Need advice for flying for a living!

B

bparsh

New Member
Hello, I am new to this website, and new to flying. I’ve always had a love for flying, attending numerous air shows, watching planes for hours at the local airport, and playing flight simulator for my computer, but I had never thought about flying for a living. As I got older, I started to attend college with intentions of doing something in the business world. As time passed, I thought, I can’t be stuck at a desk job doing something I sort of like, but not love. I thought, what else can I do? Well, my college is a few miles from a major airport; so naturally, there is planes overhead all day long. I always caught myself looking at them walking to class, and then thought, I want to fly. I thought I want to fly for fun, not for a job. So I took an intro flight in a 152 and fell in love with flying. After flying a few more times I began to wonder if flying was a good career choice. I always thought you needed military background to fly, but the more I talked to people and the more research I did, the more I realized this is not the case.
So right now, I’m going to be going into my third year of college as a business major with a minor in atmospheric science. I will be finishing up my private pilot license before the start of the next semester (this summer I’ll be finishing it up). So my question really is what is the best path for me to take to become a commercial pilot at this point?


Any and all suggestions are really helpful!



And I guess I'm not really changing my career yet, since I haven't started another one, I'm just sort of changing my direction, so I don't know if this is the right place to be posting this or not, if it isn't I apologize.
 
My opinion: You might as well finish college with your business degree since you are so close anyway. Plus, that gives you something to fall back on if the flying doesn't work out. If you have the extra money to continue with flight training in the same way you are doing now, then do that. Get your ratings (instrument, commercial, multi, CFI if you want to go that route), then get whatever flying job you can to start working your way up the aviation ladder. Doing the CFI route is probably the fastest/easiest. I used to think I didn't want to instruct, but then I did and got 1200 hours of flight time in one year. That got me the hours I needed for the next job flying twins, and that led to the next job flying jets, etc. Some people may tell you to not persue flying for a living, but if it's what you want to do, and you have the time/money to make it happen, go for it. I wouldn't want to do anything else.
 
Step 1 - FINISH COLLEGE!
Step 2 - ?
Step 3 - Make $$

The most important thing you can do for yourself is get an education and you are 3/4 of the way there already. As for flying, I would stay away from any place offering to train you for an airline job in a few months for big dollars. Get a job that pays you while you continue to work on your flying. Not only will you not be in major debt, but you will have experience to fall back on if and when the inevitable big F occurs.

Some will tell you that getting to the game ASAP is the most important. Not so. You are relatively young and the big retirements won't happen for a few years. Plenty of time to build experience CFIing and then regionaling.

Good luck and welcome to the fraternity!
 
Thanks guys, really helpful! I'm going to continue flying in my free time while attending college. Thanks!
 
I agree, finish that degree first so you've got a backup plan.

And thanks for that input, Cptnchia! I needed to read that (about not being in a big rush when just starting out). Picking up $55k in debt doesn't excite me.
 
I had a former career in IT and I will agree with everyone that you absolutely need that college degree, along with a few years of post-college experience in your field. This is a backup in case your plans don't work out and you end up furloughed, etc.

When it comes to training vs working, it's a delicate balance. Some will tell you seniority is everything and get on the line ASAP, while others will tell you to take your time, train on days off, and you'll get there eventually and with little or no debt.

In reality they are both correct, but the key is to strike a balance, and that will depend on your personal situation. Age, financial responsibilities, etc all play into this decision. I would suggest you finish your private and then begin work on your instrument rating. Keep working, saving money away, and paying for as much flying as you can, all the while adding experience in your field to your resume. Then you can decide the next step. I was at this point in late 2002 and decided to go to a well-known flight school with an accelerated program, to get through as quickly as possible. I was almost 31 and the regionals were really cranking up to hire big. I had no debt, and everything I owned could fit in my car. I priced out what it would cost to do all the ratings locally and it was close enough that the promise of being done quickly was worth it to me.

In the end it worked, but the timing was much of a roll of the dice as anything. Yes I do have some student loan debt, but getting on at a regional so soon ensured a quick upgrade, and the student loan payments are much more manageable on a captain's salary.
 
