Highschool student looking at airline pilot career!

Matt13C said:
Have we really reached a point where Top Gun is no longer common knowledge for teens? What is wrong with the parents of today, not passing along the classics of our time. Whats next someone asking "Whats a Goonie?"
Click to expand...
A friend of mine (who's actually older than me) didn't know what a DeLorean was. I weep for our future.
 
Kudos to you for knowing what you want to do at such a young age. When I was close to your age it came down to Embry-Riddle and Syracuse. I went with 'Cuse and never have doubted my decision. Partied my arse off, met my wife, and still have some of best friends till this day. The flying will be there my friend. Being an airline pilot is great, but not the only job in aviation. What others have mentioned before, the pay is not good during the beginning. Enjoy life now and don't worry about debt/rent/car payments etc.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
He means, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science. Or something like that. Go out and get yourself a discovery flight and see if you actually like to fly. Please.

If you're legitimately interested in ATC, you should call your local facility (tower, approach, center, what have you) and see about getting a tour, too.

And Truckmasters...
4401108_std.jpg

"Do you still have the number for that truck driving school, Maverick?"
Click to expand...
This post is under official review for incorrect screen shot/caption usage.
 
Matt13C said:
Have we really reached a point where Top Gun is no longer common knowledge for teens? What is wrong with the parents of today, not passing along the classics of our time. Whats next someone asking "Whats a Goonie?"
Click to expand...

The Class of 2015 - The world from their point of view from the Beloit College Mindset List​
  1. The Communist Party has never been the official political party in Russia.
  2. The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports.
  3. There have nearly always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded U.S. Navy ships.
  4. They “swipe” cards, not merchandise.
  5. “Don’t touch that dial!”….what dial?
  6. Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you're talking about LeBron James.
  7. All their lives, Whitney Houston has always been declaring “I Will Always Love You.”
  8. We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.
  9. John Wayne Bobbitt has always slept with one eye open.
  10. Jimmy Carter has always been a smiling elderly man who shows up on TV to promote fair elections and disaster relief.
  11. The bloody conflict between the government and a religious cult has always made Waco sound a little whacko.
  12. Music has always been available via free downloads.
  13. No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King Day.
  14. McDonalds coffee has always been just a little too hot to handle.
  15. Refugees and prisoners have always been housed by the U.S. government at Guantanamo.
  16. Major League Baseball has never had fewer than three divisions and never lacked a wild card entry in the playoffs.
  17. Frasier, Sam, Woody and Rebecca have never Cheerfully frequented a bar in Boston during primetime.
  18. They’ve often broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
  19. Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could also serve as a doorstop.
  20. Video games have always had ratings.
  21. Life has always been like a box of chocolates.
​
 
Riley said:
I want to be an airline pilot and not much else involving airplanes unless I could be an air traffic controller, because to be honest i'm not really interested in it for flying, mostly the pay ( I have not flown airplanes before and my opinions can change).
Click to expand...

Dude, if you are not doing it for the love of flying and only for the money, I cannot STRESS this enough, do not become a pilot. Go take some flying lessons and see if it is in your blood before you decide to become a pilot, and if not, go the ATC route if you want the money. They make loads of it. Enough that you could eventually buy your own little plane to just go buzz around in for fun. Being a pilot is not a career to get into just because you want to make money. It takes a lot of time and patience to get to where the big boys are making the big bucks. There is a lot of drama, ups and downs, and just plain shenanigans one has to put up with to get to a good paying spot with their aviation career.

I apologize if I come off a little abrasive, but just want to you to realize that this is a tough industry. And it will be very frustrating if the only reason you want to be an airline pilot is for the pay.

However, if you find you really have a passion for flying, this can be an extremely rewarding career. I love my job and after 8 years in the industry I still get excited every time I get into that plane.

Good luck! :)
 
Yup like everyone says here, Private Pilot first, see if you realllyyyy like it, I mean reallllyyy like it then maybe go all in. Get a degree in something else and always have a back up plan and of course... keep us updated on jetcareers! Were always looking for someone new to argue with! :)
 
First, I'm gonna beat a dead horse here and say go to your local FBO and take a discovery flight!

I can't give you the same advice that these other guys can, seeing as I'm just now about to start my training, but I can give you advice from someone that had the same questions not too long ago.

FWIW, I was in your shoes about 6 months ago as far as college goes, but I'm a senior in HS. I toured UND fall of my junior year and was all gung-ho about being able to go to school in hockey country and major in something I've had a passion for since I can remember.. hell I would even get to fly shiny new Cessna's with watered down G1000's and get a grade for it. Seemed awesome at the time. All for around $200,000 with out of state tuition, room/board, all that fun stuff.

The I used my brain.

So I made a post on JC weighing my options and asking these guys what they thought (here's the thread http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/weighing-my-options-need-advice.129139/ if your interested). Everyone basically told me what they're telling you, and I'm sure glad they did. Now I'm just going to go to an in-state college (University of Kentucky), get a 4 year degree in something totally unrelated to aviation that I can fall back on to should I ever be medically unable to fly, and get all my licenses at my local FBO. I'm sure it's already been said in this thread, but airlines really don't care where you got your ratings. (Evidently the FAA does now, but that's a different matter) All they want to see is that you have them. Since your still only a sophomore, I really recommend loading up on AP and Dual Credit classes if they have them at your school. The workload for them kind of sucked at the time, but looking back on it I still had plenty of time to hang out with friends, do dumb stuff, chase after girls, all the HS stuff, you know.. but now I'll be entering college in the fall with about 30 credits that I, in essence, got for free. And at a university, those aren't cheap. Because of that, I'll be able to graduate college in 3 years without having a crazy workload, giving me time to fly around in college, build some hours, have a part time job, do the whole college thing blah blah blah. I'll have just turned 21 when I graduate, so I'll still have 2 years before I can get an ATP to be even considered by a regional. In those 2 years I can instruct, try and get on at some gig flying traffic watch, divers, aerial photography, making contacts etc.. and have part time job so I can eat. Most everyone on here will tell you (like they told me) that you have your entire life ahead of you to fly airplanes, so don't rush anything!

