PPL to Legacy in under 9 Years...

ozziecat35 said:
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
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Dude.......if you want to be a pro pilot. Decide, Commit, Succeed! I didn't even take a single discovery flight until I was 31. Right now is a great time to get rolling in this career, if that's what you want to do. There 'should' be plenty of movement over the next decade.

I managed to get class dates at 2 different career airlines within 9 years of taking my first flight. Neither would qualify as "Legacy", however. It can be done with focus and determination.....and plenty of networking and luck along the way.
 
SteveC said:
Thread title: PPL to Legacy in 9 Years
Original Post:


All right, now spill the beans. What is the reason for the question in the first place?
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Oh, no one specific. I've seen many guys (on this thread even) make it to the majors in under ten and am just proud/happy for them. While luck certainly plays a role, the common trait I've seen in those who made it is hard work, dedication, and drive. Think of the thread as a shout out to those who made it, and an attempt to steer a conversation towards mentorship, networking, and advice. Guys like TFaudree_ERAU, mikecweb, CK, Stone Cold, and... damn - that guy who ran a charter group in Russia - I like to give guys like that in their career path a shout out if only to encourage them to guide others and more importantly, let the youngsters know to listen to them. (You, Steve, also fall in the mentor group, and you do it well.)

My response to @falconvalley's post was expressing thankfulness that at least someone wondered what the heck I of all people was doing creating a thread about getting to the majors. :D
 
CK said:
I've never worked a day in my life Ian...it's been nothing but luck, good timing, and a long list of generous people.

Alex.
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That's a great feeling... I've had it from time to time.
 
Thanks for the shout out Ian J. Unfortunately I can't recommend my career path anymore due to many factors. I'm currently trying to cross over to 121 and finding it pretty hard to skip over the regionals. The Airnet "hire to Lear PIC in 18 months" just isn't a possibility anymore. The freight dawg to corporate path to afford my education has left me high and dry with close to 5000 total, 3500 PIC but no 121 time. Fact is my time flying freight left me with some great experience and some good stories but the HR folks don't know what that equates to. I have a big fat goose egg under one of the columns and for that my networking has to overcome my resume. I'll keep plugging along for sure.
I have ZERO regrets but can't see myself recommending my path to anyone else.
 
[quote="Ian J, post: 2049837, member: While luck certainly plays a role, the common trait I've seen in those who made it is hard work, dedication, and drive. [/quote]


I would say this statement is an understatement.
 
mikecweb said:
Thanks for the shout out Ian J Fact is my time flying freight left me with some great experience and some good stories but the HR folks don't know what that equates to. I have a big fat goose egg under one of the columns and for that my networking has to overcome my resume. I'll keep plugging along for sure.
I have ZERO regrets but can't see myself recommending my path to anyone else.
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I'd hire you, not that anybody ever asks my decisions on topics such as those. (shrug)
 
Hardly a scientific observation, but I am seeing a pattern that suggests the majors tend to hire people who made the climb within a relatively short amount of time (i.e. less than 10 years). It supports the notion that I think we all accept; the majors have their pick, and so they hire the cream of the crop.

Look at it this way. If you're looking at two candidates, one who went from zero to RJ captain in 5 years, and another who went from 0 to CPL in that same period, which one is more impressive to you? Again, unscientific, but a rapid career progression tends to support the idea that the candidate is someone who makes things happen. And that's the person they (and indeed, all employers) are looking for.
 
There is a lot of good takeaway from this thread. 9 years is a very arbitrary number, especially in this recent enviroment with age 65 and 9-11. I still believe a lot of this is out of our control. You can disagree, but it is human nature to try to find patterns in randomness.

My best examples on the luck path I have seen was I have a close 30y/o friend who only has pic time and he was checkairmen on four different typed planes in the 135/121 enviroment. He has experience in jets/glass/crew/singlepilot/tprop/international/overwater etc. No violations, degree, sharp, cool as hell, and he even has the minority card. He got turned down by nearly every legacy and lcc back in 07-08. On the other hand the 23y/o kid next to me during regional indoc who was fresh off the seminole landed at CAL before we were off our one year probation.

On the hard work path I also know two guys who were late twenties and were career changers. They busted ass so hard and with some timing were both in the SWA pool probably less than 5 years from starting.

My own experience really relates to what somebody mentioned about a willingness to sacrifice and move for the opportunities.
 
I appreciate the shout out, but I do not fit into this category. My first solo was early 1991. I won't go into the full story, as I've posted it before, but needless to say, no CFI, dead market in 1994-95 time frame for low time non CFI's, and a detour into the "haze gray canoe club" left me 7 years where I never even touched the controls of an airplane. I am happy where my career has been, where it is, and what could come of it.

Keep in mind, though, I have boxed myself into a corner. I am only current in the G-450. There is nobody in my home town of JAX that flies them. So, I either have to move, keep commuting 5000 miles to and from work (or possibly farther if a job change dictates it in the future, which is always a very real possibility), or get a new ride from somebody in my town. It is not an easy prospect when you look at it in that respect. Hell, FSIflyer, whom I think you (Ian) were referring to before, moved his family to Hong Kong for a job.
 
ozziecat35 said:
Sigh...this whole thread has left me depressed...I hate regret...I wish I would have pushed harder when I was younger to get the basics out of the way...though I only discovered I wanted to be a pilot when I was 22, here I am looking at my 30th birthday in August with only a PPL/Instrument/ME to show for it. Comm. ME in a few weeks if everything goes well.

At least it's comforting to know people who have made it happen...keeps that little glimmer of hope alive.
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You're still young! In my opinion it's worth a shot. What is the worst that could happen, you never make it to a legacy or a major and get stuck on a RJ making 90-100k with 18 days off. That right there is "making it" compared to non flying jobs. :)
 
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