Just seeing if anyone has looked into this? Seems like some real money to be made if working for the right company and things keep booming.


I keep going back and forth on what to do. Currently, I work as an instructor and part 91 contract pilot. This year will probably bring 40-42k. This might be considered good pay unless you are like me and have a wife and two kids. With a family of four, this is still fairly crappy...I've come to realize. Every day I ask myself, where exactly is this going?

One of the guys I'm instructing is a big guy at an oil company. He has been training me to get my CDL. He says they cant get enough people to pull rigs, chemicals, oil etc.

I have mulled this over plenty. This is all difficult to even stomache because I did get a bachelors in aviation and have been doing this for a couple years now.

Every single company is hiring down here. This company is paying 21-23 bucks per hour based on experience. They have an affordable premium health care. So no more Medicaid for the kids. Overtime, all the time. Thirty bucks a day per diem.

Okay...so you say that the oil boom won't last, it might not...BUT, getting 6-12 months experience on a flatbed or even fuel tanker writes your ticket later. Even the guys doing local freight(central, old dominion, etc.) are pulling down 60+ a year.

We are still young, yes...but as a family we need structure and are ready to settle down somewhere and buy a house. I love flying but love taking care of my family even more. Also, I'm the only one working because the kids are still young. One thing I will not do is have my wife go to work so the kids can go to stranger-care so that I can keep flying. I will give up flying in a heartbeat before that happens.


I started flight school before they all came along. I got married in my last year in college and also had my first child then too. I was at that point I started to see all this unfold. When we had our second child, it all became more clear....being a pilot is great but with part time work 80-100 hours per month...also comes part time pay.

Fly as a hobby and not as a career. If I had to do it all over again and I was in your position, it would be a "no brainer". Take care of your family first and foremost and the rest will, by Gods good grace, come in it's own time. Good luck.