I'm making the transition from cop to commercial aviation. I've been on the job 14 years...and like I tell my bosses..I joined to be a ghetto gunfighter, not hug it out with everyone like they want us to do today. It is what it is. I wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid, so what better time than to do it. It has been difficult working, doing flight training, being married with 2 kids, but I think the juice will be worth the squeeze when it all shakes out.

To guys who want to come to the LE side..do it. Or find a blend, like working for customs air/marine division. I'll never tell someone not to do this job, because you'll always wonder. Maybe in a couple years, it will be fun to be a cop again.

Curious...are you NYPD?

I left NYPD in 2007, been in South Florida since

I've been a firefighter/emt for the last 6 years. Loved every minute of it. I decided to make the jump to aviation as well. Its as good a time as ever to make the switch.

Good luck on the journey!

Yeah man, I'm still on the job, as I complete flight training...but as soon as I got that CFI/CFII, im out...no time like the present to fly!

This thread really resonates with me. I am retired military. After my military career I started training with at a university with an aviation program. During that time I applied to a Police department for the heck of it, since it was something I always wanted to do. Low and behold, I was hired, so I decided to go to the academy. I finished the academy and worked the road for a very short time. I started getting the itch to fly more often and left LE to go back to flying. Over the next year following my LE departure, I finished my 4 year degree, got my CFI/CFII and am now a CFI at the school.

I am 40 now and have been hired by an airline. I and am scheduled to go to training at the end of the summer and I can't tell you how many times I have gone back and forth on whether this is what I want to do, or if I want to get back on with LE.

I am married and my kids are getting older, my youngest is 17. No need for me to be home ALL THE TIME but I like it at home. I like being able to do odds and ends around the house every day.

I was a police officer in an area that has all kinds of things going on, so there is no shortage of boredom. In my few months on the road there were no shortage of homicides, burglaries, shootings, drugs, dui's, etc... Lots of fun and interest in a sick way I guess. Honestly it is what I prefer to just patrolling the streets of mayberry.

If the pay was equal I would chose LE in a second. The airlines aren't going to make me rich (now) but in a few years a comfy 6 figure salary is likely. The tradeoff is being away half the month. Is it work sacrificing the extra 60k a year to be home and working LE? To some maybe not but I also have a little retirement income coming in from the military so pay isn't my only motivator.

Maybe some of you folks can help a brother out trying to decide and shed some light on something I might not be thinking about...

$60K, probably not worth it if you'd rather be doing something else. But I don't know your personal circumstances (high-maintenance wife, etc).

But at age 40, you're probably looking at making easily $300K- $400K your last decade at the airlines, and $200K before age 50.

So really it's about doing what you prefer now, vs. having some game-changing money later in life. Many folks don't need to change their game, especially at that age.

Job security- yes
Pension- not all
Home every night- no true
job satisfaction- personal preference
serving the community- not all

Good Point... The sensible thing is to just earn the good money and do something else on the side for adrenaline!

Exactly. Make the money. Because the only way to survive this job today is going to a specialized unit, or making boss. Patrol is too risky. You lay it all on the table that way. The public no longer wants the ghetto gunfighters of yesteryear. You do that, your goose will be cooked. That’s any department. The street will always be the street. That’s easy. But management will hem you up over the smallest incident. So choose wisely. I personally will be getting out of the job, and I’ll go take a shooting class or something to supplement my fun/war stories. I know plenty of cops who did what I’m doing. Not one looked back and said “man this pilot stuff is for the birds. I’m gonna go back in the monkey suit and go chase crackheads and deal with crazy people daily! That’s so much more rewarding,”. Not. One.