Prospects for a Fat Pilot

[Max Crosswind]

Here's the situation: I'm a private pilot with designs on pursuing a flying career, hopefully with the airlines eventually. But here's the thing: I'm fat. How fat? 6'2", 320. I'm seriously working on it--following a low-carb diet, a weights routine, and jogging ~6 miles a week--but there it is. Now, I'm not so naive as to believe that my weight will be anything but a serious impediment to realizing my flying aspirations as it now stands, but I want to get an idea of how "fit" I need to be at before it ceases to be an issue in the eyes of an airline hiring committee or charter operation or even a flight school. I mean, even 10% body fat will put me at around 220.

Opinions and anecdotal evidence appreciated.

 

[DC9stick]

If you get you weight down so you just look big and not fat you should have no problems. As far as instructing you may have some limitations as to the aircraft you can use, all the two place trainers are out with weight problems even at 220 and some of the four place Pipers are forward CG limited. All that aside if you have the desire, go for it, stay motivated even in the bad times and you will be successful.

 

[Draginass]

It's a signficant problem. At 6'2" you're a pretty big guy even at normal weight. At 220 I think you'd look fine considering you height. It's not only your "interview appearance" that's at issue . . . . it's passing the company medical. I'm sure you know that severely overweight people have considerably more health problems, risk of diabetes, heart disease, etc. Admitted to or not, an airline isn't going to want to take you on knowing you're significantly more of a health risk. The airline physical I took was 10 times more extensive that a FAA Class 1.

Have you tried to get a Class 1 physical? Being able to pass a Class 1 is virtually mandatory before you even get to a company physical.

Keep up the good work on the diet and watch closely what and how much goes down the ol' pie-hole. It brings to mind Rush Limbaugh. I hadn't seen a recent picture of him until just a week or so ago. I can't believe how much weight he's lost and how much better he looks. You can do it to. Besides, at 320, you'd be a hurtin' puppy sitting in a relatively small airline cockpit seat for hours on end. It hurts bad enough at normal weight!

 

[Flic1]

I had an instructor that was the same size/weight as you. We had to put ballast in the Seminole I was training in but he got a job with a well known regional carrier. He was the biggest, but probably the best instructor I ever had. I'd work on trying to trim some of it off because I think comfort is more of an issue in some of these cockpits!

 

[Timebuilder]

Clearly, you are a smart guy who is in touch with the issues. Keep up the good work. Even 240 lbs of muscle isn't bad! We have guys that size who can somehow squeeze into Lear cockpits. I think they're shape shifters or something...

Drink lots of water and take a multiple vitamin. Try swimming to take that "jogging load" off of your knees and ankles. They didn't get any bigger when you did.

 

[SheGaveMeClap]

Your weight will be only a concern as far as personal comfort in the airplanes. Once you move out of your first CFI job and into a regional/charter/whatever your next step would be, it'll be easier and more comfortable, as you aren't sitting shoulder to shoulder with a student. I've flown with some pretty hefty (read: really obese) guys in my few years. Hell, walk around any major airport and you'll see some very overweight pilots, especially (sorry guys) EWR. Don't need to get into any debates about who doesn't dress sharply in their uniforms, but one major airline has a base there, and they have a lot of fat pilots who don't dress up well. It's not because of their weight, but it's because that bottom shirt button popped off and they haven't replaced it, or their top button on their coat is missing, it's just sloppy dress.

Bottom line, don't let a little bit of weight discourage you from flying. The airlines don't care (to a point) what you look like, as long as you are a sharp pilot and have a good attitude, you'll get hired.

 

[~~~^~~~]

I had an instructor that was the same size/weight as you. We had to put ballast in the Seminole I was training in but he got a job with a well known regional carrier.

Were you at UND? If so, he is a great guy, but when he starts shifting in his seat trying to get comfortable WATCH OUT eventually one of those size 13 feet finds a rudder pedal!

 

[RedBelly]

I am 6'3" and I used to weigh 340 lbs. I woke up one morning in January 1992 & looked in the mirror & realized no airline would hire me looking like that. When I finally made the decision to change things, the rest was pretty easy. I initially lost 60 lbs. in about 11 weeks. I ate the same thing 6 days a week & on Saturdays, I ate whatever I wanted. The biggest thing I did though, was to change the way I thought about food. It was 99% mental & 1% physical. Losing weight is easy, just consume fewer calories than you burn. How you choose to do that is up to you, but the biggest obstacle is your own brain. Basically, I decided to just DO IT & I did it.

