52 years old corporate to legacy? - Page 2 - Airline Pilot Central Forums

#11

Apsilon , 07-17-2018 12:57 AM

New Hire

Quote:

Originally Posted by zyttocs

I started my aviation career older than most and now I'm a 52 year old 4000+ corporate King Air pilot. My current 91 job in in question and I'm considering putting in for either a fractional or maybe one of the legacies. Am I too old to shoot for the big boys? Should I keep my expectations lower and more realistic?

My biggest concern is that I'll bust out of the AA or whoever's program and then no one will hire me.

At my age and my experience should I just give up on the idea of flying for the big boys and settle for the mediocre fractionals or even the bottom feeder options?

I need the brutal honest opinions.

Thanks guys.

This question has resonated with me as I am 47 and although I held a PPL 20 years ago, I let it lapse due to financial obligations.

May I ask you a question?

Firstly; I think you should go for it. Nothing ventured - nothing gained and you have a lot of experience and should the worst come to worst or you 'bust out' (which I don't think you will), you can continue flying the King Air. It seems like a no lose scenario.

My question is; do you think I am too old to pursue a career in flying at 47 with the view to getting a job?

In retrospect, I should have kept up my hours in my 20's to keep chipping away - even the minimum - but, I was young and life took me in a different direction. However, I am now in a different situation and can more easily afford the training.

I have no delusions of grandeur and will not be aiming for the airlines but, what options would be available to me within 5 years? Is it possible to secure a job flying smaller aircraft in some capacity or am I kidding myself?

Thanks and good luck.

#12

ninerdriver , 07-17-2018 05:48 AM

Porco Rosso

Quote:

Originally Posted by zyttocs

Thanks guys. I'm not big on the regionals if I can avoid them only because at my age I don't have a whole lot of time to wait for the move to majors. Plus whatever move I make if from a $100k job so stepping down that far is very hard on the family. The reason I'm thinking of the big boys is because I would only have to take a step back on salary for a year and then the sky is the limit. Gama would be alright if I just wanted to maintain status quo.....just talking outloud you know.

If you can get in at 9E (you would), then you'd be taking a cut for two years, but you'd still clear at least $60K each year ($70K if you hustle a little), and you could be back to $100K as a captain when you upgrade. That's actual wages, too, not per diem/benefits/hotel value shenanigans.

I'm not saying 9E would be the one, but I wouldn't write off the regionals for pay unless you've already done the research and know that it won't work.

#13

galaxy flyer , 07-17-2018 06:13 AM

Gets Weekends Off

zyttocs,

Look into Jet Aviation, Executive Jet Mgt or Solairus careers websites. There’s lots of openings out there and leverage your corporate experience, age (stability) and desire.

GF

#14

rickair7777 , 07-17-2018 07:03 AM

Prime Minister/Moderator

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apsilon

My question is; do you think I am too old to pursue a career in flying at 47 with the view to getting a job?

In retrospect, I should have kept up my hours in my 20's to keep chipping away - even the minimum - but, I was young and life took me in a different direction. However, I am now in a different situation and can more easily afford the training.

I have no delusions of grandeur and will not be aiming for the airlines but, what options would be available to me within 5 years? Is it possible to secure a job flying smaller aircraft in some capacity or am I kidding myself?

Thanks and good luck.

Actually the airlines might be your best option, but that depends on lifestyle preference. Airline hiring opportunity is such that you could get to a regional for sure once you reach 1500 hours total time, which in your case might take 2-3 years. The only thing which would preclude that would be very serious background issues (ie felonies or horrible flight training record).

Once at a regional, the lower and even middle tier majors are starting to feel the crunch, so you could likely get hired at one of them after about 3 years and 2000 hours in a jet. In fact it appears some of the ULCC/LCC might prefer older pilots, since they are less likely to jump ship to a large legacy (the real pay advantage of the big legacies kicks in many years down to the road, so older pilots don't benefit as much from that).