Yes, but only with no debt and have a backup plan. My life is better as an airline pilot than it ever was in my prior life, but... I had/still have a very supportive wife who is in the airline business, our kids were all grown, I already had every rating I needed, which I had earned over a period of years and paid for as I went, we had no debt except for a very modest, almost paid for house, we had/have money in the bank, and I had a very good backup plan. We can live on my income only, and I have never had more time off in my life.

Sure! Just not a commercial airline pilot.

No way would I recommend the airline pilot career path. For the amount of money and the radiation that you are exposed to, I don't care how many days off you may get. It's simply not worth it. You may be lucky enough to make top pay, but money is pointless if you are dead from cancer a few years after you retire.

The amount of time/money/effort involved in certification, as well as the pointless airline HR hoops you have to jump through to get hired, can be better spent doing something else and use the income to fly for fun.

I do my best to discourage people from getting into this junk.

For the right person, yes. There is light at the end of the tunnel for most folks if they want to get there. Debt is a major factor getting all your ratings, and the payoff is not good at all at the regional level, but the majors are making up for it with every new contract.

It is hard to complain with my schedule. I have a ton of free time, could easily work another job if I was in need of more money, but enjoy my hobbies and time off with family.

Nope, I will not recommend it. Flying chose me and that's why I do it. Meaning if you don't have the passion and don't want it bad enough to work very hard and sacrifice many things for it, I won't recommend it to you to go try it out. It's a personal decision and a personal battle all the way to the top.

No way. I was extremely fortunate in that I landed a very good corporate job (and that in and of itself is a sea full of sharks) very early in my aviation career, so I can at least pay my bills and put money in the bank. Even then, it's always a matter of doing the best you can to plan for what happens if the other shoe happens to drop.

In many ways, being an airline / corporate pilot is the best job and the worst job I have ever had. I guess you might say I love the idea of what it COULD be, rather than what it actually is. Kind of like being married to the hottest girl you've ever seen, but at the same time realizing that she's a complete psychopath and is unlikely to ever change save direct intervention from God.

It can wear thin on your patience to say the least and there are much better ways to earn a living. In the end you have to ask yourself what really matters to you. If it's anything along the lines of stability, being home for important events and not feeling like you're trapped, then pick a different line of work.

If someone was just starting training now, I don't know that they'd be able to ride the upcoming hiring wave. Perpetuity at the regionals doesn't sound fun. For someone who understands what they're getting into, I'd probably recommend it another year or two, but after that I'm not sure how easy it would be for them to make a life anywhere but a regional.

I've said this before to several of my friends kids who wanted to be a pilot, two of which are now officers and going through flight school:

Join an Air Force guard, reserve, or Navy reserve unit and be a crew chief while going to school (many states will pay your tuition, or at least a good chunk of it). Take flying lessons on the side. When you graduation from college, apply for Officer Training School (USAF), or Officer Candidate School (Navy/ Marines) to that unit for a pilot position. Guess who usually sits on those boards............. The pilots and Commanders of that unit you have been a crew chief for.............
Go to flight school (yes, you will owe about 11 yrs to the service), come back to that unit and fly full time for guard or reserve unit. Volunteer for any and all deployments, etc. When you have the required time, apply to the majors or legacy airlines.

I guarantee you, military flying beats the hell out of any airline job, and, you will have a sense of pride that the majority of Americans wont experience.

12 yrs active duty USAF.

I feel as though I have been pretty successful as a 30+ year airline pilot, I've had a great time and made good money.

However, I'm very relieved that my 16 year old son wants to become a mechanical engineer.

I would recommend becoming a pilot to my son. As a matter of fact, I already have. He's only 10 and he'll make his own decision in terms of what he wants to do for a living when the time comes. I'm sure by that time it will have changed quite a few times.


atp