I have been down to 195 lbs, but I looked like I was gonna blow away. I am currently about 225. It is pretty common for me to fluctuate between 220 - 235 lbs.

Whatever you decide, make the right decision for you & good luck!

 

[firstthird]

Yes, there seem to be more than a few fat airline pilots but I suspect that most of them were more svelte when they interviewed back in the day. The way a guy looks at 58 years old, with 30 years of seniority and union protections behind him, isn't how he presented himself at the interview.

I agree that you seem to have a good attitude and the right idea but I have one recommendation, use or discard at your will. Maybe try walking first instead of jogging. Disclaimer, I do plenty of running/jogging myself, upwards of 20-30 miles a week these days; but I'm quite a bit lighter (195). The reason I recommend walking is that every step running puts 2-3 times your weight on your foot and knee. Walking just puts your natural weight. So, you can subject your knees to 320 pounds a step or 1000 pounds a step. You'll get the same weight loss benefit walking, it just takes longer. If you run or walk 6 miles, the calories burned will be almost the same, but it will take you 3 times longer to do it walking. But, at your size, if you run too much you may blow out a knee and now you can't even walk and that will make losing weight way more difficult.

I'd like to run a marathon again someday but at 5'10" and 195, I think that the pounding on my knees would be too much. I'm targeting more like 180 before I get much above 30 miles a week again.

Good luck, I think the biggest part of any weight loss program will be the commitment you bring to it. If the goal is important enough, and being an airline pilot is a good goal, then it shoud be worth it.

 

[ceo_of_the_sofa]

You think you have it bad? Try 6'5, 270 Lbs...I couldda saved so much money learning to fly in a 152... Now that I think about it though, I may have to trim a few myself...

 

[V-1]

Congratulations on your decision and efforts to improve your health. If you need to use a potential job as motivation to improve yourself, so be it.

All the posters have given great advice...especially the walking vs. running posts. If you go to a gym, ride a bicycle...much easier on the knees. I'd strongly encourage you to continue pursuing weight training in your quest for improvement. An extra pound of muscle will burn as much as 50 calories every day, vs. a pound of fat that takes just a few to maintain.

As pointed out before, discipline and sacrifice are needed. This is hardest in the beginning. After the first month, you won't find yourself forcing yourself to excercise. After a few months, you may even feel a little guilty when you miss an occasional workout.

It's amazing how little effort it takes with a combination of strength training, aerobics, and proper diet. Don't fall for the b.s. advertisements for "easy" weight loss products. It'll take time...probably a year or longer to drop 100 pounds safely. Keep in mind how long it took to gain that extra 100 pounds. It didn't arrive overnight, nor will it depart overnight.

I don't doubt obese people have been hired by airlines in the past. I believe obesity is often a sign of poor discipline and self-image, qualities I wouldn't look for in someone I was about to invest many thousands of dollars to train. This is just my opinion, but I believe it's shared by most in the scientific and medical professions.

Congratulations again on making the decision to improve a weakness. It's so much easier to blame someone/something else for the problem. The good news is once you start seeing improvements, it will be easier to motivate yourself. Sacrifice today will build a better tomorrow, whether you get an airline job or not.

Best wishes.

By the way, 6'2", 220 lbs., and a true 10% body fat would give you a physique similar to what many bodybuilders maintain in the off-season. A little ambitious, even if you plan on doing some serious weight training. Tables published by the insurance industry for height/weight, although they don't apply well to people who seriously weight train, would put your proper weight range from 185 to 195 lbs., as I recall.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

Class I wieght fluctuations aren't good

I had a friend get denied at a major due to weight fluctuations on his Class I. He was asked to loose some weight to match what he had weighed previously or at least maintain a contstant weight.

He did and was later hired at a later date.

Good luck!

 

[U-I pilot]

max height

DO the airlines have height maximums (or minimums for that matter) to fly the big birds? I am 6'2" and all my relatives keep telling me not to grow much more so that I can still fit in the cockpit. I am not too worried about it though.