Question about flying career

[MustangMark83]

Hey i'm new here, I hope I'm asking this in the right place.

I'm 21 years old and I have always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot. For the past 10 years I have been using various flight sims, mainly microsoft's flight simulator. I have never really had any real life flying experience, I asked my dad to pay for flying lessons for me but he refused.

I was wondering what the best route into a commercial pilot career would be, not including the forces. I thought about the navy or air force but I decided I did not want to be gone from home for months at a time and I am scared of getting my arm or leg blown off at war. I understand there are some sort of flying schools out there that could help me out?

Basically I'm just looking at what steps I should take to get me where I want to be, I'm hoping to be a commercial pilot by the time I'm in my early 30's.

Thanks

 

[mrmarcus81]

www.goang.com

They will take care of you. I am trying to get on with them as well. I'm 22 and active duty is not the way I wanted to go either. The Air Guard the best way to go. It may be more difficult to get into but once you are in you can definitely build some time and help your country while you do it.

 

[MustangMark83]

I looked at that web site, they want all sorts of qualifications, well I'm not very qualified at all, the only thing I have is a highschool diploma.

I heard there was this school around Orlando FL that will train you and get you commercial certified for 39k a year. Anyone know the name of it? I think that'd be in the best interest for me.

 

[mrmarcus81]

It is probably Flight Safety, if you have the money go for it. Just remember there are no guarantees. Make sure you look into doing something on the side in case the industry goes sour again.
Good Luck

 

[TRLpilot]

you'll make enemies quick by paying $39k to go to a school and sit in a right seat.

the common route, and the most respected around here, is to get your private pilot's license, then instrument rating, and then commercial and instructor's. Spend the next couple of years teaching and building up time and then try to find something getting you in multi-engine and turbine aircraft (usually a year or so with a freight outfit unless you're able to find something else).

just remember there are no guarantees and no such thing as a free ride.

 

[slide33]

Mark,

#1 - You're joking, right? ($39K for a commercial)

#2 - Grow a pair.

 

[captainv]

MustangMark83,

I'd recommend going to college first. the airlines want you to have a degree, and it gives you something to fall back on.

for me, i got a degree, paid for most of my college, and got a job. I worked nights, so i started working on my licenses during the day. took out a big loan, got my ratings, was studying to be a CFI when i got a break and got into corporate flying. three years later i went to the regionals.

Riddle and Flight Safety are very respectable choices, but i'd look hard at anyone else. do what makes financial sense for you, because you won't be making a lot of money for a while. $39k mighht give you the experience you need, but what kind of job do you expect to hold when you're done? i went the FBO route, although i wanted to go to FlightSafety. I just couldn't afford it. in the end though, a rating is a rating. doesn't matter where you get it, it matters more what kind of pilot you are...

Good luck

Captainv

 

[Ailerongirl]

I heard there was this school around Orlando FL that will train you and get you commercial certified for 39k a year. Anyone know the name of it? I think that'd be in the best interest for me.

Flamebait??

 

[captainv]

Flamebait??

could be. i skipped over it, thought he was talking about Delta Connection Academy in Sanford.

if he had said it was in Deland, however ...

 

[MustangMark83]

Mark,

#1 - You're joking, right? ($39K for a commercial)

#2 - Grow a pair.

#1 i could afford it when i'm older

#2 screw you

 

[MustangMark83]

i didn't realize pilots were such jerks, i thought most pilots were nice people, i come here to get some info and i get the crap flamed out of me for asking an INNOCENT question

jesus christ, wtf is this world coming to?

 

[Big Duke Six]

Well, you definitely came to the right place. You'll find all the answers you were (and weren't) looking for here, as you've noticed.

Let me start with saying that many of us love our jobs. Some of us don't. It will take years, as you already know, of sacrifice to make it to the "show". Even then, luck and timing will play a big role in shaping your future. Although the consensus is that the profession has taken a turn for the worse (i.e. it will probably never return the to romance, prestige or money that it once had) it is still a rewarding career for the few. Things may improve from the current state of the industry but it will likely be, and always has been, a road of many turns, hills and valleys.

There are still a number of great companies out there to shoot for. A college degree will help. There are many schools that offer aviation degrees if you want to jump right in. For the long run, you can't beat it for gaining the most in-depth knowledge of your new profession. On the other hand, some may feel that diversifying yourself is a good strategy, i.e. to get a degree in something useful in case the aviation road gets blocked for one reason or another. There is a lot to be said for that, but it is for you to decide. Check other threads here about aviation degree programs. I would have recommended the military route to anyone who is medically qualified, but from your post I feel it probably wouldn't suit you. As a civilian going the aviation degree route, you can expect to graduate with your degree and at least a Commercial/Instrument license, and will probably have to instruct for several years before landing your second job. That could be air ambulance, freight hauling, banner towing, fish spotting etc. You will work fairly cruddy hours for a few years paying your dues before landing your first air-carrier job, likely a regional. If you aspire to the majors, it will be a few more years to get to that milestone.

In the long run, I feel it's been worth it. It's been tough at times, but flying is all I ever wanted to do. One of the thoughest jobs I ever had (freight) was also the most fun job I ever had, so hopefully your choices will balance the good with the bad too.

I started this reply this morning and just now got to finishing it. You'll find that some in this business may not respect you for some choices you will make. Paying for training, i.e. forking over huge sums just for the priviledge of building time in the right seat of an airplane that should have two paid pilots already, is a quick way to get the black X stamped on your forehead. You don't need to gain experience that way. Also, as a heads up, some people on this board may be unemployed or watching their quality of life erode as they hang onto their jobs, and the last thing they want to see is someone wide-eyed and bushy-tailed stepping up with 39 Large a year to take their jobs away. Try to be sensitive to that in your travels.

