I don't even have my Private yet but just want to get some thoughts from people already flying for a living. The way the industry is today, would you recommend this profession to aspiring career pilots?

Welcome,

FL350 meet Skyhigh....Skyhigh meet FL350...

I am so glad that I can answer your question first. You will find a lot of negative sentiment on this board, but I understand where they are coming from.

If you want to fly for a living, you should fly for a living. Follow your dream.
The fact is if you follow the course, put up with a little crap early on, you have a good chance of making $150,000+ a year, flying 15 days a month. It is still possible!

First, you need to do your best to save $50,000. I payed every penny for my private, instrument, commercial, multi, cfi/cfii/mei out of my own pocket. I saved up about 15k from a high school job, almost doubled that in the stock market, and worked every summer of college. I never had to take out a loan for my training! Just need to start saving NOW.

Figure you are 22 years old, fresh out of college. Spend one year getting all your licenses and ratings. Now you are 23. You start working as a flight instructor for 1 year (1 year is a typical average). I make $40,000 a year, more than some of my friends in industry. I make my own schedule, i'm my own boss (more or less), and i get to FLY FOR A LIVING.

Now you are 24, 1000 hours of flight time. Get a job at a regional airline. The pay is crap, but you will fly for an airline, gain experience. Remember, you are young, getting experience, and you have 1/2 the month off work. You will spend a few years there as FO making maybe $20-30k. Then a few years as captain around $50-70k. Not bad, you are under 30. Move to your domicile. Commuting sucks, especially if you are on reserve. If you live in your domicile, you can spend your days on at home unless you are called in.

Remember, avoid commuting at all costs while on reserve. You will not have to deal with crashpads and you will have a lot more time off. You will enjoy it a lot more.

Now you are about thirty. You have maybe 5000 hours of flight time. Over 1000 is turboprop/jet PIC. You now meet the minimums for any of the good carriers hiring now (FedEx, Southwest, UPS, etc...). Hire on, wait a few years, and you are making over $100,000, you are flying for a living, and you have 1/2 the month off.

You just need to suck it up during the hard times. If you:
1. Avoid loans for your flight training
2. Avoid commuting, especially if you are on reserve
3. If you get furloughed, go somewhere else. There will always be flying jobs. They may pay horribly, but just tough it out for a short period of time, and you will reach your goal.

No matter how bad your luck is, if you are young, you can have a rewarding career in flying, and make over $100k a year. You just need to NOT GIVE UP!

Thank you LAfrequentflyer, Skyhigh met... but what's the reason behind the introduction?

Skyhigh is always a negative poster, so just keep that in mind when reading his post. He is smart and knows what he's talking about, its just sometimes you need to filter some of the negativeness.

Put on a raincoat and get extra batteries for your flashlight,SH is going to give you the cold,dark and rainy future of Aviation.
A lot of his posts, how negative they are, speak a % of truth.
Myself, I try not to let this fiasco called aviation get me down.
Good luck!
Rofzu..

Thank you ryane946 for the VERY FRIENDLY post!

Loan was never an option for me. I'm doing this with savings. I'm going to sound like an idiot but I've come to realize that I am a bit.. or a lot.. mechanically challenged.. so $50,000 just might not be enough. 80 hours in my log book and I've only soloed X-country. I did feel a little discouraged. Your age estimate is 3 years off.

I started flying after speaking with the Capt & FO flying back from disneyland. They gave me a pretty good idea of how bad the first few years could be so I know what I'm stepping into.. Just not too sure if I'd be 50 by the time I get my ratings..........................

I don't always agree with Skyhigh although he DOES provide a valuable service to those seeking a career as a commercial pilot. The industry IS NOT all roses and it's NOT easy. This is something that new pilots should know going in - there are no guarantees and the chance of failure is high. No matter how hard you work, you could be the victim of poor management that craters the company you work for.

While it might be easy to vilify Skyhigh as always being negative, I have seen a few positive and encouraging posts from him. My take is he's "been there and done that", worked hard did everything he could to further his professional career but got squeezed in the economic downturn coupled with "standard" airline management.

I'd suggest that every aspiring pilot read his posts and if you still have the stomach for it - jump in with both feet and never look back. In todays airline landscape if a prospective pilot has the potential to pilot a 747, they also have the potential to succesfully pursue many other career paths with a much higher chance of success.

LOL Rofzu. Ok I'm really looking forward to what skyhigh has to say now. Thank you!

Shoot, this site is so great I wonder why I never found it before today.

HSLD: I guess I can say I have my mind dead set on flying. Although as I mentioned in my reply to ryane I felt a bit discouraged. I've always loved flying, and originally wanted to be a flight attendant but I'm too short for the international ones I want to work for and I sure as hell don't want to be a domestic flight attendant.

HR for Southwest and AmericaWest told me I'm not too short to be a pilot and I have to say I love the idea of actually flying the plane instead of just being on it.