Enough jobs for the student pilot population?

[FormerHangie]

There were approximately 70,000 student certificates issued last year, so the answer is no. How many of them are career wannabes we don’t know.

 

[StraightnLevel]

There are very few flying jobs that offer the money and QOL of a legacy airline job with a few years of seniority. Top tier corporate job, maybe, but those are very hard to get, and those can change in a heartbeat.

True.

That said, pipelines and electric power transmission companies employ a decent number of line patrol pilots, both fixed-wing and helicopter. The posts I've seen seem to indicate a low 6-digit salary range, and those companies tend to have good benefits and job security.

 

[ateamer]

There were approximately 70,000 student certificates issued last year, so the answer is no. How many of them are career wannabes we don’t know.

A fair number of those are foreign students, headed back to their homeland as soon as they hit 1500 or whatever is required to drive an ATR into a mountainside.

 

[Ventucky Red]

Want a job flying for an airline, learn Spanish, Afrikaner, or Chinese.... not for use while you're working, more so to keep yourself from starving and getting around when you're not working.

 

[SoonerAviator]

A fair number of those are foreign students, headed back to their homeland as soon as they hit 1500 or whatever is required to drive an ATR into a mountainside.

Probably just as many are like myself where they get their Private or Instrument for personal use with no intention of going into commercial aviation.

 

[Jon Howard]

I think no matter how you slice it, an airline career has a large element of chance to it. I was on the verge of a proto-airline career when 9/11 happened. I never made it to the airlines because I wasn't willing/able to make the sacrifices necessary to withstand the recovery period. Some people I know did make the sacrifices and now have the careers. Others I know had the careers and opted out anyway. I think it boils down to how much you are willing to do and how much you are willing to sacrifice to achieve your goal in the face of all the adversity that you will face along the way.