Second career

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Marky

Filing Flight Plan
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Mar 5, 2018
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Markymarc
Hello to everyone on the forum!

I’m not sure if this is the exact area I should be posting this in so please forgive me if it’s not and if that is the case, please tell me which area or forum it should be in and I will move it.

Obviously I’m a new member but I’m not a troll as I just usually don’t have any need to post anything to this board, or others like it, but now that I do I would greatly appreciate any opinions that could be offered.

The post is kind of long and when you first start reading it you’re probably going to say, oh, not this again… But I have gone through the forums and I’ve seen those post as well but my situation is a little bit different from any that I’ve read so I would definitely appreciate any advice you would have concerning my specific situation.

I am 43 years old and in five years I can retire from my career. I’ve been working in my job since my early 20s and at 25 years I can retire with full pension although I certainly can’t collect on the pension when I’m 45, I definitely will have that waiting for me at retirement age along with my 401(k), Social Security benefits (if they’re still around) and my investments as well as my wife’s retirement benefits so I am not worried about retirement perse in the slightest.

I have about 65 hours of flight time under my belt and I was just about ready to take my PPL test when life got in the way and now that things are taken care of and I want to get my license again, I was thinking about maybe doing flying as a second career.

I was thinking about taking a pilot training program at my local college which when all is said and done would give me my PPL, ME rating, instrument rating, and my flight instructor rating and would probably take less than two years to do which would still give me about three years before retirement age where I was thinking I could work some hours as an instructor while still working in my current job; and yes, I do know that there are hours requirements and the hours I work at my job are somewhat flexible so that wouldn’t be a problem getting hours under my belt until I retired from my current career.

I know that I’ll never be the captain of a 787 flying to Europe or Asia or anything like that and I’m perfectly satisfied with that but what I would love to do is maybe fly for regional airline and as I live right in between ORD and MKE, I think I have a pretty good shot at a few different regional airlines that are based out of this area. I also know that the hours will be crazy and there will be periods away from home and my wife and I have already talked about this and we’re perfectly okay with that as there are no kids in the picture anymore as they are adults now.

So if you made it this far, I really appreciate it and here’s the real meat and potatoes of what I’m asking… Given your knowledge of the aviation industry and the current staffing levels and needs as well as the staffing needs five, 10, 15 years down the road, would it behoove someone my age to start down this path with the knowledge that I don’t need to work a specific amount of time to accrue any sort of pension credits or anything like that; this would strictly be a second career that would be done more as fulfilling a lifelong dream rather than something as a necessity.

Please do not misunderstand, I wouldn’t take being a professional pilot lightly either, it’s just different when you are doing it as a second career as opposed to trying to build your life around when you’re young. If by any chance I haven’t covered all of my bases and you would need some other information to offer any opinions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks for any and all advice you can offer.
Mark
 
I started flying for a living at age 38. A friend of mine made first officer regional at age 61, and he applied just to see if he would get an interview. After he aged out he started flying medevac. Don't let age worry you.

The major airlines are not the only career choice in aviation.

Step #1. Sounds like you have worked that out with your wife.

Step #2 is health. Find a competent AME and go for a consultation and make sure you can pass a 1st class medical.

Good luck to ya bud. It will be in interesting ride..!!!
 
Zeldman said:
Step #2 is health. Find a competent AME and go for a consultation and make sure you can pass a 1st class medical.
Click to expand...

Also with this, do NOT apply for a medical to find out. Once you apply, the FAA clock starts ticking on anything they don’t like.

The critical word here is “consultation”. If the AME demands you do the FAA website form first, run, do not walk, to find a better AME.
 
You can always consider a career with part 135 operations. By the way welcome
 
denverpilot said:
Also with this, do NOT apply for a medical to find out. Once you apply, the FAA clock starts ticking on anything they don’t like.

The critical word here is “consultation”. If the AME demands you do the FAA website form first, run, do not walk, to find a better AME.
Click to expand...

Great advice. Also, one of your shortest posts ever, following one of the longest run-on sentence laden first posts by a new member, ever.

To the OP- if you’re going to do it, do it. Lots of people talk about it, very few seem to move on it and follow through. Those that typically do it don’t tend to yak about it constantly. They’re too busy flying and studying. Best of luck. It’s a dream that many pilots share, although to most it’s just a cool dream, not a real life goal. If your goal is to fly for pay then make sure you csn get (and keep) that first class medical. That single item alone can determine the feasibility of your plans.
 
