Pilot a bad career today?

Question

Bad time to consider being a pilot?

I know alot of airlines have switched to the new CRJ's and smaller planes for shorter routes, but with the addition of the new Airbus A380, and the 747-8's, do you feel this will change? And do you think it's a bad career choice, i'm currently majoring in business at Baylor university, and while i love business/know it very well, my dream is to be an entreprenuer, and I would imagine my love for travel/etc and the fact that you have time off being a pilot would still allow me to do that.

any suggestions/advice?

Answer 1

If you really want to be a business person, then why not just do aviation as a hobby? Keep doing your business stuff, and learn how to fly when you can, get your private license, and buy your own little plane to fly around. I don't think it's wise to expect to have two careers: pilot and entrepeneur. If you're a commercial pilot you need to be fairly dedicated to your job. (Even though commercial flying can sometimes afford quite a lot of free time).

I met a saleswoman who is trying to learn how to fly and she just doesn't give enough of herself to flying. She said she wants to fly for the money, but I don't think that will be happening. Her mind is always on business, so she's not really understanding the flight stuff.

I'm not saying it's impossible at all, but just that you have to at least block off a fair amount of time (couple years) to focus enough on flight to get all those concepts into your head. You can't be trying to figure out what heading you need to take to get into what direction of a holding pattern at what point for how long at what speed and altitude when you're also wondering about how your going to make your upcoming sales pitch.

Answer 2

Ok bud I think I can help you out. Flight instructor pay is not terrible especially if you do it private like at an airport not a flight school. Most instructors pay there is $30-$40 an hour air time and like $20 when on the ground. Are you married and have a wife with a stable job? That's something you need to think about before becoming a pilot. My moms brother flys cooperate jets for a fairly large company. He gets to fly nice planes and his pay is around $250,000. This is on the high side of the pay scale though. Now this is the part you really need to think through. Do you want a family? Do you want to see your family every night? Or do you even want a family? He doesn't have a family due to his career considering the fact that he's home about a week a month. He said he's lucky he doesn't want a family and feels sorry for the pilots who do. At an airline it's usually work 4 days 3 days off. Be prepaired to be gone 2 or 3 of those days. Sometimes all 4 though but you almost always make it bad for your break. You would have to work as an instructor and small jobs for awhile to get your hours up because these airlines usually want an ATP license witch requires 250 hours. You will also need a bachelors degree. It doesn't matter what in. You will also need some turbine time so when you get a commercial license look at a small regional airline. Now your starting pay will suck. It may be like 20,000. This is more like a way to get hours. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Being a pilot is a still a good career. The airline industry will never go away. And there always has to be a combination of short feeder flights and the longer major routes. As a new pilot, you will start on a CRJ or other regional plane, but you can work your way up if you really want to.

And I do know plenty of pilots that have second jobs. You generally work a few days, then have a few days off. Every month your schedule is different. And when you first start, your schedule will be bad, until you have the seniority to choose a good schedule. If the type of business you have can fit in that type of schedule, then good for you. Keep in mind that becoming a pilot does take time and is not cheap, make sure you are ready for that commitment.

Answer 4

Being a pilot is a terrific career. Even though the airline industry is struggling at this moment, I do not see this as being a forever thing. There will always be air travel, that's just a requirement in this day and age. I would be picky of who I worked for, but other than that, I think the industy has quite a few more years yet,.

Answer 5

You can easily do both. There is a shortage of experienced pilots right now and that trend won't end anytime soon. While sitting in the cockpit for 14+ hours or in your hotel room for 2-3 days you have lots of free time to do other stuff. The pay is decent enough, nothing spectacular, but good enough to fund your entrepreneural activities. Only setback is the divorce rate for pilots is very high and a large chunk of your change will be going towards alimony.

Answer 6

BAH,dont listen to anyone that says its a bad job heck,when im outta college i hope im flying a b-747-400 or 787 dreamliner or maybe even a airbus a380