Giving up money and lifestyle ?

[jrod]

I was in the same situation you are in. After my full time IT job went away in Oct. 01, I did the independent consulting thing for about a year and a half while I got some flight experience. When the time came to move on up to professional flying, I leveraged my IT background to get in the door at a corporate flight department.

Now I work one or two days a week in the office for them doing IT, and fly two or three. It's a great deal for them b/c they get more productivity out of me, while I get to keep current in both fields and make a few more bucks than the average Citation F/O.

Until this industry settles down a little, I wouldn't suggest that anyone jump in too deep. Maybe try the freight thing for awhile and then do what I did. I can't imagine a better way to go. Plus, your age will actually be an attribute trying to get in at a corp. Most CEO's don't like a youngin' like myself in the cockpit. I just got lucky to find one that didn't mind.

First rule in professional flying: ALWAYS have an out.

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

I just turned 28 last motn so I still have some time to let things fall into place. I'm not going to give up on my dream.

 

[Publishers]

Read

While I try to read many of these posts, the thing that gets me is the negativity of some and the light of others.

Not thirty minutes ago at our FBO, I was talking to a pilot who flies a Beechcraft King Air about the profession. He was telling me how much fun it was and what a great job.

He flies about 40 hours a month. Flew down here this morning from Virgina and will spend the next two and a half days in Florida. They rent him a car and he has a nice hotel and per diem. He si a bit older now but he does not think he is suffering all that much. He does have to do his own flight plans and weather. Sometimes he even helps with a bag or two.

He thinks he has the best job in the world.

What I would say to you is there are a bunch of happy pilots out there who do not come on these boards. Most of the ones I meet these days, well frankly I do not hear much complaining at all.

You need to follow the path you think will make you happy. If you love IT, then keep doing it. If you are not thrilled about doing that, then change.

 

[bugchaser]

I too have noticed the large number of negative comments anytime someone asks for advice. If all you guys really feel that your career is so bad, why do you stay with it? Why don't you switch careers and make enough money to buy an airplane for fun? I'm guessing that the answer is that you keep flying because you have a real love for it. Now, before you guys start casting stones, I have been flying airplanes for most of my adult life and have been through enough ups and downs to last a lifetime. One thing that has always remained steady is the enjoyment and satisfaction that comes from flying. There have been periods that I have had to take jobs outside of flying in order to feed the family. All in all, flying has allowed me to have a decent lifestyle while doing something that I love. Believe me, there are many many pilots out there who love their jobs. If you really want to do this, jump in and give it a try. If it doesn't work out you can always go back to your other career. If you never pursue your dreams you will always wonder what could have been. What's important is that you be realistic about things and like someone else said keep a backup plan.

 

[momshome]

Oh the big question!!! I ask myself every day what to do next. I love flying and never could see myself doing anything else for work... then 9/11 happened and the everything changed. After 14 years in the industry I was pretty close to the"dream" job, but am now back square one. Seniority is everything, so if your laid off from somewhere and go to work at a new company you could very well be an FO flying with a Captain that was your student at some point. And your back to making first year fo pay.Its such a gamble. My husband put aside his career to move around with me because my future seemed much more promising. So now I have two children, and we have nothing, and I feel like I'm being stupid and somewhat selfish if I don't consider some other career options.
So I guess I would agree with a lot of people by saying that your probably better off keeping what you have, and flying for fun. I don't regret my career choices up to this point. I've had lots of fun and worked with some of the best people, but times have changed, and you just never know whats going to happen tomorrow.

 

[captainv]

it's a decision we each have to make.

like several others, i got a journalism degree in college. i worked at a paper for 4.5 years before going into aviation full-time. i'd always wanted to fly, but being an airline pilot was a dream, and i thought it'd stay that way. getting my PPL only whetted my appetite. i realized i'd always regret it if i didn't go after aviation with everything i had.

my take is: find something you love to do and get a job doing it. there's a million avenues to take in aviation, and only you know, or will know, what's right for you. i know pilots that have turned down numerous bizjet jobs to fly night freight in C-310s. Corporate guys that would be miserable in an airline cockpit. CFIs that were meant to teach pilots the rest of their lives. Some chase money, some opt for QOL. Do what's right for you.

i also know guys who decided in high school - hmm, i want to make a lot of money. I'll study law/medicine/business to make that happen. a few made it big. They're now rich. Are they happy? I hope so.

clearly i'm not in it for the money - i once flew a billionaire around, and he is hands-down the most miserable, unhappy person i've ever met in my life... i do it because i love it. maybe one day the industry will kick me where it hurts. i've seen it happen to quite a few friends already in finance, business, medicine, even teaching. few careers are immune.

i hear a lot of "i should've gotten in to medicine" on threads detailing our industry's woes. yeah, like becoming a doc of any kind, much less a surgeon, is simply a decision followed by 10 years of school. i know tons of medical people, and my life as a 2nd-year FO at a regional is rather similar to theirs in terms of low pay/strange and long work hours/years and years of sacrifices. try raising a family as a resident.

the grass is always greener. life will crap on you at times no matter what you do, so you might as well enjoy the job. i would tell aspiring pilots that now is the time to get their ratings and their hours. aviation has had a bad stretch the last few years. but it'll get better. then worse. then better. then worse...

Do what's right for you.

--the Tao according to V

 

[FlyingToIST]

Once again, thanks for the replies.
To give you an insight, I was in Vegas last week for a conference, and that lead to a 7 week contract that would enable me to get paid more than a year salary of a regional F/O.

But, I always wanted to fly, and contrary to what most CFIs believe the most enjoyable part of flying for me is teaching.

So, despite the high insurance rates, low customer demand, etc. etc. I decided to follow up with my dream that I have been workin on a side for last 2 yrs: establish a flight school.

