Mid-career switch to aviation — looking for real-world advice

[Thomas7575]

Hi everyone,

I’m 46, based in Ontario, and seriously considering a career change into aviation. My plan would be modular training (PPL → CPL → Multi-IFR) with the goal of a regional FO position.

I’d love to hear from anyone who started later in life or recently went through the process — especially what surprised you, what you’d do differently, and whether you’d make the same choice again.

Thanks in advance for any insight

[leafs95]

I wouldn't normally recommend it but given your age and life-experience, maybe you'd consider one of the Cygnet cadet programs. ab-initio training with a guaranteed right seat at jazz or porter (depending on the program you're enrolled in).

Because of your age and any family commitments you may have at this time, it may be more beneficial to get on a stable regional immediately after training as opposed to slugging it on a ramp up north or flight instructing for x amount of months or possibly years. Of course this will cost you more than doing it modular, though I truly believe you'd reap the benefits from these sorts of cadet programs.

Best of luck whichever path you decide to take. Cheers

[khedrei]

I did it at 33. I was financially comfortable and had no kids. I had a ppl when I decided to leave and finished up my cpl before actually leaving. I did it the modular way at a local school. Instructed after then got into corporate. I don't regret it mainly because I hated the company and industry I was in before.

Obviously my situation is not as "later in life" as yours. Depending on your family commitments and lifestyle, the previous posters suggestion of an organized, "guaranteed" path might be a good way to minimize the training time and hit on your lifestyle while also avoiding doing the ramp up north as well as accomplishing your end goal at a regional.

With that said, if you make good money and dont hate your job too much and want this simply because you just love flying, I wouldnt do it. Buy a plane and fly for fun.

Good luck.

[canadianfly]

Hey Thomas 7575,

I've been in professional aviation since 1999, becoming a pilot was my childhood dream. Now back to your question:

There is nothing wrong with switching careers however this move will obviously come at a cost and not only financial especially in aviation.

If everything goes right in terms of your energy, efforts, motivation, family, financial and geopolitical situation...and that's a big IF, after you graduate you can expect to go as a rampie (if not in cadet program) for 2-3 years or instructing somewhere or going way up north for your first underpaid job, that will take a serious hit on your psychological state of mind. even if you make it to 705 ops Jazz type of stuff, you're still going to be bottom list not necessarily anywhere near your home town, your current lifestyle and work balance as you know it will be a thing of the past and you will end up with a new rearranged reality that will not probably suite you.

This decision needs to be made in close collaboration with your partner and your kids (if any) as this shift will affect all of them.

My advise to you is to stay away from flying aircrafts (professionally). If you have some savings i would suggest you self educate and invest them. Get a PPL and grab a C-172 or a Warrior from time to time to ease down your long dream of becoming a pilot. it's probably not what expected to read but I'm giving you my honest opinion from the bottom of my heart as i don't want you to regret your move.

I hope this helps.

[Red_Comet]

To add to the wisdom of the above posters, in my opinion the aviation employment market is back to pre-covid levels. Even new instructors are having a hard time getting hired at FTUs, as airlines/charters have drastically slowed their hiring rates causing the entire pilot pipeline to slow to a crawl.

The modular route is great, but as a pathway to the airlines it is a false sense of security. This is because you will end up spending far more time/money training part-time and it will cost the same or more than if you went full time ab-inito once you include opportunity cost of lost employment. Not only this, but I can guarantee that outside of these programs, very few (if any) 250 hr CPLs/iATPLs are being hired directly into regionals at the moment. We've had dozens of top Seneca/Confed/Sioux grads train as instructors because they aren't getting picked up by regionals like they were in the past few years. Anecdotally, I don't know of any pilots being hired at regionals without ~1000 hours (all commercial/instruction experience) in the past few months.

Airlines are likely bracing for economic uncertainty driven by the US shift in foreign policy in addition to a domestic economic storm brewing. For all these reasons, the advice I would have given a few years ago is not the same as I would give today. At present, the best path may be to begin your modular training part time without disrupting your life, and if you enjoy it enough, keep progressing incrementally without expectations of an airline job. Flying is much harder than most people (myself included) expected prior to training. It will be the most difficult thing you do unless you're unusually gifted. Even so, the ground school is also not trivial. All that said, it is an extremely rewarding experience for passionate aviators.

[Tiberius]

I'm 46, living in Ontario, laid off from a long term position in an industry (construction / engineering) that's become a race to the bottom, with wage suppression and hollowing out of mid level roles.

Money in the bank and time on my hands, I think now is the time to make the jump. I want to get into instructing because I enjoyed mentoring new hires in my old job.

