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Most I EVER credited was about 130 hours / month...and that money seemed really good. Almost $7,300/Month but that wasn't normal at all. I did it likely 3 times in 3 years, made for a massive paycheck in the second half of the month though, and boy did I love that!
My best was 168 @$75/hr.
Buddy of mine did 220 working over vacation, which I refused to do. Around $18k. He bought a car. I was at AWAC, they have a good contract. It was like taking candy from a baby.
TSA is hiring street captains now. PSA has an 8 month upgrade. Compass is under a year. It's really crazy. I'm jealous of all the under 25 guys getting on, they will have a killer career. What I would've had had age 65 not happened.
One of my hangups though is seeing what happened to plenty of TWA guys during bankruptcy, and seeing what retirement packages are good for when the company decides they need your money to stay afloat.
That is the really sick part, and I am glad you mentioned it. Whether it be Eastern or some other company that put itself before it's loyal employees, it is enough to make one ill.
As to the OP, 24 is not too late at all. You are still a young pup and have your whole life ahead of you. Never be defined by your age or what other people think of you. The only limitations you should have are pragmatic considerations about what your goals are, and can you make a living/life once you determine that.
I am having a lot of trouble finding my career passion. Becoming a pilot has been a dream of mine since I was a kid (I was just shy about pursuing it). I am thinking about pursuing it now at 24, though I need some guidance. My family unfortunately is being kind of negative about it, and they don't know anything about the field. I have some questions;
1. Is 24 too late in life to start something like this? I've heard it can take about 10 or even 15 years just to get enough hours for an airline to consider you.
2. I have some credits toward a BA degree, though I didn't finish. Would I have to go back to college? I've read you need a degree to be competitive, though I've also read you could be hired without one.
3. The cost and the low salaries starting out concern me. I am in the US. I've heard starting salaries can be as low as 15K a year. How do pilots support themselves starting out? When you're in debt and earning that little, it must be hard to have a happy life. I guess you can eat once a day if you have to lol.
4. Is the job as exciting as I think it is? The travel aspect and being away from home would not really bother me. I've heard it becomes just a job after a while.
5. Once you have the flight hours, how hard is it really to get an airline job? People have told me that many qualified people can't get into an airline because it's so competitive.
Thanks so much for any insights.
I am not a pilot. I wanted to be one, but I was near sighted with 20/400 vision. In the 1980's I could get the license, but never a career in the airlines. Looking back I should have pursued my ambition. I now see I never really wanted to fly airlines.
I could have flown relief in Africa, was actually told to go get my license and my 250 and get back and I would be in Cessna Caravan. Circa 1989, wages 40k. The job would have been way more interesting than flying airlines.
If I had flown, I could have flown in Alaska, bush, or in the west as a crop duster. (It was an ex-crop duster who was running the air freight business in Mozimbuque that offered the job flying Caravans.)
If you go reserves you might get some military help flying. I also turned down gunnery officer from the Army flying helicopters. After working offshore and spending a lot of time riding shotgun in helicopters I understand I made another bad choice.
Don't be me, at 55 browsing Barnstormers and wondering what might have been. If you have to spend a stint in the army slinging hash to get the GI bill to get the license, DO IT.
I am having a lot of trouble finding my career passion. Becoming a pilot has been a dream of mine since I was a kid (I was just shy about pursuing it). I am thinking about pursuing it now at 24, though I need some guidance. My family unfortunately is being kind of negative about it, and they don't know anything about the field. I have some questions;
1. Is 24 too late in life to start something like this? I've heard it can take about 10 or even 15 years just to get enough hours for an airline to consider you.
5. Once you have the flight hours, how hard is it really to get an airline job? People have told me that many qualified people can't get into an airline because it's so competitive.
Thanks so much for any insights.
Personally I know a 54 year old man who was just hired as a first officer for a regional airline and with him a 60 year old as well as there is beginning to be shortage of commercial pilots in the USA.
Personally I know a 54 year old man who was just hired as a first officer for a regional airline and with him a 60 year old as well as there is beginning to be shortage of commercial pilots in the USA.
The older that you are, the tougher that it will be to go through training (assuming that they even hire you in the first place) if you have limited prior experience. I was hired as a first officer at a regional when I was 47, but I had over 25 years of aviation experience in a related field. Never the less, mastering the automation (and other) systems was a big challenge. Don't assume that you can spend a couple of decades flipping burgers, have a mid-life crisis, take a couple of flying lessons, and then get hired by the airlines.
Personally I know a 54 year old man who was just hired as a first officer for a regional airline and with him a 60 year old as well as there is beginning to be shortage of commercial pilots in the USA.
Note - there's not a shortage of commercial pilots in the US. There is a shortage of pilots for regional airline jobs, but that's an entirely different problem. The GAO did a study on this about 6 months to a year ago, only shortage that exists is the number of pilots applying for $20k/year pilot jobs...each legacy airline has over 10k resumes on file and people will jump over their mother to get the job. Want to fix the "pilot shortage" problem overnight, offer adequate compensation.
