possible career in aviation?

[A Passenger]

I finally have my PPL.

I'm still trying to decide whether I want to fly for a living or not. I love flying, and I would love to do it as a career, but the airline industry is dead. No airline is hiring, and if they start hiring again most won't even look at pilots with less than 1000 hours total flight time. It will probably take less than a year to get my Comm. licence, but it will be impossible for me to find any flying jobs other than instructing or towing banners.

Any suggestions?



-A Passenger (STILL not a pilot)

 

[C601]

I Know this might sound silly to you, (it did to me when i was 21) but you have plenty of time for a career in aviation
by the time your 24-25 things should be better, this gives you plenty of time to build up the hrs you need to get your 1st flying.

Remember Rome was not built in a Day, and neither is getting to be paid flying, it takes time and set yourself that goal. Get your Comm/ME/IR CFI etc and you will be well on your way, the key is not to give up when times are bad.

 

[bobbysamd]

Aviation career

Your profile shows that you're not even 19 yet. That is good! Your greatest asset right now is your youth. You have plenty of time to decide on a career.

One thing you should do for sure is go to college and earn a four-year degree. Despite what others might say, the airlines consider a degree to be desirable and look for it in their applicants. A college education will serve you, no matter what you do.

As said previously, the business is in the dumps right now but will pick up because it always does. If I were you, I'd finish college, train, and go for aviation. Or, you could take a college aviation program and get your degree and ratings at the same time.

By the time hiring improves, the whole landscape of airline flying might change. Regional flying, which had been regarded as a stepping stone, might end up being a career destination, and that could limit your opportunities. In any event, as a young person you can go for aviation after college. If, after a few years, it's not right for you, you will still be young enough to start something else.

Don't kid yourself about needing only 1000 hours to get an airline job. One or two of the regionals have 1000 hours as a minimum requirement, but the truth is you need far more hours to be competitive - more like 1500-2000 hours, with a heavy dose of multiengine time thrown in. Also, don't believe that you need only 300 hours to be hired at United. For one thing, assuming it stays in business, United won't be hiring for years. When finally does hire, extremely qualified pilots with previous miltary, regional and corporate turbine experience will be the most competitive.

Good luck with your plans.

 

[greyhound]

Hey passenger.

You are young, and it is actually good to train and develop qualifications when things are slow in terms of hiring. This way, while you are in training, jobs are being "stored" for later use. Jobs you would not obtain right about now. This is how I see it.

Now, this career DEMANDS dedication. It's the only way you can survive the ups and downs that come with this career. People who don't really know if this is what they want, sometimes end up quiting, even after spending thousands of dollars in training.
Try not to let this happen to you, determine if the sacrifices,time and money are worth it for you.

Otherwise you just learned an expensive hobby!

 

[TankCommander]

Time to kill

This may sound crazy, But the military is hiring.....

If I were to do it over again, I would join the USAF with a garrenteed job of computer geek. 9-5 weekends off. I would try and get a good duty station, Good meaning a big Arrow Club.
I would finish up my com. and inst. at a dirt cheap rate. When I was at Ft. Carson at the end of my service, Peterson AFB had wet fees for T-41 Cessnas 250hp gps the whole 9 yards for $55.hr
You must be on active duty to use the arrow club.

For God sakes man!! Get out and see the world. Its a big place. 3year enlistment you can live in eruope see things that most americans have only seen pictures of. Finish your ratings biuld time for fraction of the coast, and did I mention the GI bill.

My grand father once told me, "take time to enjoy the path that you travel to your goals. Because once you reach your goal, that path is the only thing you have to rember your journy."

Just some food for thought. GOOD Luck with witch ever path you might take.

 

[typhoonpilot]

Good question, but without knowing you better it is hard to answer. I would lean more towards the, "get into a career where you can make a lot of money and fly your own airplane for fun" camp. I say that because flying professionally is a difficult path and as others on this mesage board have indicated the earning prospects are declining.

Typhoonpilot

 

[fLYbUDDY]

I'm still trying to decide whether I want to fly for a living or not. I love flying, and I would love to do it as a career, but the airline industry is dead. No airline is hiring, and if they start hiring again most won't even look at pilots with less than 1000 hours total flight time. It will probably take less than a year to get my Comm. licence, but it will be impossible for me to find any flying jobs other than instructing or towing banners.

Any suggestions?

Yeah become an ATCS. You get to play around airplanes all day, talk to other pilots on the radio, and with the money they pay you if you still want to fly you could always do so on the side. Ohhh and you don't have to go on overnight trips away from the family (although you may want that)

 

[Publishers]

Limited Vision

First of all, if things were booming, you would still not be a candidate for quite awhile. To think that what the situation is today is what it will be reflects little vision.

It reminds me of a letter I received immediately after September 11th from a 19 year old. "My flying dreams of a career are dead" he wrote, what will I do now. My advise was to work on better dreams. A career is a lifetime, there will be good and bad days, good and bad years, from the adverse years you will grow, from the good ones, you will learn little. That is life.

 

[Draginass]

This vocation has fundamentally changed. You cannot expect a stable job and funded pension for retirement. You end game salary expectations are no longer what they were.

Flying may be enjoyable right now while you're young, single, and can live on a paltry salary, but you must consider later on down the road when you have a family, starting over with your third company, and are away from home a lot.

9/11, the collapsed economy, and 8 years of republican political dominance are allowing corrupt managements to hammer down any power that unions had. Expect more of the same when Bush is re-elected.

Pick your own poison, but there are lots of other great professions where you can get compensated much better and enjoy a lot more.

 

[100LL... Again!]

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possible career in aviation?
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Yes, they say it is possible.