Getting into an airline career

[captainphil]

Could one of you guys recommend me a good alternative on becoming an airline pilot like the military , reserve or civil air patrol? I dont want to have to pay alot to go to ground school and flight school so as of now im working and saving money for lessons but its not enough to keep going more than once a week (if i go). Whats a good alternative on getting into an airline career? Also , another question I have is how should I go about training for an airline (ratings, hrs,etc) what colleges are good , how's delta connection after finishing from SUNY farmingdale and getting a multi engine rating?Remember im only a junior in High School so i still have to finish out the rest of this year and i have my whole senior year ahead of me. What training should i do during high school. As most of you know im enrolled in boces tech for aviation but they only give us a few hours and i dont go up alot nor do most people. What is a good alternative to some one who is middle class?

 

[wheelsup]

I dont want to have to pay alot to go to ground school and flight school

I'd like to win the lottery. Can you arrange that for me? Thanks.

Smart comments aside, if you can get a military slot and make it through (assuming you meet the physical requirements of which eyesight is probably the biggest show stopper for most young adults) it will save you money.

What most people don't know about military:

1) It essentially boils down to a 12 year deal, including flight training. Since you have to have a degree to be an officer (and I'm pretty sure you've gotta be an officer to be a pilot) you're looking at a 3-4 year time frame to get the 4-year degree, then 12 more years after that.

2) They don't fly a heck of a lot. Building time comes slowly. That said, they have quality time, so once you get out you most likely won't have to go to a regional. On the other hand, during my CFI days I met a few ex-mil guys who were brushing themselves up for regional interviews.

3) They are gone a lot, the F18 guy that lives across from me has been gone almost a month from home straight now and he is still in training.

4) The guard is a good way to go, but better start putting those networking skills together NOW. Also, your chances of you getting a guard slot are a lot higher if you already have the ratings (defeats the purpose...doesn't it ).

I'm sure there are benefits, but those were the negative I ran into. My father is retired Air Force and thought going civilian was the better way to go. I'll know when I turn 60 and retire .

Civil air patrol isn't the best time builder either, however I don't know much about it. From the limited research I did, you have to put in a lot of time as a "cadet" doing a lot of the legwork and you might fly every now and then.

 

[PGT]

for guard, i heard you have to be in the guard first then apply from within. I remember around 75 people applied for the Iowa ANG F16 while they only accept around 2 pilots/yr. A guy I know, his son was a cook but got selected to be a pilot.


Heres what I would do if I was you...Graduate early from high school and use the semester to work a lot. Go to college and get a degree in whatever seems interesting (outside of aviation). Use the money saved up to get your PPL. Work your arse off for ~2 years after college then take out a loan for a flight school.

-i just graduated high school last week. that is what I would have done if I could do it again.

 

[derg]

Are you talking about the reserves? You can apply for the ANG without prior service.

 

[wheelsup]

I did my private while in high school. I'd do it that way again. I was working a job at a grocery store making about $1400/month after taxes and with just a few months of working there had enough to pay for the private with cash, because I had no overhead (thanks to my parents).

 

[skyhawk39]

for guard, i heard you have to be in the guard first then apply from within. I remember around 75 people applied for the Iowa ANG F16 while they only accept around 2 pilots/yr. A guy I know, his son was a cook but got selected to be a pilot.

Correct for some ANG units....some require that you serve at least a year enlisted before applying for O/pilot slots....assuming you are non-prior service...

CAP has a lot of flight scholarships avalible for cadets to get private pilot ratings at basically no cost, but the cadet has to meet certain criteria and time of membership... not to say you can't do it but you are looking at being a cadet for at least a year before you can get a flight scholarship if memory serves....

 

[frog_flyer]

i'd be interested to see how much ang units like hiring from within.

someone from outside has 99's on afoqt and the cook has 70s. what will they doooo o0o0o?

