Please tell me about your work. I recently discovered that I really like being in the air and I would love to be in control of large chunks of metal and have all those lives in my hand. Is it all the trouble worth it?
Please tell me about your work. I recently discovered that I really like being in the air and I would love to be in control of large chunks of metal and have all those lives in my hand. Is it all the trouble worth it?
I have a family member who is an airline pilot. The big obstacle is getting money for flight school. In fact I think a large amount of airline pilots are former air force pilots just because that is the most financially feasible way to train to fly. Its not because airlines necessarily want former air force pilots. This gets to another big obstacle - passing your psychological evaluation. Its pretty in depth apparently. Coming from the air force tends to be a strike against you since those pilots tend to have more of an aggressive "Top Gun" personality that the airlines don't want. There is a specific psychological type they look for.
The last big obstacle is simply finding a job. The job market for the big airlines that pay the best is really tight last time I heard.
I am not an airplane pilot but I know a lot of them. If your desire is to be a pilot for one of the big passenger airlines, well be prepared to take a very long time to get there, if you ever do. The whole game is about building up hours and there are thousands of pilots living hand-to-mouth flying for regional carriers, cargo haulers, flying skydivers. and instructing in flight school for little money trying to build up hours.
The major airlines pilots have a good job but that is only the narrow top of a very wide pyramid.
Wanting to be an airline pilot is like wanting to be a bus driver.
What you should be is a stunt pilot or an air racer and win the red bull air show. Those planes are where it's at.
Mr. Obvious wrote:
I am not an airplane pilot but I know a lot of them. If your desire is to be a pilot for one of the big passenger airlines, well be prepared to take a very long time to get there, if you ever do. The whole game is about building up hours and there are thousands of pilots living hand-to-mouth flying for regional carriers, cargo haulers, flying skydivers. and instructing in flight school for little money trying to build up hours.
The major airlines pilots have a good job but that is only the narrow top of a very wide pyramid.
Thanks that is the general idea that I have gleaned from very light research. Pay isn't a large concern for me because I can live cheap and I am not set on raising children. But the lifestyle of constantly traveling certainly could become grinding. I also know it would take years and lots of $$$ to get the credentials and experience, but anything I have to do to get a good gig beyond the office life will take years.
But that feeling of being up at the air and looking at the Earth below is absolutely thrilling to me. I imagine the routine gets old like anything else. And the rush of those takeoffs and landings...
Think it is a crappy industry to be starting in now. Husband of a coworker was a pilot for a major airline. It seemed like he was moving up in the company (starting to co-pilot on longer routes), but then he got laid off. He's looking for work, but not as a pilot.
ryan foreman wrote:
In fact I think a large amount of airline pilots are former air force pilots just because that is the most financially feasible way to train to fly.
I think that a lot of commercial pilots also come from the Navy. I've heard someone say that you can tell if your pilot is from the Air Force or Navy by the landing. Air Force pilots have long smooth landings, since they tend to land on air fields. Navy pilots tend to drop the plane right down, since they tend to land on aircraft carriers.
I've been friends with a few pilots, and it seems like a tough business to get into these days for reasons others have mentioned. The one that I knew best was military, so that's where his training came from. The others, I'm not sure where their training came from. But with airline consolidation in the US, there is not a growing demand for pilots.
ryan foreman wrote:
Coming from the air force tends to be a strike against you since those pilots tend to have more of an aggressive "Top Gun" personality that the airlines don't want. There is a specific psychological type they look for.
This is very wrong. Fighter pilots can have issues transitioning to a crew environment but military pilots in general are very desirable because of their excellent training. Some airlines draw more from the military than others but getting a job isn't any more difficult than it would be for a civilian pilot. Don't get a DUI though.
As far as the career path goes. You can expect to spend 2-3 years flight instructing to get the necessary experience to get hired at at a regional airline. You'd probably be earning about $20-25k a year and it could be significantly less. After that you go to a regional and might make $30k your second year. After that you wait to upgrade to captain (might make $50k!) or get hired at a major airline. Once you're at a major you make decent money and hope you don't get furloughed. Getting there is easier said than done. There are thousands of applicants and even if they're hiring, only a a couple hundred spots a year.
ryan foreman wrote:
Coming from the air force tends to be a strike against you since those pilots tend to have more of an aggressive "Top Gun" personality that the airlines don't want. There is a specific psychological type they look for.
don't forget about the speed pills!