ERAU on piloting career

[CopilotDoug]

I don't understand the people that say, "Money isn't everything."
My guess is that they either:
A)Their lifestyle is subsidized by relatives or spouses
B)They don't have any real world work experience yet (right out of college)
or
C)They have no sense of self worth.

In my opinion, not one of these is a valid excuse.

And by the way, YIP, why didn't I think of going out and logging the TurboJet PIC time in the first place when I was 19 years old?!?

 

[HA25]

I don't understand the people that say, "Money isn't everything."
My guess is that they either:
A)Their lifestyle is subsidized by relatives or spouses
B)They don't have any real world work experience yet (right out of college)
or
C)They have no sense of self worth.

In my opinion, not one of these is a valid excuse.

And by the way, YIP, why didn't I think of going out and logging the TurboJet PIC time in the first place when I was 19 years old?!?

I agree... heck, I'll come right out and say it..I've done EXTREMELY we'll in real estate with my family over the past 3 years (outside aviation) and I don't have to work a single day in my life and still can drive a new benz and live in a nice home for the rest of my life...

BUT

I have self worth. I believe that my chosen 'profession" has a great deal of responsibility and an immense burden on it's body of members.. Having myself been in a real life smoke in the cockpit/Emergency descent and seeing my life flash by along with the faces of my family and kids.. thinking about them growing up with out me.. Thinking about the dozens of people in the back and their families, and then those on the ground should I plan it into a city.. All this registered hard on me after we got it down on the ground safe that in the end, the concept, or idea of a pilot who's flying even the smallest mainline passenger jets, for under $75,000 for first officer, and $150,000 or more for CP is simply wrong on it's face, no matter what your personal financial situation is.

I mean when you look at a Muni Bus driver in SF making $80,000/yr, while at the same time a Airbus pilot based out of SFO for Virgin America is going to make the same thing... doesn't that strike you as odd?

 

[thowe21]

Embry-Riddle is the biggest scam out there. The Pilots that were in my training program in a 121 carrier almost didn't make it through training. If there is one thing I can say to all you new guys who want to be pilots is one, don't go to Embry-Riddle, two don't go to Purdue and if you want to make money become a porn star....but Riddle sucks...

 

[av8rnate]

Concerning the college degree, it's more who you know than what you know. If you don't know anyone a doctorate won't get you an interview. They won't know you have a degree if they don't read your resume...they won't read resume unless someone you know pulls it out of the enormous stack. If they have taken the effort to pull it out of the stack you're probably already in their favor, degree or not. Though a college degree is never a bad thing, it's rather silly to say that it is a must in this industry (FedEx being the only real exception). Of course those on either side of this debate could list examples in their favor; all would agree that you need to know someone. There lies the conclusion

 

[8KCAB]

Please, for the love of GOD! Would my fellow ERAU grads PLEASE quit giving us all a bad name. Oh, to be 18 again and train Part 61 and go to a state school. A business degree, or engineering or F-ing anything but a worthless AS from a college that takes 10 minutes to explain to anyone and a life-time to pay back. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[pilotyip]

co-doug, 19 might be streching it a bit, but I hired a pilot back in 1998, 22 years old and he had almost 1000 hr TJ PIC, flying Lears for a on-demand place, he now a happy F/O at a LLC.

 

[pilotyip]

V790TF, you listed $150K, for a Captain, that is above almost every number you listed in the other post. To be paid that well to do something you like is every man's dream. Those Virgin pays you mention are entry level pays. Virgin world wide has a pretty good reputation with its srewmwmbers. There is no reason to believe the American Virgin will be any different.

 

[PCL_128]

Virgin world wide has a pretty good reputation with its srewmwmbers. There is no reason to believe the American Virgin will be any different.

Virgin Atlantic has some of the lowest-paid international widebody pilots in the world. So yeah, you're probably right. Virgin America will be the same.

 

[HA25]

V790TF, you listed $150K, for a Captain, that is above almost every number you listed in the other post. To be paid that well to do something you like is every man's dream. Those Virgin pays you mention are entry level pays. Virgin world wide has a pretty good reputation with its srewmwmbers. There is no reason to believe the American Virgin will be any different.

EVERY medical doctor on my list made $170+ so don't sell the airliner captain short.. He should make at or above what a doctor makes.
\

 

[CopilotDoug]

co-doug, 19 might be streching it a bit, but I hired a pilot back in 1998, 22 years old and he had almost 1000 hr TJ PIC, flying Lears for a on-demand place, he now a happy F/O at a LLC.

You gotta admit though, YIP, that's VERY few and VERY far between.
So much so that it's not a practical option. Unless you have a daddy with deep pockets.