Hello. I have wanted to fly my entire life, and it is something that I have wanted to do for a living for as long as I can remember. I got my private pilot certificate about 5 years ago but had to stop flying because I was not able to afford it. I am still not able to afford to fly, however I still want to be a commercial pilot more than ever. I wanted to ask here if anyone had suggestions of how I could possibly get into flying as a career? I have heard rumors from numerous people that this is a very good time to get into aviation because there is a high demand for pilots. I am 28, and unfortunately live in an area where it’s almost impossible to find a job that would pay enough for me to save up to get my commercial license and ratings I would need to get a job flying. If anyone has suggestions on what I could do to get into flying for a career, I would love to hear them! I would do almost anything to be able to fly! Thank you!
If you can’t bum hours off of local folks, which is typically pretty difficult, than you’ll have to figure out a way to pay for the training. Perhaps a loan? You can’t get a flying job until you’re commercial rated.
Just a reminder....a commercial pilot certificate and an airline transport pilot certificate are two different things. There are many flying jobs that require only a commercial pilot certificate, but an airline job comes easiest to pilots who hold airline transport pilot certificates. Read FARs 61.151 through 61.159. Bob
If you can’t afford to fly a a private pilot, I don’t see how you will be able to fly enough to gain the necessary additional hours or afford the added expense of a CFI to move forward with a commercial certificate. You will need to solve your income and/or other spending problem(s) first.
There are a lot of happy pilots with paid off student loans. Start looking at schools and loans and see if anything is worthwhile to you. If you really want to do it, you shouldn't let a few thousand dollars of interest stop you.
Get a loan. In 6 months you can be a cfi pulling down 30 50k and start paying it back. Not saying get a 70k loan for atp but theres a lot of zero to hero cfi programs for 30ish. Or be like me and spend 4 years doing like an hour a week when i had a good payday. If you want it bad enough youll find a way.
Get a loan from one of the puppy mill flight schools that will give you a job once you get your CFI, and don't look back. Right now the pilot job market is crazy good, but that might not last long, and every day you wait is one day more you're behind the curve.
In the same situation. I am 28 years old, PPL with around 75 hours and am a middle school teacher. Not the best paying job. I plug away at whatever hours I can now while working, and plan on finding a new job after this school year is over and taking out a loan to finish the rest of my training to CPL/CFI. I realize and have accepted the fact that I will be in debt for a little while to get me where I want to be career wise.
There is a high demand for qualified pilots. As others here have mentioned, get it done quickly. I would suggest a minimum of 3 flights a week. Money problems? Move to Pecos, Tx and go to work in the oil fields. Not sure if the pay is any better than the slope. I would suggest looking at flight schools in the south, such as Texas, Florida or Arizona for better pricing and better flying weather throughout the year.
Just did a quick search on this, never heard of it. I might be looking at the wrong program Lower overall costs?? I guess they are factoring in building the 1500 hours without flight instructing, but I could get my CPL/CFI and then build time for a quarter of that cost. I guess the guaranteed job would entice some people.
I'm not the OP that you are directing the comment too, but one reason I am moving from upstate SC to Atlanta this summer.