Welcome, and best wishes.

 

[skydiverdriver]

Why did someone jump to the conclusion that he was talking about pft? He just said a flight school wanted 39 grand to help him earn his ratings. I don't know what's wrong with that.

Of course, after some of his replies, it's difficult to believe he really is a newbie asking for info. But, if he is, there are so many of these same questions being asked here so often, that one would only need to look back and do a search for info. Of course, some people can't get over pft, so they have to take any opportunity to tell someone new how bad of an idea it is. Perhaps someday they will get over it.

Good luck to the new guy.

 

[FN FAL]

i didn't realize pilots were such jerks

Now you do.

i thought most pilots were nice people

You thought wrong.

jesus christ, wtf is this world coming to?

For that answer, you'll have to wait for Timebuilder to check in.

 

[AA717driver]

Mark--First off, if you are interested in being a pilot, your skin had better thicken up.

Unless this is your first time on this website, you should know that pay for training is a sore subject.

Get your college degree or you will be behind the curve your entire career. Yes, it's just a box that needs to be checked but its a 'virtual requirement' nevertheless.

Then, go out and get your licences wherever you can get quality training.

Then, go out and chase jobs to build time like the rest of us on this board.

I would guess that a job as guard bum in a C130 ANG outfit would be great. Good luck and thicken that skin. TC

 

[bobbysamd]

Aviation career preparation

By now you probably have gathered that you have many choices for aviation career preparation. You have to choose the one that is best for you, taking into consideration your finances and your goals.

First off, despite opinion to the contrary, you need a four-year degree from an accredited college. Some will argue, strenuously, that you need to jump-start your career by building experience early. That is a fallacious argument for at least two reasons: (1) Make no mistake about it; the majors are looking for people with degrees; those without them have a disadvantage. (2) You need a degree to be competitive in a pilot pool that is oversaturated with qualified people who have degrees. In other words, if you don't have a degree you will be starting off at a disadvantage. Pilots don't always have control over all of their credentials. Fate and luck plays a great part in the qualifications you present. But, you do have control over the education background you can present, which must include a degree.

You can obtain training any number of ways. You can be trained at a local airport. You can attend a college with an aviation program or one that offers flight training. You can attend a commercial flight school. Your objective in choosing a training provider should be value. You want to obtain the greatest number of marketable, tangible, universally-recognized credentials that will find you work the quickest for the money expended.

There are schools that have connections with regional airlines, notably Delta Connection Academy, formerly known as Comair Aviation Academy, and Mesa Airlines Pilot Development. Both of these schools can connect you to an interview with their parent airline - after you jump through myriad hoops. They are not for everyone.

You should do several things before going forward with the career. First off, research the career thoroughly. It has changed over the last several years. Despite stories you might hear about pilot shortages, it has always been tough for pilots to find work because there are too many pilots and two few jobs. The furloughs over the past few years have greatly compounded the problem. You should then research schools. Only use advertising as a way to become familar with schools. Most of their claims and assurances are hype, and their "career counselors" are primarily salesmen whose sole objective is to receive your training check. Get objective information - from students and instructors at a school, from people who've attended the school, and from those who might know the school. See if that objective information comports with your needs before you sign up.

Finally, if you start your career preparation now and stick with it, you absolutely can earn your ratings and start on the career road long before your turn thirty. Be forewarned: The road is tricky, bumpy, full of curves and always uphill.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your plans.

 

[pilotyip]

Skip college

If you want to be a pilot, fly airplanes, go for TJ PIC. The following example is the model of success in pursing flying job. We just hired a 22 year old pilot, 2 years of on-line college credit completed, started working the ramp pumping gas in high school, got hired hauling cargo in SA-227 as an F/O, at 18, got promoted to 208 Capt at age 20, he has 1600 TT, 1100 MEL, 350 Turbine PIC, 1450 total turbine, he is starting as a DA-20 F/O at 33K, he will be a DA-20 Capt the day he turns 23, he feels he will have his degree completed by the time he is 25 or 26 years old. At that time he should have 5200 TT, 4700 MEL, 5050 Turbine, 3200 hours 121 time, 1200 121 Turbo Jet PIC. He will have his on-line BS degree in Aviation Management, and no debt. He will be interviewing with the 4 or 5 year traditional college graduate for his first airline job, The traditional 4 yr degree guy who has TT 1200 350 MEL 15 Turbine. Who is the more competitive?

 

[bobbysamd]

Do NOT skip college

If you want to be a pilot, fly airplanes, go for TJ PIC.

How do you propose, then, Yip, to get jobs in which you can build that time, when so many employers who have these jobs are looking for degreed individuals?

It goes back to the same-old, same-old proposition of shooting yourself in the foot before the race begins. All that terrfic flight time will mean little if the companies in question are also expecting a college degree.

I submit that the criteria used for hiring pilots at your company is not representative of the industry at large. One has to cater to the industry at large to get what one wants from it; therefore, if it wants the degree, then give it to them.

 

[cale42]

1600TT and 1450Turbine.. that must have been one hell of a CAX checkride.... was it actually in the sa-227???

 

[pilotyip]

Booby I am a new man

We just had two pilots get hired by a very popular growing LCC without degrees, both in their late 20's. However, I tell you I have become a new man, I now concede that a college degree may open doors for you a few select operations. But as I stated above with my poster child, he is doing his degree on-line, he will have his degree and over 1000 TJ PIC by the time he is in his mid 20's, he will get front of the line privileges at his next job.