really depends, as many have said it here, you could hit it at the right time and spend only a couple of years at the regional level and then go to a major, or you could get stuck at the regional level for 7-8 years before you see the right seat of a major.

Two things to consider which no one has mentioned is the fact that things do work a bit different in Canadia, and the fact that now a days is who you know not what you know, if you don't believe me, ask anyone at CAL how many regional f/o's with zero PIC they hired between 05 and 07.

My suggestion, is network as much as you can, in this industry it seems that it breaks down to 25% skill, 25% timing, 50% who you know and luck....

Best of luck.

 

Listen to facts..........Do something else. Well said Mason32 ! This industry Sucks ! It may take you years to figure it out.......In the end it is the worst career choice anyone could make ! Don't DO IT !

 

im graduating law school this year =) but don't really feel like sitting in an office all day, thanks though.

 

or, you could put in 10 years at a regional, go to a major, get furloughed within a year due to : terrorism, fuel, management incompetence, etc. and then be a flight instructor, again!

It's all true...

 

Hey LAX,

I want to be as unbiased and honest with you as possible regarding your genuine question, and I will be. But I must preface my answer with a statement: Aviation is wonderful fun and can be rewarding, but this is a 5hitty business to be in.

My answer to how long depends first on hard work and money (or proud service to your Country) to get your start in aviation, but most honestly, the rest depends on luck and timing. The aviation industry can be paralleled by the starlets who head to Hollywood to fulfill their quest for silver screen fame dream, only to end up in the adult film industry. Think Hollywood, Nashville, or anywhere else that people would actually pay to do a job. Maybe we love flying too much. And their luck can turn on a dime.

So your time after civilian flight school or military training and commitment can vary.. If it's military training, then deployment, then I would say as little as 5 to 7 years. If, however, you are cutting grass at an FBO, washing and fueling planes, the CFI, then 135, the regionals.. It could take 7, 10, 20 years, or I'm sorry to say, never. There are no guarantees in this business; Just ask the pilots of Braniff, Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, etc. Even the pilots at United, Delta, and American have suffered tremendous, decades-back loss to their pay, pension, and working conditions.

This business is a crap shoot... 15 years ago, nobody would have thought that UPS, FDX, SWA, and Netjets would be the top flying jobs in pay, stability, and working conditions. Heck, Netjets was pay-for- training back then and just look at them now. And look at SWA! What do they all have in common? None of them, except SWA now, is considered a "major"... I know many pilots that have done everything "right". They followed Kit Darby's book to the letter.. They went to ERAU, Purdue, UND, Parks, etc. (name your expensive 4-year aviation college here) and then went to the Military with their ratings. They served their country and continue to serve in the Guard or Reserves. Then they got out to the same bleak reality that we all face here in this industry: Pensions cut (while management takes $40 or $172 million), furloughs, terminations, and general bad news. And that was before the economic collapse of recent months. Some of them never made it to the "major" even though they did eveything right. So they find themselves furloughed, or never made it to, their "dream" company. Now they find themselves in the right seat of an RJ, or even on the street with a mortgage and family. No guarantees.

LAX, follow your dream and don' t let anyone tell you can't. But listen to the wounded survivors that are returning from the front and follow your dream with your eyes open. Always have a plan B and learn an enjoyable trade or skill that has nothing to do with flying planes. If you persist, you will have a good career wherever you go because you love it. I know pilots who have been through 2 furloughs and 2 training cycles in 6 months, who have been furloughed twice before, that say that they have had a good career and "love it" (despite what it has done to them). Think Hollywood, Nashville, or any street corner where you see a starving artist with a guitar still trying to make it (They wait tables during the day to make ends meet). But they don't quit and they are there because, like us, they love "the music". So follow your dream, but know that there are no guarantees anywhere in this flying business.

Good luck chasing your dream, LAX. Keep fighting and don't give up!

In Unity,

B727DRVR

 

If it's something you really want to do I say go for it. No matter what career you choose you'll have to work hard for it and there will be ups and downs so it better be something your interested in. I've had plenty of people tell me to get out of the industry and do something else, but I've stuck with it and don't regret it....even though I'm in the middle of the Congo right now because I got furloughed from a major airline. Keep an open mind and be optimitistic.

 

Graduating law school ? And now you want to get into aviation ? Your smarter than that !! Stay in your office M-F 9-5 and fly on your own time.
Don't be a fool ! Aviation is overated !

 

thanks for the advice B727DRVR, and 72944, I am well aware of the risks in the business, I could just take my law degree and have a cushy job, but nothing in life has come easy for me, and I know it takes hard work and alot of dedication, to make it anywhere. like they say nothing worth it is easy right? If worse comes to worse and the industry just isn't working out, for whatever reason, I do have my law degree, so I am not to concerned.