Any Commercial Pilots Here

FamilyMan

FamilyMan

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My son is a high school senior and is considering pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot. If there are any pilots here who would be willing to pass along some wisdom from your experience, please let me know.

Thanks.

FamilyMan
 
Not sure where your fro but we have a good school here in middle GA that has a good flight school. A good friend of mine is a student now. In his freshman year.
 
The private sector can be a pretty good gig as well. Our corp pilots have a pretty sweet set up and get to travel the world. Here are a couple of the birds in our group. When we see their bios, I notice almost all of them have some sort of military experience/training....which is pretty awesome.
 

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I am just a mechanic/inspector in the industry but a lot of the people I deal with are commercial pilots and there(was pre corona) is a huge shortage from fire fighting to the the airlines. The biggest hurdle is getting time in the seat. Lots of good programs out there that train you then move you into the next phase.
 
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Took my last flight and retired from the Marine Corps 5 years ago almost to the day. When I got out I had over 3k multi-engine hours (KC-130 and King Air) and haven’t flown since. Most of my buddies that I was in with went the commercial route. I had seen enough and don’t miss it one bit-zero regrets. If you don’t mind living where you are based (big city hubs in NY, MI, TX, CA...) you can make good cash and work minimally. If you want to live in a place that is not your home base be prepared to be away from home 20+ days a month. The pay isn’t that great when you have alimony and child support cutting it in half. The airlines were hurting for pilots up until the virus, now they will likely furlough guys in Sept. If you want my advice...go to College and have a good time and get a degree that is marketable if things change. If the pilot thing is really what you want, join the military after college on a guaranteed aviation contract. You won’t do it without a degree, so start there.
 
I flew for the airlines for 8 years. There are some major pros about being a pilot and some major cons. Prior to corona, it was a huge hiring boom for pilots. As Labman said though, now the airlines will be furloughing pilots. My guess though is that it would still be a good career choice. There are still massive amounts of mandatory retirements in the next 10 years. I would certainly be willing to answer some questions from you though.

I'm not a person to say a lot but I could write paragraph after paragraph about what it's like to be a pilot (mostly how it sucked). What I found is that if you're a big outdoors person, it is a very difficult balance between flying, family and the outdoors. It's awfully hard to be gone for 5 days, then come home and go hunting for 3 days and then go back flying for 5 days. What I found is that between the 3 categories of flying, family and fun, you have to pick 2. Nearly impossible to do all 3.

Had very few celebrities on our planes but did have Carrie Underwood about 10 years ago...Carrie2.jpg
 
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As a few of the previous posters mentioned it is a really horrible time to be a commercial pilot. However, only a month ago it was one of the best periods in history to be a pilot. Things change in this industry extremely rapidly, and it will likely take several more years before it improves. That is good and bad for your son. Even if he started his training tomorrow it would most likely take a few years for him to get enough hours to get hired by a regional so maybe it will be a good time to be a pilot again then.

I would also echo the recomendation to get a degree that is useful, and also get the military to pay for your training. The pros to the military are huge and as a prior Army Blackhawk pilot I can say without question that it was one of, if not the best decisions of my adult life to join the service. In addition to learning to fly helicopters, getting to serve with outstanding individuals, and to serve overseas, when I completed my eight year tour I earned the GI Bill. After getting out, I went back to school using the GI Bill and got my fixed wing ratings. I flew for a regional for about a year and decided that wasn't for me. Now I'm flying a Lear Jet as a Medevac pilot in Alaska. All of that aviation training with no six figure debt to pay down.

The military route isn't for everyone though, and all aviation training demands a very self disciplined individual with particular aptitudes and physical requirements. Given all that, I personally wouldn't recommend becoming a pilot.

Think about this for quote a chief pilot told me once I earned my private pilot license. He told me, "congratulations, welcome to the lonely, poor pilot's club."
 
Thinking of quotes over the years a couple come to mind: Bill Tinsley, my ground school instructor in Corpus back in 2000, who was a Vietnam era Navy pilot said “If you make this a career you will know someone who is killed in an aviation related incident.” At that time I was 24 and didn’t think much of it. After 6 plane crashes that have killed guys I know I think about him saying that all the time.

When I was figuring out my next phase in life after retiring from the Marines I asked a reservist who flies for United and lives in South Dakota if he could go back in time and make the same decision, would he do it all over again. The answer, a simple “No.”

Sorry if my responses come off as pessimistic about the life of commercial aviation, and the road to get there. Everyone has different motivations in life and things that they are willing to live with/without.

It is a big decision in life that could be hard or impossible to recover from if you make the wrong choice.
 
Geez, to follow the logic of *a couple this Country would be devoid of LEO, Fire fighters, Paramedics and Nurses to just name a few. Many don’t come home or end up living with memories that can’t be forgotten...ever!
*Clearly spoken as your truth but some of us can’t help following our path in life.

Not everyone is cut out for hitch work, thankless jobs, hard work or long hours, some of us thrive on it.

Our son came to us while in college and said he wanted to learn to fly. He was 19. His mom wasn’t happy about it but we encouraged him to follow his heart though we wouldn’t assist financially. Once he proved himself committed by getting his private license we changed that stance as he collected endorsements and training.
He became a private flight instructor to gain flight hours. Long story short he flew regional jets for a large carrier, meeting his wife another regional pilot that had followed a similar tract.
Now they are both flying (First officers) for major airlines, happy and established in the industry still in their 20’s. Living their dream.
I will save the story how a dumb kid that loved to fish and made squat for pay for the 20 hour days ended up owning a fleet of fishing boats...
One never knows....
 
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FamilyMan said:
My son is a high school senior and is considering pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot. If there are any pilots here who would be willing to pass along some wisdom from your experience, please let me know.

Thanks.

FamilyMan
Click to expand...

I say, tell him to follow his dream and support him to the best of your ability, even it it is only verbally.

I am not a commercial airline pilot nor do I intend on being one. But I do hope to learn how to fly a Bush plane. Several friends fly them and I enjoy trips with them. Panda Bear also flies one and her stories about the difference between landing and take off with wheels, floats and skis are interesting. Anyway, some use their planes for outfitters ( hunting and fishing ), Government workers, sight seeing, photography, etc. Some towns in Alaska, The Yukon Territories and Nunavut are supplied 100% by small aircraft travel. Not what you ask about but maybe something to share with him.
 
Yes, I’m a commercial pilot. I fly corporate aircraft and have multiple Type Ratings.

My advise for your son would be to get his ratings by joining the military.
 
I earned my private at 17 and then went to flight school for college thinking that would be my career choice. Went through to the point of earning commercial single and multi ratings with instrument endorsement, but didn't quite finish CFI. I've tried to go back a few times to earn my CFI but just can't make the training fit into my budget. In hindsight I wish I would have finished it when I was in school. I was in the class of pilots that were impacted by 2007-08 financial downturn. The class a year ahead of me were hired as CFIs but had nowhere to go, so they stayed in that role, effectively closing me and my classmates out. I ended up bailing and earning a bachelors in Business, and here I sit now working in Marketing.

I do dream about getting back into it some day, but more as a hobby than a career. Perhaps if I am lucky I will fall into a job with the ratings I have currently.

My advice for you and your son would be to follow his dream, but definitely have a frank discussion about the costs associated with it first; not as a deterrent, but as an exercise in understanding what it will cost to get to his goal. I agree that it isn't for everyone, but it is certainly a dream worth pursuing even if things change along the way!
 
My cousin is an air traffic controller. He wanted to fly but didn't think the cost of training made sense. That was 15 years ago though.
 
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