Pilot vs ATC career

R

riley737

Well-Known Member
I'm in atc training right now but still have an itching for flying. Years ago I read messaging boards on the outlook of being a pilot and the negativity scared me away.

Has anyone tried both or have some input, thoughts, opinions etc. I'm in my late 20s.
 
Well you may get a different set of answers today vs 3 months ago.Both jobs are in aviation but so dramatically different.
 
Started flying in 1987 with the intent of being an airline pilot at some point. While working on my PPL, my instructor and I took a tour of MYF tower. One of the controllers happened to mention that they were giving the ATC test down at the courthouse the follow week. Took the test, waited for seemingly forever, then enjoyed 25 years of ATC before retiring in 2016. Then I caught the wave of pilot hiring 1st at SKW for a year then the past 3 years flying CE750's for XOJET.
The ATC world will give you a level of stability that you will not find on the flying side. Good pay, great benefits, and a PENSION. The work is not easy, but it was fun, and the people were/are fantastic. The view from 47,000 feet however is tough to beat, as is the variety of destinations and working conditions found flying part 135 ops.
Our kids are adults now, and I can't imagine raising a family on a pilot's schedule, 121,135, whatever. I know tons of folks have done it and had success. But even with the strange schedules that ATC works, it was extremely rare to miss a game, concert, campout, etc.
Enough ramblin' happy to pass along any other thoughts or answer questions about the two sides of the radio. Good luck with your decision, and drop me a message or whatever anytime.

Nate
 
I have a friend who is a retired controller. He owned a few different light aircraft and had his commercial license and ME rating. He got involved a couple years ago with doing contract right seat 91 stuff around Arizona/SoCal area and it got to the point where he was busy enough he just stays down there in the winter verses living in Seattle.

If I were the OP, I'd stick with ATC as long as you can. Fly on the side, maybe buy a small plane, and get through your CFI. Instruct some. Then if the situation presents itself in the future to make the jump into full time flying then you could considered it.
 
riley737 said:
I'm in atc training right now but still have an itching for flying. Years ago I read messaging boards on the outlook of being a pilot and the negativity scared me away.

Has anyone tried both or have some input, thoughts, opinions etc. I'm in my late 20s.
Click to expand...
What negativities scared you away in particular?
 
Kingairer said:
What negativities scared you away in particular?
Click to expand...

I searched back in 2015 and all of the below were scary.

Your sleep schedule is messed up, you might be stuck at a regional making not much, airlines have ups and downs, layoffs, the glory days are gone, the lifestyle is lonely etc.
 
Current atcer that went this route after finding out a kid was on the way, I certainly dont regret it but miss flying. Wife is still an FA and current events definitely make me realize why I chose this route after years of being partly jealous of my flying buddies. If you plan on having a family I'd go the ATC route but it really comes down to you
 
riley737 said:
I searched back in 2015 and all of the below were scary.

Your sleep schedule is messed up, you might be stuck at a regional making not much, airlines have ups and downs, layoffs, the glory days are gone, the lifestyle is lonely etc.
Click to expand...

All of those things are still true in 2020.
 
I went to school to be a controller... Graduated and started waiting for a call from uncle Sam... Decided to fly in the meantime because it was fun and an industry related way to pay the bills.. The call didn't come before I turned 31... Still flying but part of me still wishes I could be in a tower cab. Life isn't fair and you just have to make the best of what's presented to you. Good luck!
 
Back when I worked in ATC (for a brief time in the 80's) the schedule was two days, two swings, and a mid. The ATA's didn't have to do mids. Unless things have changed I don't see the ATC schedule being any better than a pilot.
 
Except for the Corona Virus temporary schedule stuff, the typical ATC schedule sucks. The FAA is nice enough to have us take a recurrent training class annually where they describe how the schedule we work is literally the worst possible thing for your sleep/body.
Heres a typical Schedule in the Enroute world with 5.5 years of seniority.
Thursday: 1500-2300
Friday: 1330-2130
Saturday: 0700-1500
Sunday: 0630-1430
Monday: 0530-1330 OR 2230-0630 Sunday night into Monday AM
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: OT 1500-2300

So Saturday sucks because you're exhausted, and then you get one day off to do everything you need to do, but really just sleep, then back to the grind on your next off day for Overtime. I really do love the job, but the schedule takes a long time to get used to, and you miss alot of stuff, especially when you're on the Wed/Thurs Crew working Sat Nights.

I originally wanted to be an airline pilot and still sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I followed that path. I stopped after my PPL because I wasn't willing to go almost 6 figures of student debt to get a job at CPZ paying $25k at the time. Most of my friends from college are airline pilots, and are obviously all stressed out of their minds about possible furloughs. Just from what Ive seen from my friends, the airline pilot lifestyle wouldn't have been for me, but what do I know.
 
It's a gamble. I was brokenhearted when I washed out of the academy but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I've been lucky with the flying career and have far exceeded where I would have gone with ATC. But I was lucky... Would have been nice to retire at 20 years with a pension and go on to something else and I've never seen the camaraderie of an ATC "crew" as a group of guys working and partying together matched at the airlines. Maybe it was cause I was in my 20's then and now I'm an old fart.
 
Beside jobs stability and retirement, it’s a no brainer to me. I can’t imagine sitting in the same building day after day.
 
If all those things scare you from being a pilot then don’t be a pilot. They were true in the glory years, they were true in 2015, and they’ll be true in 2030.

I wouldn’t go to garbage man school if I couldn’t stand the smell of rotten bananas.
 
If you want to fly, then fly.

But I will tell you that this career will chew you up and spit you out a bitter person if you let it. Lots of pitfalls.
 
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