It won't pay what the oil fields paid.


What was your total cost for flight training? How long did it take?



That's not an option for everyone.

There is no secret to paying for Aviation training unfortunately. You either take out massive loans and get saddled with debts or save save save for a while to pay for the whole thing. I am 32 and have been saving for the last few years, but now I have the funds to take me up thru commercial without debt. I should have all of my tickets by the end of the year, allowing me to start my dream career at age 33 in 2018.

I didnt want to start this career change so late, but I have a family and could not take on so much debt. By saving and paying with cash, should things not work out I can jump back into regular work without having huge payments to worry about.

For starters the money is still in the oilfield without question. You can make 75k swinging a mop first year as a roustabout. The boom bust cycle you're referring to was concentrated in the shale oil plays ( think ND/CO) Checkout rigzone.com for a global list of oilfield jobs. To echo an earlier poster of you want it bad enough you'll find a way, three years ago I was climbing drilling rigs.