Piloting career regrets?

[88_MALIBU]

A fork-tailed doctor killer?

That just made my day!!!
BAHAHHAHAHAHHA

 

[bigr]

I saw an interview last night on the local news with Julie Clark. she is an airshow pilot (T-34) that you've probably seen perform. very talented pilot. she just retired early from her captains chair at Northwest at age 55. the commute from Sacramento was just too much anymore. who knows what her real reasons are. but she will still be on the airshow circuit.

after 20 years as a captain she gave the following advice to aspiring pilots: "Get started early".

as a tragic side-note, her father was an airline captain that was killed when a psychotic passenger took over the plane he was flying and crashed it deliberately (in 1964), killing all on board. sound familiar?

 

[B1900DFO]

I would say that both doctors and airline pilots have seen their professions erode but when it is all said and done the medical field will be much more lucrative and rewarding. I hate to say it but I think pilots have done more to ruin our profession in the last few years than just about any other group of professionals in this country. Just do the math of a typical newcomer.
Four years at UND/Riddle-----70K?
Two years flight instructing-----10-20/flight hour (roughly 15k/year)
Two years as a regional FO------(14-30k/year)
Two years possibly the rest of your career as Reg. Cap ----(45k-85k)


Of course some guys get there quicker, but the average aviation puke can expect to hit the big time and make the coveted position of reserve captain at a regional airline around 8-10 years after beginning college. Quicker if you go to a bottom-feeding regional. Plan on being gone 60% of the time, more if you are a commuter. Once you do get that upgrade you'll see your salary skyrocket to the 60k range.

Seems to me like four years of med school looks pretty good. I've never heard of doctors being furloughed, agreeing to work for minimum wage to gain "experience", or having to start over at the bottom because their hospital went under due to competition from the "low cost hospitals" aka LCH's. I've also rarely heard doctors complain about other doctors making too much money..."can't stand those surgeon pigs pulling in 250k/year, who do they think they are trying to make this a good job" You will hear statements like that daily within the pilot ranks. I know I've been rambling (reserve is rotting my brain) but I would recommend you go to med school, buy an airplane and a set of epaulets when you can afford it and go knock yourself out. Just make sure you find a new flight instructor to ride along and keep you safe. I guarantee he/she will do it for free to build some more "complex time."

 

[Timebuilder]

By complex time might you mean an aviation complex, as in a fixation??

 

[TurboS7]

Your doc was Dr. McCauley and his son Mike. Mike is a good guy but he has had his share of problems.Flying for a living is tough. My recomendation.1)Never get married.2) Get one of those freight containers insulate it an put a pot stove in it.3)You can live in it on a far dark corner of the airport.When you base changes you just shove it in the back of the airplane and move to the next base.Move around the world and taste all the erotic and exotic stuff, get it out of your system. Next come back get married then settle in with some nice little scheduled airline like Airtran..enjoy life.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

d@mn good advice, turbo

 

[AA717driver]

The medical profession is eroding just like the aviation profession or the truck driving profession or...

Name your poison--globalization, NAFTA whatever, jobs aren't what they used to be.

My bottom line(getting furloughed after 15 years at a major) is all I've ever wanted to do is fly. I don't want my own business. I don't want to squeeze someone's balls and tell them to cough. I don't want to write software so some couch potato can kill bad guys.

If you are driven to be a pilot, do it. Anything else will not make you happy. If this is a coin flip or you are looking for the biggest W-2, do something else.

Good luck.TC

 

[slide33]

This is what I'd ask myself.

If you enjoy medicine and it will fulfill you - go to med school.

(I haven't heard anyone mention the nice chunk of debt you'll ring up for that PFT - calculate that - and liability insur. into the big bucks you'll be making after school/clinicals)

If you enjoy flying and it will fulfill you - fly

If you want money and it fulfills you - be a personal claims attorney.

In this case between medicine and aviation - you both pay your dues. Neither is a path to getting rich fast.

For me, money is not the driving factor. I've got an engineering degree - but absolutely no desire to make it my life's work. Flying is what I want to do - and I'll take the lemons with the lemonade.

Bottom line - do what makes you happy. If you aren't happy, then really - what's the F'ing point?

 

[Typhoon1244]

If you enjoy medicine and it will fulfill you - go to med school.

If you enjoy flying and it will fulfill you - fly

If you want money and it fulfills you - be a personal claims attorney.

Suppose you enjoy sex and it fulfills you...?

 

[flywithastick]

First, get a degree in something useful (1 - business, 2 - medical, 3 - engineering/science).

Second, go fly, OR get into some business for yourself. Working for someone else is not the secure, financially rewarding prospect it was a generation ago.

From an employees perspective, the corporate world is decaying day by day. Job security is essentially non existent in the avg *profitable* Fortune 500 corporation. You have no greater (and sometimes less) security than the avg contractor.

You get a new manager and he/she brings in their cronies from the previous assignment - you are then a target. The chiefs say reduce overhead 30% to offset a *predicted* or *possible* downturn... you're then a target. Someone figures out a way to outsource your services to *India*, you're a target. and so on...

Anyone who tries to tell someone to go the conservative route of corporate America has not been in this environment during the last 10-15 years. I was given very sincere advice to go this route (versus the very volitile route of a commercial pilot) when I was in school. It's not secure any longer, and a career change now would be horribly difficult at best with kids and debt.

Intense global competition, immigration problems, etc. have taken all comfort out of a 9-5 job (in this manufacturing industry). Don't think this is the easy-trucking route it may have once been.