 

[PacMan4x4]

Captainphil.....You are looking for a lot of answers that are on this site if you use the search function. Not sure if you've done that yet or not....what you'll hear a lot of from folks here at JC is to finish high school and go to college afterwards--get a Bachelor's degree. Find a school (university/college) that has a flight program so you can fly and get educated at the same time. If I had to do it all over again and knew then what I know now about how much I love flying; I would've gone that route. Since you have all the time in the world right now....it may not seem like it, but you do...take WHEELS' suggestion and work on your private rating either this summer or while you are working on your senior year. Take your time and enjoy the ride....then go to college and fly more while going to school and by the time you are finished with college (5 yrs from now) you will have just about finished up your ratings through CFI and would have given yourself ample time/opportunity to decide if the pilot path is truly what you want. You could find yourself getting into a degree program that would fit your needs better than aviation--who knows...but the important thing is, you'll have time to figure that out. As for the CAP....I'm a Senior Member of the squadron where I'm at and enjoy the flying and hanging out with the old timers that love talking about aviation and teaching it. After I got my PPL, I got checked out in the C172 so I could take it out flying to build some cheaper hours...it came out to around 49 bucks an hour once I fueled the plane back up. The thing about the CAP...and ALOFT could provide some other feedback for you when he gets on next time...is you have to work your way into the flying crowd. It can be a lot of B.S. with dealing with regs, paperwork, military wannabes....etc, but since I'm already in the military, that was an easy transistion for me. You would also have to work at breaking into the circle to get folks to help you out with getting checked out in different aircraft....meaning you will need to volunteer to help the organization out (after all...it is a volunteer organization). Things you could do to help out are along the lines of getting qualified to be a mission scanner or mission observer; help out with cadet programs when they do campouts and trips; help teach different segments of training/operations to newcomers as folks will be doing for you. In my lengthy speil....what I'm really trying to drive home is...the more you help out the easier it will be for you to get folks to help you get checked out in aircraft so you can fly. If they sense that you are there only for the cheaper flight time then you will be S.O.L. The folks will see what your intent is and will treat you according to that. Me...I helped out with the maintenance on aircraft since I'm an A&P and worked part time where some of the aircraft were kept. I got mentored and put on as an assistant maintenance officer for the squadron--may not sound like a big deal, but along with that and hooking up several 50 hour oil changes for them, they saw I was willing to help out and the opportunities to fly opened up from there....I got some free time flying in SAREX's (Search and Rescue Exercises) and got to fly some different aircraft (C-182, C-206, DH2) along with going out and flying on my own building up time. If you want to start out in the CAP as a cadet to get to know the folks...it would be a good way, but you could just wait until you get your PPL and graduate from High School...then join as a Senior Member and bypass the cadet thing.
Good luck with whatever route you choose....just get the Bachelor's degree first...it will be worth your while and the wait.

 

[Texasspilot]

i'd be interested to see how much ang units like hiring from within.

someone from outside has 99's on afoqt and the cook has 70s. what will they doooo o0o0o?

I had 99's on AFOQT and BAT...they still chose the cook. But thats to be expected they know him.


As for flight training there is no cheap way. Its expensive and its just gonna get more expensive. If your looking for a cheap school to get a degree and ratings at PM me and Ill tell you where I wen't 40K out of state with a four year degree and COMM, Multi, INST, CFI, CFII. Its probably a little closer to 50 now though. I got through it on working and some loans. This from a single parent household whose sister "HAD" to go to a private college.

The military is rediculously hard to get into these days for pilots. Most guys who get in seem to be staying for the full 20 in order to secure some retirement benis and then go to the airlines.

I'm fairly certain that CAP would require you to at least have a PVT.

The old way is probably still the best way. Go to your local airport. See if you can get a job washing planes or fueling. Meet pilots and fly with them. Heard it before? thats cause it works.