I think aviation is going to see more older people entering the field, irrespective of job security; people who may have considered it in the past, but went onto other things. Jobs that were once sold as 'stable', as the value proposition, are no longer stable with all the layoffs happening, especially in white-collor fields. I know people who were once making 6 figures in IT, now retraining to become plumbers and electricians. My thinking is, if regular jobs aren't offering stability or security anymore, then to hell with it, I might as well become a pilot.

[altiplano]

It's all a cycle.

We could arguably be in the last throws of a bubble of hiring and opportunity that's largely been related to boomer retirements which will start to peter out in a few more years, lots of growth across the industry from increased travel trends, and Air Canada which is the largest employer in the sector by far and has doubled their pilot numbers since pre-covid. But we're in a recession, debt crisis, cost crisis, stagflation crisis, trade crisis... pick your crisis... and Canadians largely haven't realised it yet. What's going to happen? Lots of uncertainty.

I felt like I started late in my early/mid-twenties and then hit the low cycle with 9/11, bankruptcies, recession, etc. I was able to ride out over a decade of stagnation with unemployment, under employment, low pay, move around the country, work my ass off, get through it all somehow and get to an airline because I was in my 20s and 30s and didn't have any encumberments, mortgages, kids, minimal responsibilities in life, and I grew up broke so just needed my truck, fishing rods, and dog for happiness.

Could you get through that at 46? Are you willing to move anywhere? And you're just starting training, by the time you're employable is a year away at least. So maybe you're 47, 48, 49... at best and just getting your entry level job, what if there's no jobs though and you just blew $100K on training? Are you going to recoup that with a low end job in this business?

How's your health? Remember that it all teeters on maintaining your medical too. And even if you're fit there are severe restrictions on this job when you turn 65 ie. ICAO limit and you're not going to be working for any operators that have flights that go out of Canadian airspace. There are limits on opportunity at that point.

Lots to think about if you're going to do this. And you better think quickly, because if you do do it there's a lot of opportunity cost that delaying another day will bring. Hurry up and maybe you can still catch the wave.

[Tiberius]

It's all a cycle.

We could arguably be in the last throws of a bubble of hiring and opportunity that's largely been related to boomer retirements which will start to peter out in a few more years, lots of growth across the industry from increased travel trends, and Air Canada which is the largest employer in the sector by far and has doubled their pilot numbers since pre-covid. But we're in a recession, debt crisis, cost crisis, stagflation crisis, trade crisis... pick your crisis... and Canadians largely haven't realised it yet. What's going to happen? Lots of uncertainty.

I felt like I started late in my early/mid-twenties and then hit the low cycle with 9/11, bankruptcies, recession, etc. I was able to ride out over a decade of stagnation with unemployment, under employment, low pay, move around the country, work my ass off, get through it all somehow and get to an airline because I was in my 20s and 30s and didn't have any encumberments, mortgages, kids, minimal responsibilities in life, and I grew up broke so just needed my truck, fishing rods, and dog for happiness.

Could you get through that at 46? Are you willing to move anywhere? And you're just starting training, by the time you're employable is a year away at least. So maybe you're 47, 48, 49... at best and just getting your entry level job, what if there's no jobs though and you just blew $100K on training? Are you going to recoup that with a low end job in this business?

How's your health? Remember that it all teeters on maintaining your medical too. And even if you're fit there are severe restrictions on this job when you turn 65 ie. ICAO limit and you're not going to be working for any operators that have flights that go out of Canadian airspace. There are limits on opportunity at that point.

Lots to think about if you're going to do this. And you better think quickly, because if you do do it there's a lot of opportunity cost that delaying another day will bring. Hurry up and maybe you can still catch the wave.

There's definitly lots to think about. Comming into aviation at middle age is not the same as someone comming into it in their 20s.For me personally, I'm not interested in flying for the airlines. I would be content working in general aviation and I'm somewhat cynical of the whole concept of a 'career'. People like me have gone to school, obtained advanced degrees, wound up in what were relativley high paying roles, only to now see the ground dissapear beneath us. It's not just a simple business downturn, but rather, the entire scaffolding that underpinned our industries going away; whether that through AI adoption, or demand destruction through poor govnerment policy. What makes you valueable durring busier years makes you a liability in a downturn. I was very good at what I used to do, but I've learned the hard way that that offers no protection or security. In looking for other work, I've had no trouble finding offers. The trouble I have is companies wanting senior level output, but offering junior level pay, while the work itself entails delivering on development projects worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in downsteam value. And so my thoughts are, if I have to take a paycut, I might as well make a pivot into aviation. It's the one field where I think I can stomach it, especially if I'm instructing. All that said, I figure I'll get my PPL first before fully commiting to a career change. In as far as health and mobility, I'm good in those departments.

[Bede]

You seem to have a good head on your shoulders and have a solid plan. It won't be as easy as when you're 20, but it should work out for you.

Good luck!