thanks for all the replies guys

Rickair7777, that is exactly my dilemma... do the job that i want to Vs. what will provide for a future family.

i love to fly, i love the challenge of it. i just can't see myself doing anything else. But it's a rocky industry. it's a tough decision, and one that i have to decide on soon before i get too deep into flight training.

It's a question only you can answer. In some ways, yes this is a great career, you get to travel(sorta) there is no better office view anywhere! You are presented with challenges that sometimes make you wonder why you got into this business(your company looking for any reason to rat you out to the FAA to make them selves look good, even if you really did not do anything wrong, Pax blaming YOU for the weather problems that is either preventing you from leaving, or even starting, along with a hundred other things)Usually you get to work with really good people, occasionally you need to suffer through some jerk's personality issues. Any how it has a lot of good, and an equal number of bad.

i posted this on another thread when someone said just be a doctor and fly for fun.. this is what i said..:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pantera
absolutely not, I love flying and one day it will truly suck when I can't. But aviation has the worst life style. First is AIDS (aviation induced divorce syndrome) which has led to a high divorce rate in the industry. As a pilot you are gone from home way to much and not compensated for that. Home away from the kids and wife sucks.

The airlines are not what it used to be and any job that pays 20k a year to start after paying 60K+ for the ratings and 100K+ for a Embry Ripoff degree is a joke. I'm a second year FO at a regional and I would take a pay cut if I went to Continental right now.

No my advice for someone thinking about aviation would be go to med school or what ever and get a career where you can have a life and make enough money to fly for fun.


let me take this and make it read the way i saw it several years ago..

would you recommend someone to go into the medical field??

absolutely not, I love being a doctor and one day it will truly suck when I can't. But being a doctor has the worst life style. First is RIDS (Residency induced divorce syndrome) which has led to a high divorce rate in the industry. As a doctor you are gone from home way to much and not compensated for that. Home away from the kids and wife sucks.

The medical field is not what it used to be and any job that pays 60k a year to start after paying 300,000 for a degree is a joke. I'm a second year resident at a regional hospital and I would take a pay cut if I went to start my own practice now.
No my advice for someone thinking about being a doctor would be go to flight school or what ever and get a career where you can have a life and make enough money for fun.

yeah that is pretty much word for word what i have been told before.

if you have read any of my previous post you would know i came from the medical field. the stories are the same, just 2 different professions.

i have 18 days off this month
doctors are lucky if they get weekends off

i go to work, do my job, and go home.
doctors go to work, do their job, and then follow up with patients for as long as necesarry, while taking on more patients and being on call.

i get to sleep in a hotel
they get to sleep in the hospital

Not everyone in any profession can be lumped into one ball. Some doctors haven't had to see a patient for several years and make REALLY good money. Some pilots fly 15 days a month and make over 250 grand. Not all doctors are rich, not all pilots are rich, not all lawyers are rich. it is all dependent on what you want to do.

when i was working at the hospital i would hear a plane fly over head and wish i was doing that instead. i knew i would always wonder "what if" everytime one flew by. I don't ever regret making the change. and i know it was good for me because everytime i drive by a hospital i don't wish i was in there working. every worth while career requires sacrifice and patience to reach the desired level. no matter what you choose, you need to do what makes you happy.

and if you don't believe me on some of this stuff just google "should i be a doctor", you will laugh at what some doctors say about their own profession (you will laugh because you could put pilot in their like i did and it is the same stuff!!)

on a side note i am married, have a kid, a house, and 2 cars. if you cant live GOOD on 65,000 a year then something is wrong. we do just fine, and i am home with my kid more than i would be if i were working at the hospital still.

What car you got there? :D

SAAB - take 20% off your paycheck as soon as you get it, throw it into a savings account...don't touch. Ever. For any reason (well, until you can buy your Supercharger).

I scrounged up 5K in savings on 1st year FO pay and never missed it once. And I'm not too stingy when it comes to how I live.

Edit - You can also start with 10%. The idea is to form the habit. You will subconciously adjust to live within your means if you just take the money out and pretend it never exsisted.

Amen! First rule of personal finance: pay yourself FIRST!

Go the military route. If you can handle that training you will be ready for anything life has to throw at you.

If getting into aviation has been something you have wanted to do since you could barely walk then you should give it a shot.

Some wise advice though, make sure you don't put all your eggs in one basket. Always have something you can fall back on. This industry is notoriously cyclical.

If three years ago I had known then what I know now (about the business of being an airline pilot and how my priorities in life would change), I doubt I'd be here. But I suppose that's the beauty and the curse of being human - we can't change a darn thing about what's happened. We can only live with the consequences of our choices and move on.

Don't get me wrong - I love my work, get along with the people I work with, still enjoying flying very much, look forward to making a decent living in the near future, and am optimistic that there will be opportunity to advance my career down the road.

On the other hand, I am now married, wish I spent more time at home, and hope to make additions to our family within a couple of years. Those are the things I couldn't foresee three years ago. And looking back, they would have made all the difference in my decision.

But no regrets. The next few years will be interesting for sure.

i have thought about trying to get a ANG pilot slot after i graduate. i would much rather do that to get to the majors rather than the regional route.