Planning on a "Captain's Salary" at any given point is insane. Finish what you're doing, take your time. If you want to operate aviation appliances for money, the jobs will be there. Don't paint yourself in to a corner.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Planning on a "Captain's Salary" at any given point is insane. Finish what you're doing, take your time. If you want to operate aviation appliances for money, the jobs will be there. Don't paint yourself in to a corner.
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I was most definitely not implying that anyone should plan on making it to captain pay in a certain period of time. My point with that statement is that I rolled the dice, it worked, I came out ahead.

This industry is cyclical as we all know and while I agree that there are (generally) always jobs available, I'll stand by my belief that as soon as you commit yourself to flying as a career you should get through training and get on a seniority list. In 2008 I watched friends who were just two months junior to me get downgraded to FO, and who are only now getting back into the left seat. We can agree to disagree.
 
pscraig said:
We can agree to disagree.
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Certainly we can, and I appreciate your gentlemanly tone. I do maintain, though, that unless you're just 100% sure that all you ever want to do in life is fly a 121 jet, "seniority is everything" is an empty slogan for training managers to hook line and sinker people. I further opine that no one who is just getting in to aviation and is still in college can be absolutely certain that all they want to do for the rest of their lives is fly 121.
 
Troy said:
Does the military even guarantee flight time anymore? I think the coast gaurd does? I'd hate to join and be stuck being a drone pilot.
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No guarantees there. And while it's a hoary old cliche, I think it's very true that you shouldn't get in to the military for any reason other than a desire to serve your country. It's probably also worth considering that this service, while wildly popular with chickenhawks who wouldn't sign up in a month of Sundays, will quite likely involve killing people you've never met, either directly or in-. And I say this as someone who did (sign up, that is. I was fortunate enough to serve in peacetime). That's not to put anyone off to service...anyone who wants to be part of something bigger than their own care and feeding has a certain amount of my respect. But know what you're getting in to.
 
Boris Badenov said:
No guarantees there. And while it's a hoary old cliche, I think it's very true that you shouldn't get in to the military for any reason other than a desire to serve your country. It's probably also worth considering that this service, while wildly popular with chickenhawks who wouldn't sign up in a month of Sundays, will quite likely involve killing people you've never met, either directly or in-. And I say this as someone who did (sign up, that is. I was fortunate enough to serve in peacetime). That's not to put anyone off to service...anyone who wants to be part of something bigger than their own care and feeding has a certain amount of my respect. But know what you're getting in to.
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That's too bad there are no guarantees, I'm too old to get back in anyways. I am also ex-military and I just don't know if I even believe in our foreign policy anymore. This country isn't what it use to be and the days of having pride in our leaders and the attitude of "what can you for your country" ended with our last "real" non-muppet president. I'm still patriotic and support our country but there are just some corrupt people in government who make decisions not for the greater good of the people but for personal gain. But anyways, in this economy the military provides decent pay and some of the best stability so it's a fair trade.
 
No gurantee's with anything in the military. The Navy does not send pilots to drones out of flight school and the Navy drone community is very small. One of my fellow pilots is going to do his next tour as the OIC of a drone unit with the SEAL Teams, head to Afghanistan. It's not all bad, get some!!!
 
Isnt there a minimum like 10 year commitment or something if the military trains you? For the original poster....i finished school without ever touching a plane. 2 years later of working 7 days a week and studying my balls off and im working on my CFII. Gonna be kissing this cube goodbye real soon.
 
Troy said:
I am also ex-military and I just don't know if I even believe in our foreign policy anymore. This country isn't what it use to be and the days of having pride in our leaders and the attitude of "what can you for your country" ended with our last "real" non-muppet president
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I don't remember ever entirely agreeing with US foreign policy, but then again, I wasn't being paid to agree with it.
 
Pachong said:
Isnt there a minimum like 10 year commitment or something if the military trains you? For the original poster....i finished school without ever touching a plane. 2 years later of working 7 days a week and studying my balls off and im working on my CFII. Gonna be kissing this cube goodbye real soon.
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For the Navy, it's generally 8 years after wings and it takes about 2 years to get your wings. So you serve about 10 years. The experience will not be equaled anywhere.
 
I see...but if he's gonna be done with college around the age 23...23 plus 33....mehhh. Plus i have seen a lot of companies asking for CFI/CFII/MEI experience. I kind of think he missed that boat. If i would've had my "s" together when I was 17 I wouldve been all about it though.
 
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