weequayrah

Hello,

I am new to this forum. I am currently a part time flying student and I work full time at Merrill Lynch doing Local Currency Trading. I am considering pretty hard to leave and go to flight school full time and pursue a pilot career full time. Can I have some imput on how the ride has been so far for people who are at the airlines? I have heard mixed reviews. People generally LOVE what they do, but sometime I hear that "I should have kept it as a hobby." The only thing is, I CANT see myself doing anything else! Please give me some advice.

EK Birdcage

wee:
I did the same thing that you are thinking about.. I left a good job and flying as a hobby and took it on full time... I was still in my early 20s so the risk thing was much less obvious then it would be now with a few years of wisdom, but having said that, I would do it all over again today.. If you do decide to make the jump, just make sure you enjoy the steps along the way.. This business is a bit like professional baseball in that when you work the hardest (getting to and playing in the minors) you make the least.. Then it begins to flip flop and you will hopefully end your career sitting your now fat ass in a equally fat plane doing 2 Europes a month, and making the most..

I would suggest that you look into a school that has ties to a regional.. If you are working now, you are probably a bit older then the guys who go the more traditional route (instructing) and can probably afford to pay.. I believe that you can walk in never having seen a plane and leave as a CRJ FO in like 18 months!! Not the "Best" way to gain skills, but certainly the fastest!

As far as a career, I have never ever missed the 8 to 5 thing.. I have missed a few Christmas, Birthdays and the rest.. Give and take...

Let me know if you have specific questions.. Guys on the this site can offer a wealth on information, and some of it is actually correct!!

Cheers,

BC

rickair7777

I have a different perspective...

Sounds like you can afford flight training with your job, so go get a private pilot license on the side and do a little fun flying (maybe an instrument rating too). This will give a feel for a flying and you can decide whether you like it or not, and decide which would be more suitable:hobby or career.

I was in your boat, and was blowing most of my free time and money on GA so it seemed to make more sense to go pro (of course this was pre- 9/11 when $300K/year was still a realistic career expectation )

If you decide to do the professional route I would not run off to some "academy" flight school. I would try to keep your day job as long as possible, get your commercial and instructor ratings and start teaching on the side at your local airport. While you're doing this you can evaluate the industry and decide when to quit the real job and jump in feet first. There is such a demand for entry-level pilots right now that you should be able to get a job without too much trouble.

Before you start all this get an FAA first class medical. and look at the payscales for regional airline...be sure you understand how the pay and work rules function so you don't have any misconceptions ($35/hour really means $17/hour)

dojetdriver

When making the comparison to a 40 hr work week type of job.......

Airsupport

1. yeah i could just go back and work more than 40 hrs a week dealing with all sorts of people.

2. i could go back to dealing with office politics.

3. i could also go back to the traffic grind of waking up at 430 every morning to make a commute in and get home at 700 every night.

4. i could also go back to waiting for the company to decide when to give me a raise and hope that i didn't bug the guy giving them out the wrong way.

now let me counter my above posts.

1. Right now i work on average 25hrs a week, but gone from the actuall house a little longer. still home though about 4 nights a week.

2. Sure there are politics in the airline business. but if you have never had a professional job outside the airline business then you have no idea what office politics really mean.

3. I still have to make a pretty big drive. but now i only do it once or twice a week, and sometimes i don't have to be there till 8 or 9 at night!!

4. I get a raise every year no matter what. No one gets to decide "hmm should we give him a raise this year?" you get a raise. and your raise is all based on the contract the company has with the pilots.

all and all i think you just need to weigh your choices out. I did and couldn't be happier. Every time I walked out of the hospital I worked at I would see a plane and be like,, damn.. I get to deal with sick people all day. Then I would get a page and have to go back inside.

marcal

I have a friend that was in the EXACT situation...he was a trader at JP morgan in Boston and left and is now a Captain at Chautauqua....pm me and I can give you more info.

PS.....he does not regret leaving the higher pay trading at all.

soon2bfo

If you really want to become a professional pilot I would suggest that you look into All ATPS.
http://www.atpflightschool.com/

I didn't go through their whole program but I did my multi commercial with them because the training twin at my local airport crashed during flight training. They did a good job and it was cheaper than getting milked by some hour hungry MEI at $235.00/hr. If you get your CFII/MEI there they'll hire you on as an instructor. Their CFI's get picked up pretty quickly by regionals, so you should only be instructing for around 6-8 months at the most. Less if you have a lot of time already.

You pay your dues flying for the airlines and not everybody makes it to the majors. You spend a lot of time in a beat down crash pad with a funky fridge and bad cable, so always keep in mind that QOL will take a nose dive. For what its worth.

Are you married? You may need to rethink if you are.

weequayrah

i was actually thinking about doing my training at allatps. FYI. i am 22 years old and single. So changing careers is no big deal as i have not been in the workforce too long. I have two friends one is a captian for FedEx and the other flys for saudi airlines. And speaking to them they love what they do. I dont know a pilot who wakes up in the morning and says CRAP i gotta fly today. (unlike 75% of the working force, maybe more) Pilots love what they do and i wanna have that passion in my life. Thanks guys. and gals

weequayrah

Hey i would msg u, however it doesnt seem as if i have the rights to do that as of yet.