Career change to pilot

[iflyforpie]

I’m... er.... in the middle I guess.

Started flying young enough (CPL age 24) but pretty much loafed in my career until I was 38 and decided I finally needed to make a choice whether I’d fly full time or be a full time AME. With the pilot shortage and advancement rates I decided that now was probably the best time to be a pilot and went wholeheartedly into it.

But now that I’m captain at a small company with good schedule, pay, perks, and work life balance at age 40; I don’t know if I want to go any further.

Airline hiring minimums are the lowest they’ve ever been and will probably get lower and upgrade times at the regionals are a fraction of what they were even three or four years ago.

But pay is still shit on the right side of the plane no matter what size it is or who’s logo is on the side and going left if you can is going to be a huge reduction in lifestyle and a long slog to get to the point where it’s good again. Makes sense if you’re 30. Still makes financial sense at my age but at the cost of the best remaining years of my life commuting and on reserve for less than I’m making now. Even worse if the music stops or with a young captain group and no expansion plans (or expanding with an undercutting ULCC).

[rookiepilot]

I'm worried for you all on this thread, the music is getting that much closer to stopping. My world is studying that music......anyway ---

That said there is almost nothing I believe in more than pursuing a dream. Just examine carefully so it's done for the right reasons, as conditions might change and then your opportunities with those conditions.

[Meatservo]

I want the fastest and most effective possible way to become either an airline pilot or a cargo pilot (like flying MD-11s or 777Fs). I don’t really care which I do as long as I get to do long hauls eventually. Any advice would be appreciated.

You must have meant "Career change to autopilot".

There, I fixed it for you.

[C.W.E.]

I don’t really care which I do as long as I get to do long hauls eventually.

Why long hauls, that is the most mind numming boring thing I can think of.

[rookiepilot]

I don’t really care which I do as long as I get to do long hauls eventually.

Why long hauls, that is the most mind numming boring thing I can think of.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[iflyforpie]

Yeah... if you’re getting bored of your desk job.. you might not be the right individual for long haul flights. Less to do, less to look at, flying all hours of the day, and changing time zones doesn’t add excitement.

[MarkyMark90]

I don’t really care which I do as long as I get to do long hauls eventually.

Why long hauls, that is the most mind numming boring thing I can think of.

He may be an avid magazine reader...

[altiplano]

A lot of people like doing the long-haul and ultra-long-haul thing...

Taking the responsibility of flying a modern airliner over the ocean/pole to places on the other side of the world, and everything that goes along with getting there, managing a large crew, exploring the cities, experiencing different cultures... and then having 18 or 20 days off per month at the end of it to spend your big paycheques...

Boring? LOL... if you say so...

Mind numbing? I guess that's a personal choice...

Shit pay in the right seat? I guess at first... Some guys are working hard and overcoming that in those first couple years... otherwise 60-85K? We need to make it better, but it's certainly liveable...

After that, there are lots of guys in the right seat over 200K where I work... I'm averse to extra work, and I still managed around 160K the year before I went left seat into the bottom half of seniority on a narrow body... for that poor lifestyle and long slog mentioned... flying in North America 1, 2, sometimes even 3 legs a day, sleeping lots, doing a couple fun layovers, a couple short ones, but home more and earning more than I have ever in this career. What a slog...

I don't know what kind of lifestyle people consider good... Mine has never been better and it's improving all the time...

To the OP and others considering this game:
My advice is do it now, and do it fast, every month you delay, every extra month it takes you is opportunity lost and that has a cost... 30 or 40 seats on the seniority list, 1 less month at the top of the pay scale, maybe you miss the wave altogether...

So plan your training out, and do it efficiently... go now, get your private done before summer. Fly your ass off and study hard all summer so you get your time building and CPL flight test done by fall, then get your MIFR done before winter and get on the job market by the new year. It's certainly doable... Good luck. Best mind numbing career out there...

[atphat]

It’s funny how the only ones that ever slag it are the ones who’ve never done it.

It’s not perfect but I’ll watch the AP in cruise all day long.

If I had to go back to 703/704 I’d def be looking for another career.

[altiplano]

You got that right atphat...

703/704 kind of excitement again? No thanks... I'll take long legs with a meal service, a newspaper, and maybe a nap anyday.

[C.W.E.]

There are several areas of flying that are far from boring and quite satisfying to work in.

My favourite flying job was aerial application both fixed and rotary wing, followed by Fire Air Attack flying and flying airdisplays in the air show business, those three types of flying account for 36 years of my flying career.

As to long haul flying I jump seated back and forth to Europe and Africa for many years on a regular basis and the only positive thing I found about that kind of flying was the Captains sure made good money.

My longest jump seat trip was from Rio de Janerio to Paris France to Toronto and finally Vancouver on Air France, one of my sponsors in my flying business. I did the long trip to go home for a break from the flying I was doing in Brazil.

[altiplano]

Pretty basic viewpoint from the cheap seat CWE.

Aside from good pay, airline flying is stable and it's safe and it certainly provides it's own type of challenges. It affords a good lifestyle outside of work. You aren't having to spend all summer in camp, the off season searching for the next gig, or jumpseat around the world to do whatever you did... that's some pretty horrible routing... GIG-CDG-YYZ-YVR? Ouch... Couldn't you go through GRU? Or the States? What did that take? 2 or 3 days?

Speak of GIG... Sure "hated" all my 108 hour layovers down there... LOL... nothing positive about that...

[C.W.E.]

Pretty basic viewpoint from the cheap seat CWE.

What do you mean by " the cheap seat " ?

or jumpseat around the world to do whatever you did... that's some pretty horrible routing... GIG-CDG-YYZ-YVR? Ouch... Couldn't you go through GRU? Or the States? What did that take? 2 or 3 days?

Well as to do whatever I did in this case it was the only time frame I had as I was there as the personal pilot for the president of TAM airlines flying him around to expensive resorts.

Everyone has their own idea of what they most enjoy in their working conditions, me I enjoyed living in luxury and having tons of time off rather than living a life scheduled by an employer.

[yaro007]

Perhaps this video will help: https://youtu.be/nTz3rTXog8A