Mavmb
Well-Known Member
Well, my sister got married in Iowa last weekend. So anyway, I flew America West from Phoenix to Omaha and back. After the plane landed in Omaha, I asked to take a look at the cockpit since the pilots didn't look busy.
They said "sure", and I talked to the right seat pilot for a while. I told him I was a flight instructor and he said he went that route too and had years of C-150 time!
Anyway, then he has asked how old I was and if I had a degree. I said, yes I had a degree and that I was almost 27.
He then said seriously, "Oh, well you're getting to be one of the older guys."
And then he told me that there was no money in this career anymore, that you are away from home alot, and that I should go into finance or get a different degree. He said airline pilots are getting lower paychecks and terrible retirement plans because the pilot unions are being overtaken. Basically, he said there isn't as much future in this career field as there used to be.
He then told me, "Well sorry, I guess you wanted to see some of the control panel and you ended up getting a lecture on your career."
So it certainly was a disappointment to meet an airline pilots and then have them say that the career is not very reliable anymore.
I'll stick with the pilot career for now, but I know if I was married or had a wife and family to support this career probably would not be practical at all. You pay tens of thousands of dollars to get flight training, and then up making high school wages for about the first five years of your flying career.
So just a warning out there to everyone I guess, don't believe the hype. This is not a very lucrative career, and you aren't going to be able to be an airline captain in five years making six figures.
If anybody has any thoughts on this post away. I've heard the aviation industry is feast or famine, but it looks like for pilots, at least, the feast is not going to exist anymore.
They said "sure", and I talked to the right seat pilot for a while. I told him I was a flight instructor and he said he went that route too and had years of C-150 time!
Anyway, then he has asked how old I was and if I had a degree. I said, yes I had a degree and that I was almost 27.
He then said seriously, "Oh, well you're getting to be one of the older guys."
And then he told me that there was no money in this career anymore, that you are away from home alot, and that I should go into finance or get a different degree. He said airline pilots are getting lower paychecks and terrible retirement plans because the pilot unions are being overtaken. Basically, he said there isn't as much future in this career field as there used to be.
He then told me, "Well sorry, I guess you wanted to see some of the control panel and you ended up getting a lecture on your career."
So it certainly was a disappointment to meet an airline pilots and then have them say that the career is not very reliable anymore.
So just a warning out there to everyone I guess, don't believe the hype. This is not a very lucrative career, and you aren't going to be able to be an airline captain in five years making six figures.
If anybody has any thoughts on this post away. I've heard the aviation industry is feast or famine, but it looks like for pilots, at least, the feast is not going to exist anymore.