Career Flight Instructor's

[AAflyer]

That's great! Well maybe I should get on your good side, and hope you remember me when chat on the radio. Special treatment (like SWA) .

I have met a few guys that are doing that. If I had lost my medical I would have done that. However I am now 34 and that is off the table.

Nobody bankrolled me. I started at 13. Was the airport kid. Had a paper route (2) that gave me enough money for a flight lesson every 2 weeks. I also got a lesson for my birthdays and Christmas etc. Washed planes for rides and flight time, etc. The instructors at the flying club were older and professionals in other fields. After flying with them for a couple years I ahrdly ever paid them, and the flying club C-150 rate in mid 80 to late 80s was about $25.00 an hour wet.

I met a lot of people, kept names and numbers, even jumpseated on some days off to meet other pilots from companies I was interested in. A lot had to do with timing and luck. I don't think I am any better for being hired here, just happened to be ready when all the majors where hiring great guns.
Still not sure that was good or bad, will let you now in another 26 years.

Best of luck, I also hope you find enjoyment in the job ( I think you will).

AA

 

[smellthejeta]

That's great! Well maybe I should get on your good side, and hope you remember me when chat on the radio. Special treatment (like SWA) .

I think this is a Jerry Maguire quote, but if you want special treatment, you have to "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!"

I have met a few guys that are doing that. If I had lost my medical I would have done that. However I am now 34 and that is off the table.

You friggin nuts? ATC is a tougher medical than it takes to fly... I say that because at least in certain aspects, the waivers and sodas that are available to pilots aren't available to ATC. I guess you could be an ATC'er without legs (I'd have to look into that) but not as a commercial pilot, but other things like vision aren't waiverable. Trust me when I tell you I know.

Nobody bankrolled me. I started at 13. Was the airport kid. Had a paper route (2) that gave me enough money for a flight lesson every 2 weeks. I also got a lesson for my birthdays and Christmas etc. Washed planes for rides and flight time, etc. The instructors at the flying club were older and professionals in other fields. After flying with them for a couple years I ahrdly ever paid them, and the flying club C-150 rate in mid 80 to late 80s was about $25.00 an hour wet.

I still am the airport kid. Funny thing is my line job is real kick ass, both at work and on payday. If it wasn't for the fact that the going rate of a C172 is about $100/hr minus the deadweight in the right seat, I'd still be doing a lot of recreational flying. Given my budget, I can't justify spending more than a few hundered a month. I built the bulk of my time in a flying club C172 at $55/hr. Those were the days. Spending the $$$ as a "career enhancement" is one thing, but right now, for rec purposes, well, I need to be saving most of that.

I met a lot of people, kept names and numbers, even jumpseated on some days off to meet other pilots from companies I was interested in. A lot had to do with timing and luck. I don't think I am any better for being hired here, just happened to be ready when all the majors where hiring great guns.
Still not sure that was good or bad, will let you now in another 26 years.

Best of luck, I also hope you find enjoyment in the job ( I think you will).

AA

Thanks... it's funny, in another forum I frequent, somebody made a comment that SWA can afford to be choosy in hiring pilots because it is a "sought after" place to work for. I told them the reason it is sought after is simply because 1) They're hiring, and 2) They haven't been affected by the wage cuts that are making the legacies leaner and meaner, making them relatively well paid.

I know what cycles are too... with ATC, they're either in a massive hiring mode or they're not. Of course, they're trying to remedy that with this ten year cycle thing, but when more than half of your work force is eligible to retire within a five year window, that means you hire a TON of young guys to replace them, but then hire nobody for a long long time.

As far as enjoyment goes... yeah, part of it is the bucks, but a BIG BIG part of the reason I passed on a flying career is the stability. I have had roommates that have been furloughed 3 and 4 times, and those have all been from regionals. That means they've been at the bottom of a regional pay scale two or three times. No thanks. Flying is fun; being furloughed (or worried about it, or being the last to get furloughed and all the good jobs are taken) is not.