I have worked as a CFI both part and full time and I have seen lotsa bad and good apples. Even though the economy is bad, I think there is market for the people who want to learn to fly.

I had my eye on for this airport for last 2 years and I am biting the bullet and getting my feet wet. So there will be lotsa weeks where I will be in the client site doing IT stuff and flying on the weekends.

I am not expecting to make money on this to start out with, but if I can get to teach people how to fly, get paid to do it, and give some CFI the opportunity to build some experience, why not get into it..

I will keep you all posted..

 

[4fanman]

FlyingToIST...

Good luck with the school and do keep us posted. I am interested in hearing about it becuase it is something that I too would like to try. There is an airport near me that is in need of a flight school and I would like to start one there.

I walked away from Mesaba after almost 5 years and it was one of the best decisions I have made recently, but that's another story. Now I am flying single pilot freight/charter to pay the bills and keep current until I figure out what to do.

 

[j328driver]

WOW!

After reading some of these posts, I feel sooooooo not worthy.

In late 1993, at age 30, I came to the conclusion that flying for fun and working the day job just wasn't going to scratch the itch. After taking a voluntary separation bonus from one of our esteeemed military services (not a pilot), I set off to become a pilot at a major airline.

I've worked nearly every day since. If I wasn't flying (instructing, check hauling, regional), I was working side jobs to provide for our growing family (5 total now). I kept 3 people alive for almost a year and a half making $410 every other week from the airline (qualified for and accepted public assistance) and $7/hr off the rent working side jobs for the landlord. I've yet to make more than $55K/yr ever in my life. We've averted divorce once or twice (barely), and we currently drive used cars with 150Kmi & 200Kmi. We've taken 2 vacations in our lives (road trips to a local resort area, off season, w/kids). The only house we could afford was an 85 year old former church/chapel that I've converted into a single level ranch home in a modest neighborhood. We don't own most of our house, and we're floating $$ on credit cards.

All that, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've enjoyed every job that I've had since I left the service. I've loved flying every airplane that I've ever flown. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I've never not wanted to go to work since I switched careers. I used to hate the thought of having to get out of bed in the morning in my previous lives. Granted, I was fortunate to have hit the industry at the most opportune time and not (knock on wood) had to endure a furlough, (yet).

As mentioned in earlier posts, I firmly believe that you truly have to have a deep in the blood passion for this job to be able to get yourself through the crappy times and enjoy the good stuff.

I think to some degree we all have made significant sacrifices to get to where we are and/or where we're going. Those are the folks I want sittin' up front with me!

Good Luck.

 

[AA717driver]

I've given the same answer before, if this is what you REALLY want to do(you know, can't live without it, wanted to do it since you were 5 years old...) then do it.

If you want to do it, AND want to stay married, try this-- PM me and some others who may volunteer to let your wife talk to our wives and see how this plays on the other side of the bed. THAT may give you the direction you need.

BTW, I've been telling people that the only career choice that is LESS stable than the airlines is IT!
Talk about no job security!

Give me a call. My wife and I have been together since I was tying down Cherokees and spooning oil into Mooneys that some son of a bi... Well, that's another story .TC

 

[michael707767]

I want to comment on the airline life and marriage. Sure it's tough. Time away from home, uncertainty with job security, financial stress, etc.

But, I do not believe any of this will cause your marriage to fail. If your marriage fails, it was because it was a flawed marriage to begin with, not because of your career choice. The stress of an aviation career may accelerate the end of a bad marriage, but it will not ruin a good one.

Having said that, if I was 22 and starting over again, I would not choose to go into aviation.

 

[JetSpeed219]

Michael, why would you not do it all over again if you were 22 and starting from scratch?

 

[sonicyouth]

Re: Read

What I would say to you is there are a bunch of happy pilots out there who do not come on these boards. Most of the ones I meet these days, well frankly I do not hear much complaining at all.

You need to follow the path you think will make you happy. If you love IT, then keep doing it. If you are not thrilled about doing that, then change.

Man, you hit the nail on the head, Publishers. There are A LOT of people who get into aviation disillusioned, and with unrealistic expectations, or maybe they just lose sight of the big picture. But there are a lot of people who can't imagine doing anything else, because they love what they do!

 

[captainv]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I had to choose aviation, even though it was my second career. It was a situation where if I hadn't gone for it, I would've spent the rest of my life wondering what it would've been like. I just widh I'd chosen it earlier...

>why would you not do it all over again if you were 22 and starting from scratch?

 

[EngineOut]

Personally, I have been enjoying the journey. I've been in the biz for four years, and have tasted the bad and the good. I wouldn't change anything. I can tell you this, though...

If there were no such things as airplanes, I'd be a train engineer.

If there were no trains, I'd be a long-haul truck driver.

If there were no trucks, I'd sail ships.

 

[spitfire1940]

and if there were no trucks, i'd want to be in a caravan on the silk road.



.... I think the problem with many of postings on this board (and I'm guilty of some of them, although I should know better) is that many pilots have never been anything but pilots.

They think the grass is greener in other professions, but really, just about any career can suck massively--and we've heard it from guys with experience in IT, medicine, law and journalism to name a few things.

yeah, the pay can suck and the treatment by management can be bad, especially at the regionals, but it's no different than anywhere else.

do what you love to do and everything else will fall into place ... or not ... but there's no guarantee you'd make more money or have a better lifestyle doing something else.

 

[AA717driver]

It beats a cubicle or sitting in coach filling out your weekly sales report and wishing you were sitting up there with a window seat talking about chicks and beer! TC

 

[JetSpeed219]

I graduated with a degree in Network Administration, got an IT job strait out of college with Hewlett Packard only to be laid off 2 months later.........there is no such thing as job security in any field....