Airline career - age

Aussie

New Member
Gday Guys,
Just curious to see at what age most pilots make the airlines.
Is 30 y.o too late? I have mates flying Qantas as Second officers at only 23yrs of age. If you dont cut it by 30, would that be the end before the start?

Thanks

Aussie
 
I would say certainly not these days. Back in the old days I think 30 was the maximum hiring age for most majors, but there is no restriction. The only thing you would consider would be the reduced number of years as captain, which would make a large finacial difference throughout a career. Any of you pros correct me if I'm wrong.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The average age for a major airline newhire in the US is about 32-34 years old.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hire as in Second, First or Captain???

Some Asian Airline pilot's contract have a force retirement age at 45!!!
 
Aussie,
Alot of airlines like experience commensurate with age. In this region, Cathay is one.
As mentioned in a previous post, the 5 guys I know in Cathay all got in between the age of 30 and 35. They did have 3500+hrs though.

I'm not sure how picky Qantas is, but a good mate of mine who is on the current 747 classic course with QF says the average age is late 20's. Bare in mind thats Direct Entry, the cadet course running at the same time for the 744 has an average age a hell of a lot younger... early 20's... scary isnt it! Not to mention depressing for us guys trying to get a look in also!

I know of guys getting into QF later in life, mainly Ex-Ansett though, who had plenty of jet hours. But... even with all that experience, they had to start off as Second Officers at the bottom of the seniority list. Some about 7 yrs from retirement age.

Just keep on racking up those hrs as quickly as you can, and be prepared to travel overseas if needed!
Cheers
 
[ QUOTE ]
Some Asian Airline pilot's contract have a force retirement age at 45!!!

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you sure that's not the average life expectancy there.
blush.gif
blush.gif

I've flown on Guruda Air, and I've heard stories about Air China. Yikes!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is 30 y.o too late?

[/ QUOTE ]
I freakin' hope not! I started flying at age 37. I turn 39 next month and will (hopefully) have my Commercial tickets under my belt and working on my CFI tickets, so I have a long way to go.

There are guys older than me just starting at the regionals/corporate/etc., so in short - no - 30 is not too late.
 
When I was at the Asian Aerospace show, I ran into a bunch of people flying for SIA who were younger than me but flying 777s and 747s.

Must be nice.
 
[ QUOTE ]
When I was at the Asian Aerospace show, I ran into a bunch of people flying for SIA who were younger than me but flying 777s and 747s.

[/ QUOTE ]

Singapore airlines training academy is here in Perth, Western Australia. Friends of mine are instructors at the academy there and have some interesting stories. Eg: Flying around the arc for an ILS, instead of turning left to intercept the ILS... how about we turn right, and fly up the ILS! The instructor tells ATC " Uhhh... can we see where this is going?" Apparently the student couldn't figure out why they had to increase power to fly the ILS, the Instructor took over when the student wanted to put the gear down.
crazy.gif


The cadets there are quite young, most around 24-25. From what I've heard, SIA find it quite difficult to attract young people into aviation. On the whole, its a very well educated country, most University level students wonder why anyone would want to be a pilot, only to earn a small percentage of what they could potentially earn in other available careers.
 
[ QUOTE ]
When I was at the Asian Aerospace show, I ran into a bunch of people flying for SIA who were younger than me but flying 777s and 747s.

Must be nice.

[/ QUOTE ] Was that nice for the passengers, or was it nice for the pilot?
grin.gif
grin.gif
 
I don't know, I didn't get to fly them. However, I think that if I was flying on Singapore, I wouldn't be thinking about the pilots.

From everything that people say, I'd be thinking about the Singapore girls. Some of the stuff they do -- you gotta retire by 35, 42 if you're promoted to purser, for example -- would never fly here.
 
Tony, you're right, some of SQ's policies would never make it past the lawyers in this country.

However, SQ is consistently voted as having the most superior customer service of any airline in the world. They must be doing something right. US airlines are the target of constant complaints from people who feel (rightly or not) that they're being treated like dirt.

Apparently, we reap what we sow. Shakespeare said it best five hundred years ago ... "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."
 
I certainly would not condone firing female employees at 35, however I do think that the beuracracy of this country is what's leading it into the pooper. Flame away!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Are you sure that's not the average life expectancy there.
I've flown on Guruda Air, and I've heard stories about Air China. Yikes!


[/ QUOTE ]

Sixpack, how old are you?
cool.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
So . . . you think employers should be able to fire female employees when they turn 35?

[/ QUOTE ]MF, I think no such thing. This example is meant merely to be an illustrative example of the fact that a lot of companies are totally unwilling to think outside a very narrow box when it comes to ways to increase customer satisfaction. This is complicated by a litigation-happy subculture that delights in suing corporate America for every perceived injustice or minor difficulty. Seriously, we wonder why companies that do poorly don't change ... in part it is because any change they make is liable to land them in court ... sued by employees, shareholders, customers, or the government!
 
The problem we have here in the US is that people want that kind of service but they're only willing to pay $250 for a transcon. You just cannot get filet mignon for the price of hamburger. But that's something that the American public never seems to get.

After all, this is a public that wants all sorts of very expensive government services, but doesn't want to pay any taxes for it. We want lots of high paying manufacturing jobs in America, but we want Wal-Mart prices on those goods. We don't want any illegal immigrants, but we want cheap prices on food. We don't want to eat less and exercise more, but we want to lose weight.

You want Singapore or Emirates style service, then you gotta be willing to pay for it. We're not.

And then there are the logistical problems with providing that kind of service on a 90 minute flight. One thing to keep in mind is that Singapore is a long way from anywhere so that gives them more time to do things.
 
Back
Top