Should I become a commercial pilot?

[kayoh190]

I have found that those who are passionate about flying fair much better in the long run than those that answer differently.

I agree 100%.

Being in AK here is a plan. Finish your math degree and start teaching public school math. Summers off to be a bush pilot. No idea how AK treats public school teachers and the idea might not seem cool, but as a life plan could be sweet.

Wow - that sounds like one hell of a plan. If only I were single!

To the OP - if you want to fly, go fly. petrolero is right - for most pilots, a career in Engineering will probably generate more overall cash. But that's not really the point, is it? It doesn't make financial sense to have kids either. It doesn't make financial sense to buy that boat, or Harley, or any number of other things. Do what makes you happy.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

r. It doesn't make financial sense to buy that boat, or Harley, or any number of other things. Do what makes you happy.

doesn't make financial sense to buy an airplane...I agree with do what makes you happy, but be sure to look at it objectively.

 

[KSMooniac]

I would highly recommend adding the engineering degree while you're building time and experience towards the commercial ticket. It is very, very hard to go back and get another degree later once life starts to get in the way. An engineering degree will open a lot of doors, even for non-engineering jobs, down the road.

Even if you "bought" the rest of the time required and knocked it out in 3 months, would you be able to go to work as a commercial pilot with 250 hrs? Maybe, maybe not. You can treat your flight training as a 3-hr course and stack it on top of the rest of the course load to finish an MS-engineering and after 2 (?) years end up with both and many more options. You might even pick up some flying work before you finish the masters and continue to build experience.

 

[RotorAndWing]

Plenty of people haven't and many of them use this board to gripe about it. I'm using the average. Feel free to compare the salary profiles.

Your "average" is a bit low. Since you haven't been in the industry it's pretty much the same as me trying to talk about engineer careers.

 

[RotorAndWing]

To the OP - if you want to fly, go fly. petrolero is right - for most pilots, a career in Engineering will probably generate more overall cash. But that's not really the point, is it? It doesn't make financial sense to have kids either. It doesn't make financial sense to buy that boat, or Harley, or any number of other things. Do what makes you happy.

There are lots of engineers making low salaries, depends upon the area, company, etc, etc. Same with aviation.

Being happy and content is everything. Some of us has the extra benefit of pulling down the big bucks to add to that happiness.

 

[petrolero]

Your "average" is a bit low. Since you haven't been in the industry it's pretty much the same as me trying to talk about engineer careers.

Nah that's a fallacious appeal to your own authority but you are providing no data. The data is out there. It also a regular bitching topic on this board.

As I mentioned, piloting doesn't pay much until you reach the airlines or a nice corporate flying gig, which is a small subset of "commercial pilots" to begin with and even then it doesn't pay even close to what engineers make until you gain some seniority.

Also , if you include all the full-time commercial pilot jobs out there, the average is drawn waaaay down by all those early years where you're barely scraping by.

So when you add up pay over a lifetime, it's not even close even if you throw in the phat pension that airline guys (and only airline guys) get.

Point is, being a pro pilot does not equate to "senior airline captain" or even airline anything.

Regional Pilots: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/tra...ne-pilots-barely-make-living-wage-f8C11022539

http://work.chron.com/much-airplane-pilot-make-per-year-7480.html

And mind you the above articles deal mainly with airline pilots which, again, are a lucky subset of the commercial pilot gigs out there.

By comparison, engineers can easily earn high 5-digit (left of the decimal!) and sometimes 6-digit salaries right out of school.

According to NACE, that’s [petroleum engineering] the top-paying bachelor’s degree with a salary of $96,200. The next two highest-paying majors are also engineering degrees: computer engineering at $70,300 and chemical engineering at $66,900.

Not saying piloting isn't a great career. I am simply speaking to a cold dollar analysis of the OP's two stated options.

