Quote:
You're already a hero! How many lives have you saved in your career?Originally Posted by elijahmike1
I am a 31yr old firefighter for a major dept in metro Atlanta. I have a wife and 2 kids and "survive" on 50,000 a year. I have always wanted to fly. I was close to joining ATP's self paced program (0-hero). Im a vet so after VA would have taken on about 40K grand debt.
First of all, if you really, really, really want to be a pilot, I say do it no matter what. If you think being a pilot would be "kinda cool" and your love of aviation is not that intense, I say stick with the noble firefighting profession and fly general aviation on the side. The luster of being an airline pilot wears off very quickly for those not absolutely passionate about their career choice.
I would take the advice on this thread over anything ATP tells you. They are trying to sell you a product and don't necessarily have your best interests at heart. They're certainly not going to tell you how bad the profession is right now and how poor the prospects seem to be. If they told all their customers that, they'd be out of business.
On the plus side of going into the aviation profession, it sounds like you'll only have around 10K in debt after completing your training. That's good because as you read above, you won't be making 50K a year for a very long time. And I would bet that you're really making more than 50K per year because you're probably entitled to a pension. It's highly unlikely you'll see a pension in the airline industry. Or much for retirement for that matter. So on top of not making 50K a year for many years, you'll have to save for your own retirement. That will be a double financial whammy for you. Never mind the opportunity cost of your future raises as a firefighter that you'll never receive if you go the airline pilot route.
On the negative side, there is a huge, huge oversupply of pilots in the U.S. right now. During good economic times, there is merely an oversupply of pilots. During poor economic times, there is a huge oversupply of pilots. Right now, there is an extra large oversupply of pilots due to the economy, the recent change in legal retirement age from 60 to age 65, and the downsizing of the airline industry. There are literally 1000's of highly qualified pilots on the street right now who will probably get a job before you do. It literally may be years before those furloughed guys find employment again, never mind a new guy. And to top it all off, the supply of "good jobs" are dwindling as well as major airline outsource their "good jobs" to regional airlines which tend to be "less good" type jobs. Your stay at a regional will be longer and longer as more major airline jobs are outsourced, delaying that return on your airline career training investment, assuming also you're never furloughed or your airline doesn't go out of business. Remember, unlike other professions, if you lose your job you start at the bottom of someone else's seniority list. That means low pay all over again and Christmases in Des Moines instead of home with the kids. So you're going to have all these things stacked against you when you graduate from ATP.
Still want to be an airline pilot? This is what I would do if I were you. I'd keep your day job and train on the side. Take your time and work through your private pilot certificate, get an instrument rating, get your commercial pilot certificate, then get your CFI (flight instructor certificate). Flight instruct on the side to build your hours. If it takes several years before airlines (regional or national) start hiring again, you'll have plenty of time in your logbook, you'll have a better understanding of the profession, and you'll be in a better position financially to make a decision as to whether you'll want to take the leap from firefighting to pilot. If by some miracle the airline industry starts taking off again, you can always jump over to an All-ATP type program whenever. It's not like that opportunity is going to disappear if you don't take it right now.
Good luck to you.