It seems pretty obvious to me that aviation is going to be bleak, very bleak for several years to come.
Time to get the hell out of Dodge I'd say: leave aviation to the dreamers and misfits for the next few years and pursue a real life if you have other more rewarding options. Come back later when conditions are better if you are still interested; you are still very young. Being a flight instructor during a deep aviation recession is pretty lousy. Yes you can scrape along and slowly accumulate a few hours but there will be many sacrifices you will make and during a good aviation economy you can make up lost ground very fast.
Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
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hank998899
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Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
Thanks for chiming in! May I ask what is the nature of your current job right now? Is it instructing or some other sort of operation?Pilotdaddy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:20 amhank998899 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 7:57 am
I'm 27, same boat with stable income, working in IT and just got my CPL and am going to get my MIFR within the next two weeks. What are your ideas of keeping your day gig while being in aviation for the next little while? I have some savings left so I was reconsidering and thinking of just abandoning ship and sucking up the bad pay and instruct full time at a flight school after my instructor's rating. Just a bit confused about what's next...
The truth is, no one knows. If there were a straightforward answer to this, then all the fun in life would be gone. Imagine already knowing what tomorrow brings with 100% certainty? What's the point of today, then.
The hardest part is giving up stable income. But if all you wanted is a stable income, then you wouldn't be entertaining changing careers now, would you? I made this exact same jump last year and I still don't regret it... covid and all. However, I'm just merely sharing my thoughts... your results will vary and, at the end of the day, I think that you should only compare yourself against yourself. Everyone else's path and opinion are just background noise.
Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
Pilotdaddy,
Thanks for contributing. Can you please explain your current situation. Are you a pilot? If so, at what stage you are and what is your future goal? Has your livelihood taken a hit? Are you a family man (wife & kids).
Thanks for contributing. Can you please explain your current situation. Are you a pilot? If so, at what stage you are and what is your future goal? Has your livelihood taken a hit? Are you a family man (wife & kids).
Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
CPL/M-IFR costed me just shy of 50k. I flew frequently and did everything with the minimum hours required.
I've heard people blab on about how the industry will never go back/we're all doomed/exit aviation ASAP. But I've also heard people with impressive resumes talk about how it'll be back to normal shortly. Choosing to ride it out and ignore the noise may be best for me right now.
The pay is trash for me at the moment, but I'm frugal and debt free so I am perfectly fine. The days off are awesome, I've never had a job that allows me so much time off. Although for me personally it's become a normal job. I'm not overly excited to fly most times. Lots of days the last place I want to be is work.
I was fed up with my old career so I am glad this is what I'm doing. However, if I was making good money and could tolerate my job I'd probably buy a nice bush or aerobatic plane and fly for fun.
The lifestyle is okay while away at work. Some places it's hard to eat healthy, but it is do-able. Most hotels have a gym. I fast for the most part of the day to make up for the calories at dinner time. You'll make some awesome friends in the cockpit that can make working a lot more tolerable, but you'll also come across some folks that you cannot stand.
Take what you want from this, just my thoughts as a rookie in the aviation world.
I've heard people blab on about how the industry will never go back/we're all doomed/exit aviation ASAP. But I've also heard people with impressive resumes talk about how it'll be back to normal shortly. Choosing to ride it out and ignore the noise may be best for me right now.
The pay is trash for me at the moment, but I'm frugal and debt free so I am perfectly fine. The days off are awesome, I've never had a job that allows me so much time off. Although for me personally it's become a normal job. I'm not overly excited to fly most times. Lots of days the last place I want to be is work.
I was fed up with my old career so I am glad this is what I'm doing. However, if I was making good money and could tolerate my job I'd probably buy a nice bush or aerobatic plane and fly for fun.
The lifestyle is okay while away at work. Some places it's hard to eat healthy, but it is do-able. Most hotels have a gym. I fast for the most part of the day to make up for the calories at dinner time. You'll make some awesome friends in the cockpit that can make working a lot more tolerable, but you'll also come across some folks that you cannot stand.
Take what you want from this, just my thoughts as a rookie in the aviation world.
Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
Not bad at all your analysis. I like your optimism.
Spending a long time in a crappy flying job with crappy pay and crappy working conditions, which one will find increasingly common in a crappy aviation economy, one of the real interesting "benefits" you will certainly encounter is that you will make some very rewarding, strong and healthy long term friendships.
I don't know exactly why this is the case, but I suppose during recessionary times people tend to be a little more real and focus on the important stuff. I would think the WW II generation of pilots would have built some incredibly good friendships if we follow this line of thinking. And when the economy is booming along and everybody is advancing nicely, perhaps friendships are less solid.
Spending a long time in a crappy flying job with crappy pay and crappy working conditions, which one will find increasingly common in a crappy aviation economy, one of the real interesting "benefits" you will certainly encounter is that you will make some very rewarding, strong and healthy long term friendships.
I don't know exactly why this is the case, but I suppose during recessionary times people tend to be a little more real and focus on the important stuff. I would think the WW II generation of pilots would have built some incredibly good friendships if we follow this line of thinking. And when the economy is booming along and everybody is advancing nicely, perhaps friendships are less solid.
Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
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Last edited by PilotY on Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Requesting advise for career change to Pilot
Very wise.This time around, I'm going for it, but I'm definitely keeping my day job.
Remember, that all the amounts of money quoted in this discussion are those suggested to achieve a license, but no one has written about the post license costs to build the extra experience to become hireable. Even as a fresh CPL, a pilot job is a ways off, best have a plan to build relevant experience in the mean time. Plan to bear the cost of some recreational flying between license and job. This is why some pilots buy a time builder plane. If you buy well, maybe sell it later and get some of your money back....
