captain152

I can tell you right now, and completely agree with steak when he said,
"If you're going to tollerate this job/lifestyle, you have to love to fly. Not just "I think thats what I want to do." But seriously LOVE IT."

If you don't go into aviation with a die hard passion for it and know without a shadow of a doubt that it's the only thing in the world that you can see yourself doing, it might be rough for you. This is quite possibly (i say that because there are some industries out there that I just don't know anything about) the most volatile industry in the world. Things can change overnight that you would never see coming; both bad and good.
That being said, even pilots who are 100% convinced that this is the career they want don't make it. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in feeling that airline initial training is grueling and usually very difficult. You're basically going to have to learn in about 2 months what would normally take about 6-8 months to fully learn ... hence the phrase "drinking from a fire hose".
I think you'd be very smart to get your training in, keep doing the research you have been (this is a great place to get information as you can tell), and instruct for a good while until you have at minimum 1000TT and 100M. That will get you some good experience out there in the world of flying, and put you in the drivers seat making the tough decisions you may not make as a student.
Whatever you choose to do, good luck, and always remember ... KEEP THE BLUE SIDE UP! Keep the questions coming, and keep us posted!

Mason32

They don't go because the majors aren't hiring. The "majors" are being downsized daily, and the regionals are being given larger aircraft.... it is a case of management realizing they can get regional pilots to fly larger planes for less money than if they put them on at major carriers...
So, the old days of doing a few years at a regional, and then going to a major are long gone. Sure, a few will get to go that route, but nothing like how it used to be.

You are on reserve until there are enough people junior to you to cover reserve flying... which means your seniority is now high enough to hold a scheduled line. At places that are not hiring, anybody on reserve right now, will be on reserve until they begin hiring again.... that can be YEARS.

Yes, you can commute, but the best advice is not to, unless you have to. Living near your base is the best option. In most cases as a pilot you do fly (jumpseat) free on other airlines. In many cases you will pay a small annual fee to fly on your codeshare partners, and in one case you will pay service fees to fly on your own airline for the first five years, then coach becomes free.... (needless to say, those folks fly on everybody else but their own airline.

My advice would be to stay where the money is, get your license & ratings and just fly for fun. Never knowing your schedule from one month to the next, never being able to plan ahead, constant fear of furloughs, outsourcing, downsizing, fuel costs, reduced rest overnights after 6 leg days in hard IMC, and all the other worries that go with this job can take a toll on you, and it really is not the glory job people think it is. Add in the potential to lose your job for a medical, checkride or FAA isue at just about anytime, and it makes the idea even less attractive.

If you have a good stable career, I would be very very cautious of leaving just because you have shiney jet syndrome.

Other than that.... if you still have the flying curse, then you'll just have to go ahead and do it.

frieswiththat

Not sure I have a whole lot to offer to this thread other than to say that I've flown charter, cargo, jets, delivered pizza, cut vegetables at the supermarket, worked at Radio Shack and milked cows. I'm currently a turboprop F/O and having the most FUN I've ever had in my life.

That being said, I lined up a side job teaching ground school that helps pay the bills.

marco

WBJ,

Have you considered the Air National Guard? Take a look here: Air National Guard - Careers

I personally came up through the civilian ranks: Private, Instrument, Commercial, CFI, CFII, skydiver pilot, charter pilot, commuter pilot and finally UPS and I can tell you from my experience that quality-of-life is a MAJOR factor in the airline business. If you intend to take this route your quality-of-life is not going to be good. QOL is everything in this business.

My advise is:
1. Get your college degree. It doesn't matter what field your degree is in and there are many schools out there that offer on-line studies or have a "one-room schoolhouse" in your area. A college degree matters nowadays.
2. Take some flying lessons and get your private pilots license. How will you know that you want a flying career if you don't know what's involved or if you don't like flying? Continue moving up the ladder if you like it. Get your instrument rating, commercial pilots license and Multi-engine rating.
3. Make friends everywhere. This business is all about networking and some friend will likely help you move ahead.
4. Seriously look into the Air Guard. I believe that its structure and organization will help you get advanced training, responsibilities, promotions, experience and flying hours, etc. (ANG guys weigh in here.) Good opportunities exist for you to continue your current job AND fly good equipment. This means quality-of-life. Sure, you might have to make a 10 year commitment, but afterwards you can be flying for a major "people-mover" or top cargo airline. Not only that, but the military has excellent networking opportunities. Also, if you put in 20 years at the "guard" you get a monthly check from Uncle Sam, which is handy!

Hope this helps you make a decision.

Boomer

If you give me ten regionals, I will show you 9 that would make more sense than going to Comair.

widebodyjunkie

Ok so i have a question regarding days away from home. How many days would you say most airlines make you been on the road(air)? 150?? 200?

Also, how do most airlines do the rotations. Ex. week on, week off, or 3-4 days on, few days off then back again? Does it vary from airline to airline, or is a standard?

king10pin02

it will vary from airline to airline, and base to base at each airline. my normal sked is 4 on 3 off. but if you are on reserve you could be more like 6 on 2 off. but you could also be home every day if you are able to get day trips, as they can range from "out and backs" which are one day trips, to 2-3-4 and sometimes 5 day trips. I didnt count my days away but it was probably in the 180ish range

Purpleanga

Pretty standard if you are junior. You will be on reserve. Most airlines have 10 to 11 days off per month. That means you will have two weeks with only 2 days off and two weeks with 3 days off. If you commute to your base as a junior pilot you will only spend about 30 hours a week back home. So that means 120 hours per month, at home with your wife, kids or dogs! Enjoy. If you live at the base then it's not bad at all.

FL450

Being a corporate pilot I have to totally agree with this post. Its for one all about who you know, two insurance carries the keys to the lock around your ****s and nothing is gauranteed. A very good friend of mine just got laid off from a fortune 500 company flying G V's and Hawker 800's. The thing with corporate is that in bad times the pilots and aircraft are first to go. There are a lot of corporations on the contrary that do provide good pay and QOL. The one thing that I do give the airlines is that in 5 years you know where your going to be. You can look at an airlines past hiring and upgrade events and make an intelligent assumption as to where you will be and what your pay is based off their pay scale. Corporate is here today gone tomorrow so that might be something to think about Widebody.

contrail67

Or...what if the Major Airline you work for shuts down the regional you work at?....ALL can happen and has happened. The regionals work for the Majors.