mid 30's

[Southbound1313]

Does anyone have any good/bad stories of getting or not getting hired at/after age 35. Do airlines shy away from hiring mid 30 somethings?

 

[keith]

mid 30s

Southbound1313,

I didn't start flying until I was 27. Started flight instruction at 30. Cargo at 33. Made it to a regional at 34. If anything I think age might bring maturity and professionalism that the airlines will find desirable.

I advise anyone who is concerned about age to jump in. It is a fun job that beats real labor any day.

Downside: starting pay the first few years is liveable if you are debt free, live with your parents, and like cutting coupons. Otherwise have a back-up financial game plan.

Good luck,

-Keith

 

[joe_pilot]

I was 35 when I got my CFI, 37 when I started flying freight. Now I'm 39 and flying for a regional. Kinda like Keith said, you can't do it for the money, but if you love it, you can pay the bills and make a comfortable living after a few years.

Good luck.

 

[joe_pilot]

Also, keep in mind that I started this whole process just before 9/11. It won't be nearly as difficult for you to get hired at your 'next' flying job because the industry is currently in an upswing. When the planes hit the WTC, I thought seriously about my decsion to go into aviation...for about 5 minutes. As much as my accountant thought I was nuts, I continued because I love it.

Every sunset I see from FL330 over Glacier National Park confirms that I did the right thing.

 

[fletch717]

I was a new CFI at 32. If this is what you have always wanted to do, then do it and don't listen to the negative people.

 

[FN FAL]

A buddy of mine was 45 when he got hired on at Mesaba for the AVRO. He spent one year on the AVRO and applied to FedEx and was hired on there as a 727 FE at 47. He's now an FO on something or other.

 

[Big Duke Six]

I was 40 when I was hired at F9. Half the class was older than me. One guy was 56.

 

[Jump Pilot]

I was just about to apply to the regionals when 9/11 happened. Now I am 39, and just can't seem to justify flying full time due to the pay.

Here are my job offers since 9/11:

Lear 25/35/55 FO - 19,000
Lear 31 FO - 38,000
Lear 35 FO - 24,000
SAAB 340 FO - 18000

My grocery expense for my family was $12K in 2004.

 

[TurboS7]

Miami Air is hiring, they like old guys.

 

[Hemispheres]

I was offered a job with Comair in the summer of 2001. I believe they went on strike and then the events of 9/11 transpired. Again I may have the dates wrong, anyway I turned the job down and am now Captain in a Citation 560XL. I changed careers at the age of 41, now I am 46. I took a $30,000 pay cut my first year leaving the electrical field and moving into aviation. It was not easy, but I survived the initial digress of wages. Good luck Hemispheres.

 

[El Cóndor]

There better be something for us thirtysomething guys looking from the outside and waiting for the right moment to jump back in!! I'm 33 right now, have a good gig with the State Dept. working at the Lima, Peru embassy, with many perks (free housing, differential pay, supplemental computer-certified pay, 401K, etc etc), but don't think for one second that I would not give all that up to fly for a living, even if the first years are rough economically. I just don't think there's anything else I would love doing every day . . . I have found that working as a CFI so flying bigger gear would be just as rewarding if not more.

Like many people have said here, mid-thirties is not a bad age to start living your dream.

 

[mar]

One life at a time please

Just live your own life and don't compare yourself to others.

Easier said than done, granted. But there are always going to be people ahead of and behind you.

The bottom line is that when everything fades to grey that you don't sigh, "Dammit. I shoulda....."

 

[tuna pimp]

Give it up, Grandpa. I hear Walmart is looking for greeters.








Seriously though, go for it. I'm 31 and am pretty much in the same boat as you seriously considering a flying career. If you can swing it financially then why not?

 

[JohnE]

Jump Pilot - Gotta ask. I've been trying to figure out whats the deal with your Avatar? It almost seems like the girl won some sort of golf tournament. Either that or a porno award. lol. Where's the picture from?

I was just about to apply to the regionals when 9/11 happened. Now I am 39, and just can't seem to justify flying full time due to the pay.

Here are my job offers since 9/11:

Lear 25/35/55 FO - 19,000
Lear 31 FO - 38,000
Lear 35 FO - 24,000
SAAB 340 FO - 18000

My grocery expense for my family was $12K in 2004.

 

[91100 100 set]

Jump Pilot - Gotta ask. I've been trying to figure out whats the deal with your Avatar? It almost seems like the girl won some sort of golf tournament. Either that or a porno award. lol. Where's the picture from?

I think I remember seeing that picture in the "Found Porn" column of Maxim, Stuff, FHM, or some other such rag a couple of years ago.

 

[HMR]

The bottom line is that when everything fades to grey that you don't sigh, "Dammit. I shoulda....."

That became my mantra years ago. It changed my life.

Good Advice.

 

[Goose17]

FedEx

We hire people from their early 20s up to late 50s. A guy in my new hire class was in his 50s.

Anything else might be considered age discrimination.

Goose17