Aviation Jobs

[controlledcrash]

I'm a senior in high school and am currently taking private pilot lessons. I have been accepted to Middle Tennessee State University to become a professional pilot. My question...What is a normal piloting job that a person would get right after graduating from college? I know that there are several routes to go but which is the best if you want a career in the majors?


Thanks!

 

[bobbysamd]

Low-time job

Most aviation programs graduate students with Commercial-Instrument-Single-Multi ratings, CFI-A-I-ME ratings and about 250 hours.

You have to work your way up the ranks to get the better jobs. The better jobs require more experience. There aren't too many jobs open to 250-hour pilots. Examples would be flight instructing and banner towing. As you build upwards of 1000 hours and 200-500 hours of multiengine time opportunities improve.

At the point you'll begin to qualify for the regional airlines, which have been a good stepping-stone to the majors. After you've been with your regional awhile and have logged at least 1000 hours of PIC (Captain) time you will be competitive for the majors. However, if you've followed the news as of late you'll have noted the majors are in trouble. It's very possible the majors as we have known them will scale back drastically and regional airlines will the career for those who want to pursue airline flying.

Anothe option is military flying. Military pilots get some of the best flight training in the world and build experience in highly-sophisticated equipment. The majors like that. In addition, the military essentially performs the human resources screening function for the airlines. Officers fly the aircraft. The military is selective about whom it accepts as officers and even more selective about whom it trains as pilots. Military pilots have the qualities the majors desire in its pilots, so they know basically what they're getting in a former military pilot. You have to commit several years if you fly for the military, but you can get on directly with the majors after you separate. An important point, though, is when you're in the military it is your career. Airline flying is a career change.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your plans.

 

[SpocksBeard]

CFI'ing

I've always been of the opinion that you shouldn't flight instruct unless you actually want to. I've been doing it for over 2 years now and I am extremely sick of it, but I still enjoy parts of it. Many flight students I talk to always react the same way when asked if they plan on flight instructing out of college: they indicate they really don't want to but they feel that they will have to. The CFI gig isn't for everybody - you need to be good at it and you have to have a good attitude to do a decent job. If you look at it only as a way to build time then your students usually suffer. My end goal has always been the airlines but I looked forward to flight instructing from the very start. If you at all think during your flight training that you might not enjoy teaching, seriously explore the military option or other routes of gaining experience. Besides banner towing, you can also fly skydivers. I did that for one summer during college. The pay was laughable (many places won't pay you) but it was great experience. I still tell stories to my students about my experience there. The problem with either of these routes is you won't get any instrument time or cross country time. You won't get tons as a CFI either but you will get some.
Good luck. sb