Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasH
Hey guys,
I know this may belong in the hiring section, but I wanted to ask you guys directly instead.
I will be graduating from University of California, San Diego this summer with a aerospace engineering degree. Now I've always wanted to work my way to become a major airline pilot, and am now at the crossroads of choosing the rest of my life, flight school, or grad school. I am pretty scared that I will be in the hole after flight school with no one willing to hire.
Could I get your opinions on the situation? Mine and the industry?
-patiently awaiting any opinion/advice
Tom
Tom -
You didn’t tell us how far you’ve gotten so far? You are graduating with an aerospace degree so do you have a private pilot license, a CFI or nothing so far? I’m asking because when I was graduating from my aviation university I was a CFI/II & MEI with over 1,000 hours of flight time. In other words our advice will vary greatly based on which stage of your career you are at.
If you go to a grad school what would you be pursuing? I’m fairly certain that no matter what field you choose – you will probably make more money and have a much more stable career than if you stick to flying.
Something else to consider - I got an electrical engineering degree before my flying degree and can tell you that lots of ‘brainiacs’ such as as yourself get quickly bored with the flying profession. In fact, several of my close friends quit flight instructing because it simply wasn’t stimulating enough for them… That’s just something you should consider because it’d be horrible for you to regret being a pilot some 10-15 years down the road.
Having said that, there are no guarantees in life no matter what you do.
Are you single or married? Do you have kids? If you already have a family or thinking about getting one soon, this field is NOT very family friendly. Especially at the level you are at; it gets better when you accumulate seniority at your final airline but it’ll be a while before you get there.
If you pay for your training with student loans (like I did) you can always defer paying them back but eventually you’ll have to start paying and it’ll be a while before you can say “I’m debt-free.” I’ve been flying professionally for 14 years and am still paying off my student loans. Granted, the first 11 years I just couldn’t pay anything at all, so I kept deferring my payments but I am just illustrating to you what you might be getting into.
It is probably safe to say that in the next couple of years you’ll be seeing lots of negative news in the airline world, poor earnings, layoffs, possibly bankruptcies.
I must be telling you all this so I can talk you out of this profession, right?
Well, actually quite the opposite. Call me the eternal optimist (here at APC we call it "Anti-Biggs"...
) but I still think this is a great career to get into.
If your family life can handle it (that’s why I asked if you were married, etc) and you are prepared for some miserable years to come (maybe even a decade or so!) things will only get better from now. None of the horrible economical news should really affect you right now as you’re at the very beginning of your career.
So focus on getting your flight instructor licenses (if you don't have them already) and try to get a flying job where someone actually pays YOU money for flying (such as instructing, etc).
Stay away from those who’ve been in this field and have a negative outlook because they are bitter (often rightfully so) but that’s not going to help you. Instead, remember that this is as bad as it gets so things simply must get better.
Do your research (which you’re doing now
), decide if it’s worth the tremendous sacrifices and then start the process in very small steps (so you don’t become overwhelmed). Remember to stay away from the half-empty types and be upbeat and one day it will happen…
I’d still do it all over again and am very happy that I decided to pursue flying…