Mavmb
Well-Known Member
I love flying, but this career has really been getting to me lately. First, being a pilot is extremely competative, so competative, in fact, that many people are willing to work for free. That means if you don't like anything about your job, no problem, there's a million other applicants willing to take your job and work for less money.
Second, it is stressful. Maybe flying a high performance jet that is all weather capable and has a second professional pilot would be better, but being a flight instructor you fly little planes (which cannot handle weather or wake turbulence) with a person who is depending on you to teach them how to fly. If you're a CFI, you're the one who is responsible for saving landings and keeping you're students from crashing.
Lastly, because this field is so competative and many pilots are willing to work for low wages (again some even work for free), it is difficult to pay the bills. I've now found out that as a pilot, there is a good chance that I won't make more than 30,000 for the next 10 years. And if anyone feels that this is not true, than please tell me I'm just being too hard on myself. I would love to believe that's not true. Perhaps, my outlook is negative on that point, but I constantly hear of pilots in today's market who are just lucky to get a job that pays minimum wage.
In fact, if anyone heard of the pay that flight instructors get, they would probably just laugh. The pay is very low. Don't get me wrong; I love teaching and I would love to be a flight instructor full time for the rest of my life despite the stress, but that just isn't a realistic dream because of the extremely low pay.
I also don't want to be gone from home for over two weeks at a time if I ever get married and have kids, which I would like to do someday. So I think for now, I will continue flight instructing, but I'm looking at different careers right now because I would like to have a career that will pay enough to enable me to live comfortably and raise a family someday.
I'm sorry if I sound negative about being a pilot; if you want to fly above all else and enjoy your job, then go for it. But if you are looking at it as a way to pay bills and raise a family, I would not recommend a flying career; at least not with civilian training and fixed wing airplanes. I don't know much about helicopter flying, so I won't comment on that. Again, sorry for the negative outlook, but I'm now 27 with a bachelors degree, and after flying for three years and 600 hours this seems to be the reality of a flying career. I'm just now starting to think it's not for me because I would like to be at home (not halfway across the country for two weeks at a time) and make a decent paycheck whenever I get married.
Second, it is stressful. Maybe flying a high performance jet that is all weather capable and has a second professional pilot would be better, but being a flight instructor you fly little planes (which cannot handle weather or wake turbulence) with a person who is depending on you to teach them how to fly. If you're a CFI, you're the one who is responsible for saving landings and keeping you're students from crashing.
Lastly, because this field is so competative and many pilots are willing to work for low wages (again some even work for free), it is difficult to pay the bills. I've now found out that as a pilot, there is a good chance that I won't make more than 30,000 for the next 10 years. And if anyone feels that this is not true, than please tell me I'm just being too hard on myself. I would love to believe that's not true. Perhaps, my outlook is negative on that point, but I constantly hear of pilots in today's market who are just lucky to get a job that pays minimum wage.
In fact, if anyone heard of the pay that flight instructors get, they would probably just laugh. The pay is very low. Don't get me wrong; I love teaching and I would love to be a flight instructor full time for the rest of my life despite the stress, but that just isn't a realistic dream because of the extremely low pay.
I also don't want to be gone from home for over two weeks at a time if I ever get married and have kids, which I would like to do someday. So I think for now, I will continue flight instructing, but I'm looking at different careers right now because I would like to have a career that will pay enough to enable me to live comfortably and raise a family someday.
I'm sorry if I sound negative about being a pilot; if you want to fly above all else and enjoy your job, then go for it. But if you are looking at it as a way to pay bills and raise a family, I would not recommend a flying career; at least not with civilian training and fixed wing airplanes. I don't know much about helicopter flying, so I won't comment on that. Again, sorry for the negative outlook, but I'm now 27 with a bachelors degree, and after flying for three years and 600 hours this seems to be the reality of a flying career. I'm just now starting to think it's not for me because I would like to be at home (not halfway across the country for two weeks at a time) and make a decent paycheck whenever I get married.