Your thoughts for a potential career changer?
 

Hey Guys and Gals - I would appreciate getting opinions from the many regional pilots on this board, especially those with families and any career changers. I keep reading about 18K pilots needed at the majors in the next 8 years, sign-on bonuses at the regionals, flows with Piedmont and Commutair and am very tempted to make the leap into professional flying. I have my age working against me (42) and I still need 700 hours to hit ATP requirements. I have my CFI, CFII, MEI and am confident I could get the 700 hours this year. I've spend the last 18 years in cubicle hell and am burned out from it, but have a great schedule that allows me a great deal of time with my family.

My questions - I realize training and the first year or so will be difficult schedule wise, but does it get better after that, at say an airline like Piedmont, Skywest, CommutAir etc? Are 3 days on/4 days off schedules a realistic thing for a line holder? This is assuming moving to the base that gets assigned. Will the majors really be hiring like crazy the next 10 years? If the flows are real, and your goal is a major, why bother applying to another regional, assuming one of the flow ones picks you up?

Thanks for your thoughts - I'm trying to make the right decision regarding a long overdo career change and this seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity to join the professional pilot ranks.

The schedule will get better...marginally. Until you upgrade...then worse....then better, then as a new hire at a major it will be bad again...become senior....change airplanes....cycle starts again.

With such a great QOL and schedule - I would never take the jump into professional flying. I love my job, but at the end of the day I just want to be home with my family.

With that all being said - talk it over with your family. It's going to be harder on them than it will be on you, for sure. If at the end of the conversation you still can't see yourself doing anything else, then go for it.
Good luck!

Why wait to get the 700 additional hours. Cape Air would probably hire you to start ASAP.

I understand life in the cube and am glad to be liberated as well. My worst day at the airline is better than my best day in the office. Understand that being away from family is very hard and will be a tough adjustment for you and any young kids you may have. An ideal situation is if you have a spouse that has medical benefits, as most contract airlines have plans that are very expensive. If you don't have to go on one of them, the First Officer salary does not hurt as bad (it still hurts). With your age, I recommend going to CommutAir since they are a small pilot group that is getting ready to explode with the announcement of getting jets and the new agreement with United. A close second would be Endeavor, due to the retention bonus being offered. With your age being a factor, don't waste your time with places like Republic, Mesa, Gojet or Trans States. All this info will change by the time you get 1500 hours, but this is the way things stand today.

Things change at the contract airlines very quickly. What's true today will not be true tomorrow. If you are looking for the 35,000 foot view opinion though, I think at 42 you will be ok making the leap. I would caution you though to take one step at a time. Don't worry so much about the specifics like you are trying to do with your questions, you're a ways off. I mean keep up with the industry of course, but your immediate goal should be to get to 1500 hours and really nothing else. Make it that far first.

Having said all that, you are too old to make any serious mistakes. Stay away from training contracts, large training debt, and aviation degrees. Don't be cashing anything in either to pay for all this.

The shortage is real. 18,000 pilots will retire in the next 6 years. That's the entire contract pilot population.

Now having said all that, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you will be ok spending your flying career never upgrading to Captain at United, Delta, American, and Southwest. That is a very real possibility at your age.

CTPropGuy -

I don't post much (really at all), but we are the same age and I too am a career changer. The only difference is that I have no children (nor plans for any), and my husband and I have both had very, very nontraditional work schedules over the years. I'm a bit ahead of you as I am literally a handful of hours from 1500 and hope to be interviewing next month. I have decided to pursue it while I can before I get any older. I hope it is a good time (how can we ever know?) but I do believe FirstClass is probably right about never making left seat at a major and I'm totally ok with that.

Feel free to message me any questions.

If left seat is important to you in the future though, of course there are other smaller airlines you could possibly make a career at. And I suppose the truth is if you do make Captain at a Frontier or a Spirit etc.. you likely could be merged into a major in the future and be able to retain your captain seat as a result.

Feedback
 

I've recently done what you're considering. Feel
Free to PM me and we can chat..

+10.

I have no regrets making the jump from Cubicle World. There will be culture shock at first which for me was compunded by commuting and sitting reserve. I'm now nearing 10 years at my current carrier, living in domicile and making decent money in the left seat. You may be coming into this at a better time as the economy last decade wasn't great and we saw stagnation in movement thanks to the Age 65 Rule. Hopefully for anyone jumping in now progression will move faster, barring any adverse major events.

I was your age when I made the change. Assuming I get the call up to the big leagues soon, I have a decent shot of retiring from the career from the left seat... although I'd be quite content making F/O pay until I retire (look at the pay scales at the majors). Any regrets? For me, not one. Convincing family that it's a good idea may be the hardest part. Been there, done that :-) Good luck!