flight school costs

[dweb]

i just want some advice from somebody who has taken out loans to pay for the majority of their flight training, can u live off of the first couple of yrs of pay with that much debt?

 

[VW Pilot]

Never have taken out a large loan but from what I hear I would avoid the situation if you could. one of the toughest things about flight training is finding and securing funds for it. I used CC and cash with two jobs....Also as you probably already know, it is way more expensive to attend a 141 school than a 61...takes longer but saves you money and when you finish your training, you'll owe nobody any money. As for your question..Yes, you can live off what you make after you get to a regional but you would have to be very tight because they don't start you out making much money....you might start at $17,000 to $22,000.....or less.

 

[SPilot]

You may also make more money the first few thousand hours by not going to the regionals, but instead get jobs with several smaller operators flying various stuff. The point is to stay busy and never allow any time to rest beyond what's necessary for safety.

 

[aviator1978]

No

Funny I came across this post. I was think about how rare pilots will become because of this simple fact. Just 5 years ago I was able to get all my ratings for around 25K and it is still killing me. Now expect to pay 60K plus. And good interest rates are gone. Look at a finance calculator and put in 60K over a 20 year period at about 9% interest. See what your monthly payment is. I used http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

What's good about this site is it shows how much you should make in order to afford the loan. Sorry but you aren't gonna see that amount of money as a pilot anytime soon.

I've been warning folks I meet about getting themselves in this much debt to become a pilot. If you wait around (I'm thinking 2-3 years) I think that you are going to find ab-initio programs sprouting up like mad. It the only way I see airlines getting the pilots that they need in the future.

 

[aviator1978]

Worst yet, enter 70K at 10% interest. Yikes!! That might be a better estimate at starting from 0 time.

 

[dumblonde]

I agree with aviator1978. I have enough hours to move on (currently working as a flight instructor) but, can not afford to take the paycut. My loan is killing me.

 

[SPilot]

$790 per month is what 60K over 10 years looks like to me. Yikes! That's about half of what I make after taxes. And about five times more than what I have left for food after bills are paid. Its really fun to be poor.