 

[petrolero]

To the OP - if you want to fly, go fly. petrolero is right - for most pilots, a career in Engineering will probably generate more overall cash. But that's not really the point, is it? It doesn't make financial sense to have kids either. It doesn't make financial sense to buy that boat, or Harley, or any number of other things. Do what makes you happy.

I completely agree with this point. Flying is a kick in the pants and if you love it, then that will have value that makes foregoing some salary worth it.

My analysis above is purely related to salary, but salary certainly isn't everything.

e.g., My flight instructor for my IR was a young, ultra gung ho guy fresh out of his non-aviation mil service. He was on a mission and his missions ends nowhere but the left seat of a jumbo jet. That kid worked his ass off not only flying but doing dispatch moving planes around and grunt work on the ground. Bottom of the totem pole so to speak. But he didn't care and in fact he told me he just loved it and had wanted to be an airline pilot since he was 6 years old.

How can you argue with that? Of course that guy didn't have a BS in Math and prospects for an MS in engineering either.

 

[Everskyward]

It also a regular bitching topic on this board.

Really? I think this board is pretty mild when it comes to pilots bitching about their job. Are you sure you're not confusing it with some other boards?

What I mostly read here is advice from people who took a different path than a piloting career advising others to do the same thing. The thing is that no one can really predict what would have happened if they had done the opposite.

 

[Henning]

Really? I think this board is pretty mild when it comes to pilots bitching about their job. Are you sure you're not confusing it with some other boards?

What I mostly read here is advice from people who took a different path than a piloting career advising others to do the same thing. The thing is that no one can really predict what would have happened if they had done the opposite.

True, if I had stayed in LGB after I finished my IR instead of leaving on a boat the next day, I would be flying corporate iron right now, Steve (Satan my CFII) was grooming me for his right seat in the Falcon 900.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

If you want a really aggressive taste of don't be an airline pilot, go to www.airlinepilotforums.com

As with everything thing else in life, your mileage may vary. Some have skated through 30+ years at an airline and was never downgraded nor furloughed. Someone else, working for the same airline with a different seniority number, might have been furloughed and downgraded. It's all part of the game. No one will ever know if they made the right call until you retire and look back.

I have worked for many companies over the years. The last airline I worked for looked great until they shut the doors. I had 18 years there. The only company that I worked for and is still in business is Ameriflight.

I think there are two things to take away. The industry is very different than it was in the past. Do not base career decisions on old information. At the same time, remember that the internet doesn't always project information even handed. People who truly got screwed over will post endless blogs, while the guys who are happy and content will generally not post.

FWIW:

Professional pilot for 27 years
Provided for myself and then for my family the whole time
Not broke
Employed for entire time with the longest period of unemployment being 4 months
Divorced and happily remarried for 11 years and counting. (I fell into the second category of pilot marriages. It's the one pilots don't talk about. It's the spouse that ran around when I was gone)
Would not change a thing

 

[RotorAndWing]

I put very little thought into some guy sitting in his cubicle working his mundane job trying to convince me I made the wrong decision in my career. I've travelled the world, had more time off than an 8-5 Monday thru Friday guy, all while having the time of my life and pulling down money most only dream of.


It's not for everyone, but for me it's been awesome.

 

[jordane93]

I put very little thought into some guy sitting in his cubicle working his mundane job trying to convince me I made the wrong decision in my career. I've travelled the world, had more time off than an 8-5 Monday thru Friday guy, all while having the time of my life and pulling down money most only dream of.


It's not for everyone, but for me it's been awesome.

I think most airline pilots would agree. The guys my dad flies with certainly do. Bid reserve and you get paid to sit home on call and sometimes get the whole month off.

 

[James331]

I put very little thought into some guy sitting in his cubicle working his mundane job trying to convince me I made the wrong decision in my career. I've travelled the world, had more time off than an 8-5 Monday thru Friday guy, all while having the time of my life and pulling down money most only dream of.


It's not for everyone, but for me it's been awesome.

+1

It's what you make of it, though I'm still early in my career I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.