Any aviation career counselor?

[disneymoon]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots??? Since I'm just starting my PPL at age 43, I'm worried whether an airline will still hire me by the time I have the required total time to become an airline pilot. I want to work as an airline pilot regardless of whether the salary is low or high. Since I'll have to take out loans to attend school, I'm worried about risking everything on an uncertain future. Is there any career counselor specializing??

 

[Half Fast]

...at age 43, I'm worried whether an airline will still hire me by the time I have the required total time to become an airline pilot.

Many people retire from a military flying career in their 40s and get airline jobs. We have non-military pilots on this forum (paging @SixPapaCharlie ) who made career changes and became airline pilots at about the same age.

I don't think age in itself will be a great hinderance.

...regardless of whether the salary is low or high. Since I'll have to take out loans to attend school,...

I'm not a professional pilot, nor a career counselor, but this mindset seems like a recipe for financial disaster.

Is there no way you can proceed without taking out loans? I should point out that if you're just now starting work on your PPL, you don't really know yet whether you will ultimately want to fly for a career. Even if you do, you might decide you don't want to fly airliners. You also don't know what the airline hiring situation may be a few years from now. You can easily be putting yourself tens of thousands of dollars in debt in order to make minimal bucks towing banners up and down the beach.

You need several options and backup plans.

 

[Clip4]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots??? Since I'm just starting my PPL at age 43, I'm worried whether an airline will still hire me by the time I have the required total time to become an airline pilot. I want to work as an airline pilot regardless of whether the salary is low or high. Since I'll have to take out loans to attend school, I'm worried about risking everything on an uncertain future. Is there any career counselor specializing??

You are basically asking three questions. First, you see few women for the simple reason not a lot of women in 2000 took pilot training. Today there are many more women in aviation, but they are still a small minority compared to men.

Will there be jobs when you turn 50? Yes, but will anyone hire you? Not because you are 50 and not because you are female. Are you the most experienced and trained candidate they are interviewing. Getting an airline job is not about hours and certificates.

An aviation carrier councilor will tell you full speed ahead because their job is to fill the academic roster, not promise you the job you want. 2/3s of those entering a career program will never make it to the airlines.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots???

What? Are you trolling us?

Since I'm just starting my PPL at age 43, I'm worried whether an airline will still hire me by the time I have the required total time to become an airline pilot. I want to work as an airline pilot regardless of whether the salary is low or high. Since I'll have to take out loans to attend school, I'm worried about risking everything on an uncertain future. Is there any career counselor specializing??

In case you're not trolling, take heart: neither your age nor your sex/gender/identity represent hurdles that you'll have to overcome.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest that you visit the Women in Aviation site, which has numerous resources that you may find helpful and encouraging (based on your post, I take it that you are female).

 

[Klaus M]

Mandatory airline retirement 65. That means you have less than 22 years from now to get all your ratings and 1500 hours. Then find an airline that's hiring low time old pilots.

Anything is possible but don't ask a Polymarket.

The best thing you could do with your money is purchase a new "Sport Aircraft" and give instruction. Enjoy the thrill of flying.

There's always the Part 135 industry. No age limit and no big pay or benefits. At least you'll be in Aviation....


PS: Check out different airports, there's many Lady Pilots hanging at airports and flying their planes. https://ninety-nines.org/

 

[davela]

My primary instructor became a captain for a major in her mid to late 40's not long after I earned my private with her (1999). She was extremely dedicated and competent of course. It's certainly possible - I've seen it happen! Honestly, some of the best working commercial pilot's I've known were women -- all ages too.

 

[RussR]

There are definitely career counselors out there. A good friend of mine, Carl Valeri, a current airline pilot, is one and has been doing it a long time. Highly recommended.

Valeri Aviation

valeri-aviation.thinkific.com

Ignore Klaus M's negativity. Most of his post is inaccurate. You are definitely not too old. And if you decide that airlines aren't for you, there are lots of Part 91 and 135 operations out there. Many offer excellent pay AND benefits.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Disneymoon, here's another organization that may be of interest to you: The International Society of Women Airline Pilots.

