Unkown Rider

Wait to apply or go for it?
I left the 121 biz (5,500 TT, 2,800 Turbine PIC) about 9 years ago to get custody of my Son. Well, that worked out, and I started my own company and in the process packed on an additional 130lbs. I'm working my way back down, but I'm still a walrus at 6'1 and 350 lbs. I have a 1st class medical and no sleep apnea issues.

When I look in the mirror I'm disgusted, but I'm back in the gym and losing weight steadily.

The question is: Should I wait 6 months and keep at the weight loss and not get laughed out of the interview, or just go for it.
To get back in the game I'm considering a regional, or maybe a charter cargo like Kalitta, Atlas, etc..

Thanks for any advice or input. Jokes are cool too, but they better be good.

rickair7777

Most regionals would probably not care. Most majors will almost certainly care.

You probably need to go to a regional to get current anyway.

Being that heavy might cause something to pop up on the medical, but you know best your own health status.

Stay on the cardio, and mix in functional training as the weight comes off.

Long-term key is diet. I always worked out, but always ate a lot too. Even doing an average of an hour of hard cardio daily, plus strength/functional training (ex high-end military) I put on some weight as I aged. Finally got that under control by eating healthy foods, minimize desert and beer. Drink more red wine now instead of beer. Still eat plenty, just better stuff. Once you do that for a while, you don't crave the bad stuff so it's easy to stick with it. Get in a routine on your trips, otherwise that's where things go wrong for pilots.

Good luck, now's the time to get back to flying if you're going to.

kme9418

Good on you for making a change and making real progress. You can be proud of that. I've seen some "heavy" new hires at Airline X lately so I recommend you apply away.

Keep up the hard work and good luck!

jcountry

NatuallySlim.

Great program. Change the way you eat. Change your life. Wonderful program!

viper548

I've seen a few pilots WAY bigger than 350. If you don't have apnea you shouldn't have a problem getting a medical. They are screening for apnea though, so you may have to do additional testing.

OnGuard

Absolutely apply! With that much TPIC, don't limit yourself to the regionals. If you want to work for a certain major - APPLY! Personally, I'd apply to all of them and then make the choice based on what you get. Hit AppStore.com/kineticoach for hotel workouts. Get a cooler bag and pack chicken and vegetables.

There is absolutely no reason you should wait to apply. Keep at it and change your life and your career.

Bluesville

I say Go for the regional now. At my airline I seen a few guys lately heavier than 290 in the right seat. As someone mentioned above the regionals NEED pilots, you'll be surprised how fast they will reply to you and how easy the interview are these days. If you need any suggestions on a Regional feel free to ask.
My coach once told me I need to get back into shape, I said hey Round's a shape. Lame I know. good luck mane!

oh yeah.. hydrate, stay away from the bottle and get at least ONE cardio session in daily. you need to loose mass in the short term, not gain muscle. Once you get to a weight that's comfortable then you can start adding muscle strength into the mix. just my thoughts. you got this.

C130driver

I'm not a nutritional expert so take it with a grain of salt; but losing weight comes down to diet- which sucks because being a pilot is never conducive to eating right. Simply cutting out carbs and sugar does wonders. Boosting the number of veggies and fruits you eat with lean meats coupled with exercise will yield results. Also stay away from sodium, salty foods. A lot of the weight people carry is actually water weight. If you have access to a sauna spend some time in there after a workout, you will literally sweat out the sodium.

Also, pure cardio won't help you lose weight as fast as an exercise program that combines weights and cardio (HIIT- high intensity interval training.) Some of these workouts take <20 mins and can be done in your hotel room on trips. Good luck!

rickair7777

I would suggest otherwise. There's a risk that his record would get him an interview, but they would be non-impressed when they met him in person. Then he would be either delayed or black-balled from another attempt at that major. Maybe an LCC, but I wouldn't go to a big-3 interview until I was an all-up round.

Moot point, he's been away from flying so he needs to get some recent time before majors will call anyway.

SonicFlyer

What about going to fat camp for a month?