I've put Skyhigh on my ignore list, so now I never have to see another post from him again. I hope others will follow and put him on the ignore list.

 

mostly original rag wing 46 cessna 140

 

What you don't seem to understand or Acknowledge is that NO ONE on this Forum has ever posted that the Career Path of an Airline Pilot is Stable or predictable.

Flying jobs in the Majors has always been a crap shoot. Pan AM, Eastern, TWA......................

Getting hired by the right company at the right time is purely Timing and a little Luck, coupled with a little intelligence if one is fortunate enough to get several offers at the same time.

Airlines are are very volitaile industry and are economy senstive...i.e. good and bad times are cyclical. I have been on the "recieving" End of the Bad cycle Three times at the Majors............so I can speak from experience
(Unlike your self who never made it to a Major let alone CAPT.) I am sorry for that because I have been there too.

We are at the bottom of a bad cycle but things are on the upswing. Most all the Majors are recalling. Airlines are showing profits again. Others are continuing to hire, FedEx, UPS,CAL,SWA, JB and Airtran.
The starting pay at most of these places is double what it was when I started for Pan Am and the 2 other majors I went to work for. Granted starting pay isn't great but it never was......................

If one has Grand visions of becoming a 747 or 777 CAPT in 3-4 years, that is an unrealistic goal. It could happen but it is unrealistic.

If one has realistic expectations of becoming a FO for a major and making close to 6 figures...and having a decent life after 5 years, that is a very real possibility. There is a very distinct possiblilty that one Major carrier could liquidate......and 4000 Pilots jobs are gone. But you know that possiblilty has been part of this career path since before I started. Nothing has changed.
History will repeat itself.

There is a glut of Pilots right now, so to get hired at a major Today, a pilot must have considerable experience.
5000 hours of quality flight time.........Jets not cessna 172's.
1500 hrs Capt( PIC) time
A type rating, is certainly icing on the cake
or Engineer turbo jet rating.
not to mention being Healthy and having a 4 year college degree and a clean record.......and of course one must be Drug free.

Mark my words Sonny, The upswing will continue and companies will be expanding again and Hiring will pick up. It is timing with a little Luck for those with the experience and desire.............as it has always been!

.......No one here disputes it.

So for those Aspiring Airline wanna bees.........It can be a great job, but don't expect a smooth and stable career. It can happen but don't expect it.

That being said, it can and most often does.... beat the typical 9-5 job.

Just keep your expectations realistic! Good Luck

 

Thanks Redeye,

I couldn't have said it better myself. However I would like to add that I agree that in the future flying jobs will be more plentiful however it will be because no one will want the jobs anymore.

Making it to a good place in aviation is a long shot at best therefore everyone contemplating entering the profession should carefully evaluate their options and career alternatives.

As I have mentioned before the odds are that most will not get far at all and a few will make it to the regionals. In my estimation a career at the regionals isn't worth the sacrifice.

Skyhigh

 

Ok so can we all assume now that we won't hear any more the Sky is falling from YOU?

Haven't we put it to bed?

 

I am willing to put this thread to rest however with every new generation of forum posters my message will have to be repeated.

SKyHigh

Thanks for your input !!

 

Hey Otto.......where is that ignore button again???

 

Iin aviation....One has to have realistic expectations/goals going in.

A 21 year old grad of the USAFA in F15 training will have an brighter outlook than a 40 something just getting started at a flight school...Thats the way life is...We are not all equal and we are not all going to achieve the same level of success. We are not expected to. However, we all have the same natural ability - we just made different choices...

-LAFF

 

I agree - Skyhigh does seem to be telling people to not try. I don't agree he is a loser.

-LAFF

 

The best jobs right now are freight carriers and 20 years from now the freight will be hauled by remote controled aircraft. They won't need a pilot in the aircraft to haul freight.