 

[Plano Pilot]

I have heard good things about https://ravencareers.com/services. I believe they only deal in aviation. Personally, I am close to retirement, and the company wants me to work longer than I want. We will see what happens.

 

[hindsight2020]

The reason most women aren't drawn to the occupation is not because "ew working with too many boys is ick", it's simply because MEDIAN (aka not SenIuR) pilot work schedules are too unsociable for child rearing, and most women aspire to be mothers, whether childless women pilots (who are overrepresented in the space btw) like it or not. That's it, no grand gender or ageist conspiracy.

And no, the existence of pilot-mothers in the space doesnt falsify my stated claim (aka the exception proves the rule).

Fwiw, I'd love to be a tradwife at this juncture, but our culture is one-way-hypergamous to a fault, and my wife is like a freggin airplane: no matter how much education money I throw at it, still makes me goose egg for money...

*clears cache/cookies and grabs the car keys in a scalded ape hurry*

 

[HornedFrogGrant]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots???

The uptick in female aviators seems to coincide with the efforts to include young women in STEM fields.

I’m also 43, and when I was in high school and college, girls weren’t necessarily discouraged from taking STEM courses (beyond the core classes to graduate), but they weren’t actively encouraged to do so either. Teachers, principals, professors, etc were more-or-less indifferent.

In the past 20 years or so, that has changed a lot. And I think there are a lot of parallels with making the choice to get into aviation.

 

[Albany Tom]

Seconding @Half Fast 's comment that a better plan would be a better idea. Figure out how to work and learn to fly, with work paying for learning to fly at the same time. Bootstrap yourself. Lots of people work their way to college, myself included. Next, read up on the @SixPapaCharlie story, went from not flying through clouds to airline in a little over 10 years I think. Also not easy, but possible.

Echoing everyone on the m/f thing. Used to be, parents would tell their sons "you can be anything you want to be". More recently, most parents tell either gender of kid that. I kinda think that's the core difference. Basing that in part on my last DPE. She's older than 40's, but her dad flew big radial engine things that dropped noisy things on the Germans in the 40's. He knew she could fly if she wanted to, told her, and she did.

 

[bonefishpete]

Can women become Doctors after 40? Sure.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

The main thing I tell people is if you must do loans, if there is absolutely no other way to do it, do not under any circumstances pay for more that small chunks at a time. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a massive amount of loan debt and no pilot career to show for it. Stay away from pay-in-full up front, block time, lump sum commercial pilot programs, etc.

 

[brien23]

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued roughly 20,000 initial commercial pilot certificates in recent peak years like 2025, Airline pilot hiring in 2025 normalized to around 5,000 total industry hires, down about 13% year-over-year as the market transitioned away from the post-pandemic. The days of airlines hire anyone who could read a checklist and pull a landing gear handle up are gone.

 

[Sierra_Hotel]

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued roughly 20,000 initial commercial pilot certificates in recent peak years like 2025, Airline pilot hiring in 2025 normalized to around 5,000 total industry hires, down about 13% year-over-year as the market transitioned away from the post-pandemic. The days of airlines hire anyone who could read a checklist and pull a landing gear handle up are gone*.

*for now.

 

[WDD]

Don’t do loans

Get your 1st class now to make sure you don’t have any issues.

See if you even like flying.

Did I mention don’t do loans ?

 

[RockyMtnFlyer]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots???

Because they choose not to. This is troll bait; OP has not been back.

 

[WDD]

Is there such a thing as a “bot troll”?

 

[AlphaPilotFlyer]

Disney…. I wouldn’t be discouraged starting at your point. There’s certain things I’d suggest doing to mitigate risks, such as making sure you can pass a 1st class medical even though you won’t need it until for a few years; figure out how to pay for your ratings without taking out loans with challenging terms when building time and not making much; and importantly figure out if you can devote and afford to fly 4-5 days a week to reduce the time to get the ratings but also remain on a much steeper learning curve resulting in lower costs and time. …most people in your position will fly only 1-2 days a week due to cost and time availability, and you will see significant more flight hours until ready for check rides. I say if you only fly 2x per week, you will spend 30 minutes of each lesson to regain the same proficiency you had last lesson and this adds up in overalll time and cost. I’ve seen students get PPL in low 40 hours to close to 100 hours, mostly dependent on how much they flew each week and effectiveness of cfi.

