I am kind of glad I skipped college to get my foot in the door as a CFI and then a regional back when they were hiring like mad!!! Now, I am worried that if I don't get it eventually, 1. airlines will take a crap and I will be working at bk or 2. I will be a regional pilot forever!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!! (Not that that is a bad thing, some people take that route.....)

 

Keep the $9500....you'll need the cash when you get furloughed.

 

So, you skipped college? Weren't you the one who wasn't old enough to upgrade to CA?

 

exactly what he said - I did the 4 year degree / flight school route and seemed to have my whole path planned out like you were explaining earlier but things simply don't go as planned. I ended up paying lots of dues instructing - accepted a jot at another airline and had it tank before I could even start training. Now I"m flying single pilot 135 cargo *which I never saw myself doing* however I"m having a total blast at what I'm doing and am somewhat glad circumstances led me to this job I would have never otherwise considered. I do yearn for turbine PIC or a jet job though and I"m still working my way up the ladder, its just my ladder seems to be sinking in the mud faster than I can climb it sometimes the way the industry goes. Its all determination AND timing (rolling the dice). Keep your options open and remove the rose colored glasses.

 

Boiler: I went to Western Michigan University...

Well guys again, thank you so much for your help! As you can see im very enthusiastic and don't mind getting straightforward ans. I really hate the sugarcoated responses. Anyways i guess for now I need to concentrate on getting done with my Commercial and ME. IFR checkride is this coming week (JITTERS)

 

Don't know how old you are. but take the $9500 and put it into a savings account. Over the course of the next few years, do the max allowable contribution into an IRA till it's depleted.

 

I m 26

AP

 

Take the money and buy lotto tickets. Your odds will probably be better than any prognostication upon the current climate and the payout will be a hell of a lot better.

Being a low time guy right now unless you have military wings on your resume is not a good place to sit. Build experience and watch and wait.

Just remember you would be hired to fly a jet full of people. Not a sim. Things happen really fast outside of a box. Are you capable of mentally handling that? It's not Oz and you will miss Toto.

Experience goes a long ways. One way or another you will have to pay your buck 'o' 5. The industry has changed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the short bus has left the terminal."

 

AP...let me tell you a true story of a family friend of mine. Talk about full circle. This friend graduated college with a flight degree in 93. He instructed until 94. In 94 he was hired at a regional. By 97 he had upgraded to left seat. In late 99 he got the big break and got hired at a major!!!! In 2001 he got furloughed and ended up unemployed for a while before ending up back as a 1st year regional FO. By 2005 he had upgraded to regional Capt (Again). This past November he got recalled to his Major...bid everyone good luck and left. I just talked to him....the major is United...and he is getting furloughed again. He just asked me to see if I can help him get hired back here at RJet (where he was from 2002-2007) as a first year FO again. This man was one of my Capt's who IF HE IS LUCKY (we aren't hiring right now) will soon be a FO junior to me. So lets take a look at his paycheck. Remember that when you get that upgrade or make it to a major and get that big raise you go out and buy a nice car and buy a bigger house...oh and marry that woman who has a taste for expensive wine and shiny jewlery (and doesn't particularly like being the wife of a welfare recipient).

I'm approximating

93-94: 14,000
94-95: 15,000
95-96-: 20,000
96-97: 55,000
97-98: 70,000
98-99: 75,000
99-00: 50,000
00-01: 100,000
01-02: (unempoyed half the year) 10,000
02-03: 20,000
03-04: 24,000
04-05: 60,000
05-06: 70,000
06-07: 75,000
07-08: 80,000
08-??? If he is LUCKY 18,000

His mortgage ALONE is twice what he MIGHT make this upcoming year....and that is just one bill!!!!

My first advice would be to get into some other line of work...but I have the bug..and sounds like you do too so I know that may not be an option. In that case, take the great advice you are being given and go get your CFI/CFII/MEI and instruct for a while...it is a skill set you will use the rest of your career.


Also remember...don't burn any bridges in this industry...you never know when you will need a job back (this does not apply to JO and his band of rats...you can leave and flick them off on the way out the door!!!)

 

here is what i would do

get cfii mei and get a good job teaching with maybe some opportunity to fly charter or 135 on the side, then when the next hiring boom occurs in the next 2-10 years apply and get in at the front end.

if you get in now, regardless of where you go, you likely will be sitting reserve for years to come