Zeldman said:
I started flying for a living at age 38. A friend of mine made first officer regional at age 61, and he applied just to see if he would get an interview. After he aged out he started flying medevac. Don't let age worry you.

The major airlines are not the only career choice in aviation.

Step #1. Sounds like you have worked that out with your wife.

Step #2 is health. Find a competent AME and go for a consultation and make sure you can pass a 1st class medical.

Good luck to ya bud. It will be in interesting ride..!!!
Click to expand...


This! I retired from a regional and if you get the hours by your late 40s you'll get hired. I've seen people in their 50s and even early 60s get hired, regionals and even the majors. Go for it? Hell yeah, you'll kick yourself the rest of your life if you don't. Good luck.
 
Well, one thing for certain is that you'll be 48 in 5 years no matter what you decide. So, why not?

As others have said, there are still and will still be opportunities to fly commercially at such an advanced age. ;)

I'd skip the local college route though and do it through a local FBO/flight school. It will probably cost far less and be more adaptable to your schedule.

Good luck!
 
denverpilot said:
I’m just filling in on this thread for @AggieMike88. The warning not to start the medical is usually his job. :)
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If/When I do primary CFI-ing, the first thing I do after the discovery flight is ask the student to fill out a "mock 8500-8" form. And quiz them on what was written down. Also quiz them about other known landmines such as young/dumb alcohol events, and school/parents slapping on the ADHD label.

I'd rather help the new student avoid the horror stories we've seen here when the applicant "bombs" into the AME unawares of how the system works.
 
AggieMike88 said:
If/When I do primary CFI-ing, the first thing I do after the discovery flight is ask the student to fill out a "mock 8500-8" form. And quiz them on what was written down. Also quiz them about other known landmines such as young/dumb alcohol events, and school/parents slapping on the ADHD label.

I'd rather help the new student avoid the horror stories we've seen here when the applicant "bombs" into the AME unawares of how the system works.
Click to expand...

I’ve thought about doing that but there’s also a line there where I don’t want to know their medical history. It’s none of my business. So there’s that debate in my head of how far to go into that. I’d rather they just talk with a qualified medical person about it without starting the actual FAA clock. Finding those qualified medical folks who will do that, well... there’s no list. You just have to call and ask until you find one.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it, especially the medical advice, I never would’ve thought about that!

It’s nice to see such positive responses as most of the info I’ve come across until I posted this seemed to very much dissuade people from starting aviation careers in their 40’s, especially due to the pension and seniority issues.

Hopefully I’ll have lots more to post in the coming months!
 
Marky said:
, especially due to the pension and seniority issues.
Click to expand...

Well, at the airlines there are no pensions anymore, and seniority isn't an issue as you start at the bottom of the seniority list when you get hired. Depending on the airlines, more so at the majors, there are excellent retirement saving programs in addition to 401Ks. Regionals are mostly 40Ks, some have other saving vehicles.
 
Agree with @mscard88 @Marky ... pensions are almost a thing of the past in airlines. A couple of cargo operators still have them but the next major contention in contract negotiations is going to be how to make the “deal” good for both the old pilot group still expecting some sort of pension and the lower seniority group which will never have one. Messy.

Some of the older websites that have very negative things to say to older pilots were written not THAT long ago when specific seniority groups were blocking hiring and the economy was worse, so you’d never make it past a regional in a decade or more.

There’s also a fairly long list of negatives for older pilots. Continual travel and being away from kids old enough to remember is a big one for some, the pay cut is another. You may have the travel part figured out but the pay is often a very big hurdle unless someone has their fiscal house in very tight order. You may want to look into typical pay scales. They’re not great.

And beware few things, “total compensation” including all money the employer pays for what’s usually their share of bennies, and also hiring bonuses counted as compensation. Bonuses are never guaranteed in any business, of course. And many bonus structures demand certain time in service requirements, etc. Airline pay can be quite convoluted for someone used to seeing a salary number plus bennies. It’s never that simple in airline pay. Remember at a lot of flying jobs of all sorts the hours spent doing things on the ground may be completely unpaid. Etc.

Not trying to turn it into a negative thread, just some things to investigate and understand with your eyes wide open.
 
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