 

[igneous]

I am in a similar position, but have kind of decided not to go the military route. I'm 23, still living at home, and have my B.S. in business. I'm researching my local options right now to get training, hopefully can start on my ppl this summer. I'm also looking for a job, which will hopefully allow me to work and get my flight training at the same time. Sadly I think I'll be living at home for a while, or else I won't be able to afford the training. I'm not exactly sure how I am going to do it all though, as I really would like to get it done quickly. I feel old at 23, especially after reading about high schoolers with the same flight training as me

 

[PacMan4x4]

IGNEOUS...good luck with your job search. At least your first hurdle is completed (the degree). By no means should you feel old about your place in life with flight training and getting started. Take a look at some of the success stories around this website....first I'll mention Desertdog....read his strory and what he's accomplished...started his flight training at 34 years old after changing careers from being a truck driver and has been rockin' on his flight training and on top of that, has lost weight and quit smoking <high five DOG>--Keep up the awesome work. That's just the first....another is Ready2Fly who has recently been picked up by American Eagle and he's 41 years old and is a FO jumping in with both feet to a airline pilot career. Another one is Kellwolf, who managed at the age of 31 to get picked up as a FO for Pinnacle Airlines.....not sure how he managed to squeeze in 7,400 plus posts during his flight training but he's made it to the airlines. Me....hopefully I can manage to find a freight gig at the old age of 39 when I retire from the AF after being a mechanic for 20 years. The reason for the lengthy post is to let you know that you have plenty of time to get where you need to be. As previoulsy said....you did first what most folks pass by.....you got your education knocked out first and won't have to worry about that later on. You are already on the right path...just stick to your flight training after you find a job and pay for it as you go....don't put yourself into debt trying to get the ratings. Don't let CaptainPhil's post discourage you.....He's asking the questions and making the decisions earlier than you did. There are folks that are flying and soloing at 16....no big deal and they are no better off than you are. I'll say it again...you have your schooling done...those others still have to do that. I started my private training at 32....do I wish I had the resources when I was 16 to fly and know what I do now...sure, but it's not gonna stop me. Set a goal and don't let anyone stand in your way. There will be rough spells with training, finances, no social life...etc, but again...read the suceess stories...I'll send you back to Kellwolf on that one...read through the threads and see what sacrifices he and his wife made. Again...many more along those lines. Sorry about the longwinded post....but for you to say you feel old at 23 and indicate that you feel you are behind already is not fair to you...Take the bull by the horns and git'r'done....good luck with your training.

 

[igneous]

IGNEOUS...

Thanks, its always good to get words of encouragement like that. I'm definitely glad I got my degree, as it seems you can't go very far without one. Whether it be with one of the majors, or corporate. I have a couple of fairly ambitious goals, and I'm not sure which I would rather attain at this point. I think that I either want to be a corporate pilot, or flying for a major airline in a jumbo. Flying something like a 747 or even moreso a new a380 is something that I would die to do as well. Either way, I am looking forward to whatever happens.

 

[scoobs]

Military is a good way to go but for the right reasons. Most Guard units don't require you to join. If thats the way you want to go spend the money and visit them on drill weekends. The Navy guy is probably just out of the FTU and will be spending lots of time getting ready to deploy.

 

[88MPH]

I'm in the AF, and right now, they're actually trying to rid of quite a few folks (40K total, enlisted+officer) You'd be hard pressed to get a slot. The other branches (Navy/ANG...), I really couldn't say.

In my junior year of college, I washed airplanes. 2 hours for 1 hour instruction. that helped out ALOT with my ppl. I had a little saved up, but I actually scraped the piggy for each flight towards the end. It was real stressful, but if I took a break, it woulda cost me alot more. Saving/spending as you go will be rough, unless you're donald trump, but it can be done. I would also suggest a local school, but have a chunk saved up before you start. Then after the PPL, see where you are. Could be a WHOLE different story than what you're thinking now!

Good luck!

 

[PGT]

Airforce is downsizing, Navy was always hard to get a pilots slot, and Marines assign you as they please. sum it up: id stay away from the military unless your a 4.0 student who is the varsity star on a team and have perfect eye sight.

 

[BCTAv8r]

Airforce is downsizing, Navy was always hard to get a pilots slot, and Marines assign you as they please. sum it up: id stay away from the military unless your a 4.0 student who is the varsity star on a team and have perfect eye sight.

You can be guaranteed a flying slot in the Marines under PLC.

 

[captainphil]

I appreciate all your advice guys. Thank you all so very much.