The number of college graduate pilots that said "no thanks" to the regional airlines after flight instructing and instead pursued other non-flying jobs is still decently high. I've hired many of them, normally with the sign "Ex-Military and Commercial Pilots wanted - starting salary $60k+, home every night, off every weekend + every holiday"...the only ones you won't get are starry eyed at the idea of flying a jet.
Note - there's not a shortage of commercial pilots in the US. There is a shortage of pilots for regional airline jobs, but that's an entirely different problem. The GAO did a study on this about 6 months to a year ago, only shortage that exists is the number of pilots applying for $20k/year pilot jobs...each legacy airline has over 10k resumes on file and people will jump over their mother to get the job. Want to fix the "pilot shortage" problem overnight, offer adequate compensation.
The number of college graduate pilots that said "no thanks" to the regional airlines after flight instructing and instead pursued other non-flying jobs is still decently high. I've hired many of them, normally with the sign "Ex-Military and Commercial Pilots wanted - starting salary $60k+, home every night, off every weekend + every holiday"...the only ones you won't get are starry eyed at the idea of flying a jet.
Yup.....
You watch, Kip Darby's pilot shortage is JUST around the corner (this time!.... really!)
To the OP, there's lots of great info in this thread.
24 is definitely not too late, but be realistic in your expectations and goals. As others have said, this career is not one that you decide you want to do, and the next day are sitting in the left seat of a wide body. It takes a lot of time, dedication and cash. I know guys at my airline that got hired at 24, and I know guys who have been hired in their 50's......
Here's my $2.00 ($.02 plus inflation).
Finish college. it doesn't matter what your degree is in, just make sure it's a 4 year degree from an accredited school. Otherwise, you are eliminating at least several awesome, career jobs down the road. The only advantage to getting an aviation degree from certain colleges is that under certain programs, it reduces the minimum hours required to fly 121 from 1500 to 1000. This could be a factor, but if you're already most of the way through a non aviation degree, it might be prudent to finish it up and start flying on the side.
When you do start flying, go all in, or as much as you can afford to do, both time and money wise. Fly every day if possible. This benefits you in several ways. It will get you your ratings as quickly as possible. You will get much more out of the training when done on a regular basis by not having to relearn stuff you forgot, which also saves money in the long run.
Airline hiring is very cyclical. For a few years, they can't find enough pilots to fill the slots, then, when the economy takes a dump, they furlough a bunch of folks. Lather, rinse, repeat.
If you hit the marks right, (get hired young at the beginning of an "up" cycle) your chances of having a rewarding career go up exponentially, but there are STILL no guarantees.
The industry is littered with folks who spent decades at airlines, just to find themselves on the street in their mid 40's-'50's. Many of my peers (I've been an airline pilot for 28 years) Have started over at the bottom in the last few years. I've been extremely fortunate in my career (through no fault of my own!), but I still have 15 years til retirement, so you never know......
In the context of an airline career, all else being equal, SENIORITY is life. Every facet of your life is governed by your hire date relative to your coworkers. You can't be too rich, too thin, or, too senior.
Your seniority is based on your date of hire, and will determine how good or bad your life is until the day you retire. Seniority determines your schedule, seat and your likelihood of furlough. The more you have, the better. Seniority is not transferable to other companies, so if your airline goes out of business or you get furloughed etc., you start at the bottom somewhere else, making lousy pay, working every weekend and holiday etc.
Bump. Kind of in the same boat as the OP, except that I finished my bachelors and am a year older. Currently working in the oil and gas industry. Tired of the filth and 80+ hour work weeks. I don't have a preference as far as flying commercial or private.
Should I look into going into the air force? I'm a pretty sharp guy. I know there are tons of people that enlist with flight aspirations that will never actually fly. Would I be better off saving for another six months and enrolling in a flight school/flying as much as I can. I don't think I'd be able to work in my field and give flight school all the time and attention needed to succeed and attempt to make a career of it.
Military is a great option - wish I'd pursued it when I was young enough. If you're interested, get on it now. A bit of flight experience can strengthen your resume, and if you're willing to enlist Air National Guard units LOVE to promote pilots from their enlisted ranks (have several friends currently flying who were part of the enlisted ranks with their units previously - but age is going to be against you going that route).
You'll essentially have to be accepted into a flying unit and start training by the time you're 28. 30 years old is the cutoff age for pilots to complete training, and the ordeal takes a couple years for military officers.
If you went the civilian airline route, you'll be incurring a bunch of expense while fighting amongst all the others for a top tier pilot position...military flying will add something special to the mix that many applicants don't have, and if you're selected for the military side it demonstrates that you're part of the top tier of qualified applicants.
Schedules can depend on company, expect to be gone half a year or so depending on how long you've been with the company. You'll be gone more during your early years, and less during your later years, sometimes working as little as 10 days a month, but that can be largely dependent on company size, seniority, etc...hard to predict. What will annoy you at times is the amount of time you're on the road and not getting paid, it's seen as part of your job, so sitting at the airport waiting to fly, maintenance delays before you push back from the gate, breakdowns, canceled trips, etc can all cost you money...plus there's the money not being made while hanging out at the hotel during a trip. Either way, it's a job, and very different from many forms of employment, it definitely has it's ups...and downs.
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