Is pursuing a career as a pro pilot even worth it? Starting this thread has made me question it now.
Only you can decide if it's for you......
It is definitely
not a career for the weak of heart.
I can honestly say that if I knew then what I know now, I
might not have pursued this career.
It is very cyclical, and if you get caught in a down cycle when you're ready for the next step, it can mean additional years of poverty level wages and lousy QOL. Conversely, if you time it right, the sky's the limit.
In my case, I got
very lucky, but not
all of it was luck. I was fortunate in that I had a mentor (dad) to help me make critical career decisions that
definitely had an impact on my career.
One such decision was after a 3 month stint of non flying employment, I was offered 2 jobs. One at a large-ish east coast regional, and one at a small charter company on Long Island. At the charter company, I would start flying SIC in a King Air 200, and eventually progress to jets.
The regional flew ratted out 99's, new 1900s, new Saabs and brand new ATRs, and had bases all up and down the east coast, but none on LI. I was living on LI at the time and had a girlfriend (the future Mrs. Slipkid) in college, and was not really ready to leave, so I was leaning towards the charter outfit. My old man, and I thank him every time I see him for it, recommended the regional, as I would log a lot more hours of airline oriented flight time than the charter place. I reluctantly took his advice, and do not regret it. I logged almost 1k hours of turbine in my first year there (nearly all of it in ratted out Beech 99s with a few in brand new 1900s), which got me the hours for my ATP, and after I was furloughed, got me my next job as a 402 capt. I would've logged 20-50 hours per month, maybe, at the charter place. It also got me off LI and out of NY State, which has probably saved/will save me several hundred thousand dollars in taxes and cost of living over my life.
I spent 10 years doing substandard jobs with no future and low pay because by the time I had the hours to go to the next step (early '90's), we were in a recession and very few majors were hiring for the next 4-5 years. FWIW, I got hired at my current company right after my 31st b-day and consider that awesome.......
I know a few guys that really hit the marks. A family friend did Riddle, got a job at a
Wings type commuter, worked there for about a year, and got hired at American in 1984 at the ripe old age of 24. He is mega senior over there now, and has had a great career.
A guy I work with now went to Dowling, got hired and upgraded quickly at Eagle, did a few years there, and got hired here, also at 24, He upgraded to Capt at 30, married a hot FA and will retire #1 on the seniority list.
Conversely, I know guys my age who are on airline number 9 or 10, or are very junior on large lists via mergers etc. Some of them never upgraded to Capt. at the regional level, even when they could hold it, for QOL reasons. This lack of PICT has definitely hurt them in the job market later on. One of them has over 15k hours, and not ONE hour of PIC turbine, which is typically required for a major job, even if it's not listed in the minimum requirements. Had he taken the upgrade 20 years ago, he'd have had many more career options and would less likely to be stuck at the bottom of a large, young list.
This brings me to another good bit of advice, which is applicable to any career:
STAY OUT OF DEBT!
The difference between weathering a furlough, bankruptcy, lousy regional/corporate pay etc. in relative comfort,
or not, is largely dependent on how much you owe.
One of my best friends, and one of the smartest people I know, embraced the Dave Ramsey philosophy long before Dave was writing about it. He is an ERAU grad, and still had tons of debt in loans and credit cards when we were working for a commuter. He was single and shared a house with a few other pilots. Another great bit of advice.... don't marry early.... aside from the financial benefits, there are other ancillary benefits to eligible batchelor-ness, especially at the commuter level. :wink2: .
Back before the changes to reserve rules, he made a deal with scheduling where he sat reserve EVERY day for about a year, getting paid 3.8 hours per. As long as he didn't
fly 7 days in a row (which would never happen anyway..... reserves didn't get used that much there), he was legal. He paid off ALL of his debt and actually started saving cash, which got him a down payment on a modest house, which he paid off, and then later sold for a large profit, allowing him to build a larger house, which he also paid off with a 10 year loan.
This lack of debt paid dividends when the airline he had been working at (ATA) for over 15 years went belly up. All he had was RE tax, utilities and insurance bill on the house, plus a mortgage/insurance on his airplane (To help him keep it, I nearly got a sweet deal on part ownership in his beautiful T-34 out of the deal, but he was able to work it out himself. I'm glad he was able to work it out). He got a job at Kalitta for a year or 2, and then, taking a large pay cut, went to Virgin America. His complete lack of debt made the dismal pay at VA bearable.