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by Rod Machado
©2007 Rod Machado
So You Want to Fly an Airplane for a Living, Eh?
One of the more common questions I receive concerns individuals in their mid-30s to mid-40s that want to change careers and fly for a living. In many cases, these folks are low time pilots with a private pilot rating. Most have four-year college degrees and a sincere interest in a career change. The big concern for many of these folks is whether or not there will jobs available for them once they’ve acquired all the necessary ratings and flight experience. So let’s begin here.
The big unknown here is the economy. Before the tragedy of September 11th, pilots with as little as 800 hours of total flight time and 100 hours of multi-engine time were being hired by commuter airlines. After 911, these jobs were no longer available and airline and commuter hiring came to a stand still. As you know, airline hiring is dependent on our economy. I have no doubt, however, that the economy will once again return to its original robust level, therefore airline hiring should increase, too. Whether this hiring will return to its original robust level anytime soon remains is anybody’s guess. I’m betting that it will.
The next question is whether or not someone in his or her mid-30s to mid-40s is hirable by a major airline. The answer is a qualified yes. The airlines have shown that they will hire pilots in this age bracket as long as they have experience commensurate with their age. In other words, if you’re 40 years old and have only 1,000 hours of Cessna 150 time and 100 hours of multi-engine time, you’re not likely to be hired by a major airline. You may be a candidate for a commuter airline job, assuming hiring returns to its pre-911 condition. If, however, you’re 40 with 4,000 hours of turbine time, then you are certainly a candidate for a major airline job.
Therefore, the question is whether or not it’s possible for someone in his or her mid-30s to mid-40s to become qualified for a major airline position. Once again, the answer is a qualified yes. I’ve known a few individuals who’ve done this. Their strategy was to obtain a flight instructor rating, build time, then obtain a job flying commuters in order to build turbine experience. I know one fellow who instructed until he acquired nearly 1,500 hours of total time with 200 hours of multi-engine time. He started as a private pilot, obtained his instrument, commercial then CFI rating, all of which took about a year. Building his flight time to 1,500 hours took a little less than two years. He took another three years to build commuter experience before finally being hired by a major airline. He was in his late 30s when he started and all this occurred before 911. His total investment of time from private pilot to airline pilot was a little over six years. He also had a four-year college degree, wasn’t married and had the financial resources to spend on his ratings as well as keep him financially sound while making the small income that commuter pilots are known to make.
What happens if you are in your mid-30s to mid-40s, have a family and financial responsibilities and want to fly for a living at the time this page was written (September, 2003)? Let’s also assume that you don’t have any financial resources to help you afford all the training needed, much less to assist you while making the meager incomes associated with flight instructing and commuter flying. Is it possible to obtain a position with a major airline? The answer is not so clear here.
First, your obligation is to your family (as I’m sure you already know). Investing the thousands of dollars and the time necessary to become airline qualified is sure to be a mighty drain on your resources. Let’s assume that it took six years and $30,000-$50,000 to pay for your flight training and to tide you over while gaining flight experience as a flight instructor. In less than the same amount of time you might have gone back to school and earned a masters degree or an undergraduate degree in some other field. This investment in additional college education offers a better risk at paying off than trying to become an airline pilot for those in their mid-30s to mid-40s. The only way I could see that training to become an airline pilot under these conditions would pay off is if the airlines were expected to hire at their pre-911 levels by the time you have sufficient flight experience. Even then, this would be a risky opportunity since the field would be very competitive. Therefore, my honest assessment is that a family man mid-30s to mid-40s without sufficient financial resources should probably not consider trying to obtain a major airline job. On the other hand, if your objective was to fly for a commuter airline or fly as a professional flight instructor, then these two fields certainly offer you a better chance at success. Nevertheless, this still assumes that the economy is good and the commuters are hiring pilots. One good note here is that some commuter airlines offer pay in the upper $60K levels for those who’ve been with a company for a while. Given the benefits involved, this might not be such a bad deal. You’re also kept closer to home when you fly commuters, and this is often a nice side benefit to this type of flying.
A common question asked by folks in their mid-30s to mid-40s is whether or not they should invest $30,000 or so with an accelerated-type flight school to obtain their ratings. These folks also want a recommendation on a good school. I can’t provide this recommendation because I simply don’t have intimate knowledge about these schools. Therefore, I won’t recommend any school that I don’t know enough about. On the other hand, most of these schools do a good job. You are often better off going to a school like this because of the consistent opportunity for training and the large number of airplanes available to fly. On the other hand, if you can find a local flight school that can offer consistent and competent training, then you might find it much more convenient to train in your own back yard. The only bit of advice I’d offer you regarding big (or even small) schools is not to give anyone more of your money than you care to lose at any one time. I’ve heard of pilots placing $30,000 into a flight school’s account only to have that school close its doors the next week. In most cases these pilots don’t get their money back. I suggest you put the money in some form of escrow account and have it delivered on a payment schedule that suits you and the flight school.
What about a college degree? If you’re planning on becoming a major airline pilot you need a four-year degree. This isn’t as important if you’re planning on flying for a commuter airline, however. If you’re in your mid-30s to mid-40s, with only a private pilot certificate, limited flight time and no college experience, then you would seem to be in a very disadvantageous position to ever find a job with a commuter airline, much less a major airline. This doesn’t, however, mean that you can’t find a job as a flight instructor and a charter pilot. These jobs don’t pay as much as airline jobs but if you love to fly, then this may be the position for you.
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