Now I'm not saying that UND has a bad program or that my route will work, just figured I'd throw you my 2c. I had everything planned out for UND, applied the first day admissions opened for next fall, got accepted a week later, had my housing application submitted, scholarship stuff filled out, all I had to do was schedule an advising date for the summer and pay them a chunk of change and I would be a UND student, but all of that literally changed over the period of like 48 hours. I guess what I'm trying to say is (coming from someone whose just now starting my training) be flexible and don't plan out your entire life. I did and you see how well that worked out!

tl;dr As someone on this forum told me, have fun, go fly, and see what happens.
 
I mostly agree with westonw above...but do remember to "enjoy" high school while you can. :)

Job interviews since age 18: about ten.
Times asked about anything related--academically or otherwise--to high school: Zero.
 
Get a degree in something besides aviation. These four year programs are really trying to sell glitz and glamor to really get you worked up and forget the $ you won't be making as a professional pilot. I am not saying don't become a pilot, but unless you are a combination of extremely talented, well connected, well financed, and have good timing, the money thing probably is NOT what you had in mind. Supposedly we have a pilot shortage going on, and there are STILL pilots getting furloughed and airlines going bankrupt! Have a good plan B, and that starts with not believing the shiny four year degree flight school propaganda! Private message me anytime. Pilots helping pilots.
 
My advice is to go to a good four year collage and get a degree unrelated to aviation. This gives you a backup plan incase aviation, as a career, does not work. Then find a part 61 FBO and do all your flying on the side. You can pay as you go and do a lot more fun flying. Most big 141 schools require you come up with huge chunks of non refundable tuition. Part 61 you only pay for they flying you do at the end of the day.

I would advise against 141 schools because they are expensive and you have to stick with the syllabus. You will go from zero hours to commercial pilot with only 5-10 hours of solo time. All the other flying will be with an instructor. Part 61 you will easily get over 50 hours of solo time. Also with Part 61 you can build time doing cross countries by yourself or with friends and family. With 141 you only get 190 total hours whereas with part 61 you get 250 hours. Most regional airlines require at least 500 hours so the more you can get the better.

If you go into a lot of debt at a big flight school, It will take a long time to pay it back on a pilot salary. Most entry level airline jobs pay around 20-25k a year. Although your pay goes up annually, It will take a while to pay back upwards of $200,000.

My advice would be to get a job and pay your way through flight school so you have a minimal amount of debt. Also I would recommend to get your private pilots license now to see if you like it.

Lastly I would suggest getting your flight instructor ratings. I learned so much from teaching and It's a great way to build time towards an airline gig.

If you don't mind the low salary starting out its the most fun job i've ever had!

PM me if you have any questions, i would be glad to answer them!

good luck

-Matt
 
MOGuy424 said:
Being a pilot is not a career to get into just because you want to make money. It takes a lot of time and patience to get to where the big boys are making the big bucks.
Click to expand...

And, I might add, you might endure all of the time, all of the patience, and do everything right... and still never make the "big bucks" (what is your definition of "big bucks" by the way?)

Think of it like professional baseball.
  • There are thousands of kids who love baseball and and some of them might play in high school or college. (General aviation, flight instructing, pipeline, banner tow, etc.)
  • Of those thousands of kids who play highschool or college ball, a few hundred of them will be selected to play in the minor leagues / farm team. (Commuter or regional airline, freight or passenger charter, most part 91 corporate, some low-end fractional ownership)
  • Of those few hundred who went to the minors, a tiny minority will be called up to the majors. (Major airline, top-tier fractionals, Fortune 500 corporate)
  • Of those few dozen who made it to the majors, about half will lose their position at the majors and end up settling back at the minors and maybe being traded 2 or 3 times.
  • Of those few who remain at the majors, some won't finish the career there due to medical problems.

Tune in next week for my NASCAR comparison...
 
ZapBrannigan said:
And, I might add, you might endure all of the time, all of the patience, and do everything right... and still never make the "big bucks" (what is your definition of "big bucks" by the way?)

Think of it like professional baseball.
  • There are thousands of kids who love baseball and and some of them might play in high school or college. (General aviation, flight instructing, pipeline, banner tow, etc.)
  • Of those thousands of kids who play highschool or college ball, a few hundred of them will be selected to play in the minor leagues / farm team. (Commuter or regional airline, freight or passenger charter, most part 91 corporate, some low-end fractional ownership)
  • Of those few hundred who went to the minors, a tiny minority will be called up to the majors. (Major airline, top-tier fractionals, Fortune 500 corporate)
  • Of those few dozen who made it to the majors, about half will lose their position at the majors and end up settling back at the minors and maybe being traded 2 or 3 times.
  • Of those few who remain at the majors, some won't finish the career there due to medical problems.

Tune in next week for my NASCAR comparison...
Click to expand...


Well said! Big bucks meaning +80k in my book. However on top of all this, there is also the financial burden of obtaining all of the qualifications you need just to get to a starting job as a CFI maybe making $20/hour. Oh then you get to go work for a regional making, at best 30K/year starting out.

Looking forward to the NASCAR analogy ;)
 
Tons of great advice in this thread. I'm not going to beat a dead horse by repeating everybody.

Also, go to college and live on campus and meet some wimmenz. College is freakin' awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top