Also, after training is done you need some money and resources to live while not likely making much $ in your time building phase, such as a cfi…..the places that are busy and you get more hours will normally pay you less but cost less in long run, so the cost to make it to a real flying job (not that cfi isn’t) and better pay may require you continue to live humble for another 1-2 years.

I have seen someone to go from zero time to cfi rating in 6-8 months, others over 2 years. There’s some other effective ways to reduce cost and length of time to get there so do some research. I have seen too many pilots end the dream with significant debt due to lack of a plan and running out of funding ….so have a practical plan and budget for not only training but the staying power to build time.

Also consider that there are a lot of cool and high paying jobs outside the airline segment, that you can reach before airline. I know a few buddies that either left the airlines or stayed in other segments and making good $ and have a great quality of life flying other places.

Hope this helps…good luck and keep us posted.

 

[FormerHangie]

The reason most women aren't drawn to the occupation is not because "ew working with too many boys is ick", it's simply because MEDIAN (aka not SenIuR) pilot work schedules are too unsociable for child rearing, and most women aspire to be mothers, whether childless women pilots (who are overrepresented in the space btw) like it or not. That's it, no grand gender or ageist conspiracy.

And no, the existence of pilot-mothers in the space doesnt falsify my stated claim (aka the exception proves the rule).

Fwiw, I'd love to be a tradwife at this juncture, but our culture is one-way-hypergamous to a fault, and my wife is like a freggin airplane: no matter how much education money I throw at it, still makes me goose egg for money...

*clears cache/cookies and grabs the car keys in a scalded ape hurry*

Be careful what you wish for. Just about a year ago my employer eliminated my position, two months before my 68th birthday. I took one look at the job market and another look at our retirement savings, and decided to leave the working world. My wife, who is an RN, was still working, was 16 months away from being eligible for Medicare, and will be working until the end of this year. In the meantime, I do all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, dog care, yard maintenance, car and watercraft care and finances. Laundry is her favorite chore, so she still does that. While she has occasionally referred to me as being a tradwife, I'm actually a househusband, which means I take on all those things that a woman traditionally did, plus all those things that men do. I'm also doing a number of small scale DIY projects and one that's quite substantial.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

Why are women over 40 rarely seen at airports or as airline pilots??? Since I'm just starting my PPL at age 43, I'm worried whether an airline will still hire me by the time I have the required total time to become an airline pilot. I want to work as an airline pilot regardless of whether the salary is low or high. Since I'll have to take out loans to attend school, I'm worried about risking everything on an uncertain future. Is there any career counselor specializing??

I got my PPL at age 36 and flew around in GA planes for 12 years.
At 48 I left my IT career to make a run at the airlines.

It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but the reward is worth it.
I turn 50 next month and I am headed into my first recurrent training tomorrow.
I work about half as much as I did in my past life and the money is catching up quickly and Most importantly, I love my job.

Enough about me. If you have questions about how to get from A to B I might be able to answer some questions. Everyone is different and this industry changes constantly so what worked for me may not work for you but I bet there is a formula for most people to make the transition even late in life. It won't be easy but the grass is pretty green on this side. I would do it again if I had to.

let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

 

[UngaWunga]

The reason most women aren't drawn to the occupation is not because "ew working with too many boys is ick", it's simply because MEDIAN (aka not SenIuR) pilot work schedules are too unsociable for child rearing, and most women aspire to be mothers, whether childless women pilots (who are overrepresented in the space btw) like it or not. That's it, no grand gender or ageist conspiracy.

And no, the existence of pilot-mothers in the space doesnt falsify my stated claim (aka the exception proves the rule).

Fwiw, I'd love to be a tradwife at this juncture, but our culture is one-way-hypergamous to a fault, and my wife is like a freggin airplane: no matter how much education money I throw at it, still makes me goose egg for money...

*clears cache/cookies and grabs the car keys in a scalded ape hurry*