Airline Pilot Career at Middle Age?

Question

Help!!! My husband is 45 years old and recently decided that he wants to start a new career as an airline pilot. I'm desperately trying to dissuade him because 1. The cost of training to become an airline pilot would bankrupt us 2. He is too old to start this career (he has never flown a plane before)! He is middle aged and I'm really worried he is in his midlife crisis (he denies it). 3. No airline company will hire him at this age. This fixed idea of his had caused us a lot of grief lately and I just don't know what to do anymore! Please help with good advice based on facts so that I can show him the responses. Hopefully this will help him come back to his senses.

Answer 1

1. The current mandatory retirement age for ATPs is 60. There is a bill in Senate to raise that to 63 but there is no guarantee that it will pass.

2. It will take 5 to 10 years to get enough time and experience to even get an interview with the major airlines. He'll be building time for a commuter airline for crap pay in the interim. It can take 15 - 20 years to make the "big bucks."

3. Can he even pass a Class 1 physical? Have him schedule a Class 1 with a fly doc. If he can't pass the physical or get in shape to pass it, there's no sense in going for an ATP other than a sense of accomplishment. He'll need pass one every 6 months, by the way. http://www.faa.gov/pilots/amelocator/

Answer 2

I wont ever tell anyone not to pursue their flying dream... but he should understand that if he goes for it, he would be 50 years old... he really doesnt have a shot with the major's because he just flat doesnt have the time to get the hours necessary and then the airlines dont want to pay the big bucks to train someone that is only going to be around for a few years...

He would probobly be able to get a job with a regional airline, but thats after 5 years or so of training, could be less if it is intense but it goes with the saying "can't teach an old dog new tricks..."... not to call him old, but by airline standards... So he would have to learn from scratch, I started learning as an early teen and continue to learn...

Also, I've heard its tough for an older guy to fall into a rank & order system where they would be taking orders from a guy that is at that point, 25-35 years younger than him... he cant just be a captain, he would start out just like the 22 year olds out of college, $20,000 yr. with a terrible schedule...

If he really wants it, he should go for it... but tell him to get a FIRST CLASS MEDICAL on his first trip to the doctor... that way he will know that hes now wasting money on a dream that, absolutly cannot happen (only case I can think of off hand would be not being able to pass the stringent medical exam...)

Answer 3

You are BOTH waaaaay ahead of yourselves. Time to step back.

You are right to suspect "mid-life crisis." I translate that phrase as follows: problems in your marriage due to your husband's strong reaction to aging, perhaps compounded by your equally strong reaction to him stepping away from your expectations and what you consider to be "traditional" 45-year-old male roles.

But if you're right, and he's going through a "mid-life crisis," so what? It's not a disease, there's no pill for it, and it certainly doesn't mean that he has "lost his senses." It just means that, like any other day in a marriage, you have to see whether you can reach a compromise or accommodation that you can both live with. Maybe you can, maybe you can't, depending on your attitudes and the realism and fairness of BOTH of your hopes and plans.

Stay open minded. Calling him crazy isn't going to help anything.

As a preliminary matter, it is not crazy to think that your husband could make a living flying airplanes. Now, although flying for a major airline is not impossible, it is not very likely. The age 60 rule will probably catch up with him, and even if it is changed to 63 he won't have many years. Meanwhile it will take years and years of flying for low pay to even get a shot at an airline job. But there are other interesting flying jobs. Again, low pay in the early years will be the rule rather than the exception, but the prospects are not totally awful.

On the other hand, your husband is being irresponsible in at least one respect. It is VERY VERY early for your husband to be sure he wants a flying job. Some people who want to be pilots actually have no aptitude for it or, more commonly, just don't like it. Bouncing around in a small airplane on a hot day -- and he'll have to do a lot of that -- can be No Fun.

I suggest you make a deal with him. Assuming you can afford it, agree that he will keep his current job for now, and the family will spend the money necessary for him to take private pilot training and obtain a private pilot certificate. I would also make it part of the deal that (a) he qualify for a Class 1 medical (the kind an airline pilot needs), and (b) he conduct informational interviews with actual professional pilots to get a better understanding of what he's looking at. He will run into plenty during his training.

In my view, that's pretty reasonable. If he doesn't agree to it, this whole thing is about a lot more than him changing jobs.

A few months from now, after he has -- or has not -- obtained his private license, you can revisit the issue. Until then, you will not call him crazy, give him grief, or otherwise cause unnecessary drama. If he decides flying is not for him, you should treat that as a rational decision he reached after an appropriate investigation, not as "proof" that he "lost his senses."

I kid you not: your husband obviously is making some eyebrow raising plans, but it is BOTH of you who will have to WORK to resolve this. Note, for example, that you are not actually asking for "advice based on the facts," you are simply asking us for "ammo" supporting your side to use against your husband because *you have already decided he has "lost his senses" and that he can't do what he wants to do with his life.*

Part of the cause of this episode may well be his reaction to what he perceives as your excessively controlling views toward him generally. That's not fun for you to hear, but you need to think about it.

Two final thoughts. First, you don't have any real problems. Seriously. In the grand scheme of things, a husband wanting to make a whacky career change is just not that big of a deal. Second, it is ALWAYS useful to attend couples counseling ASSUMING you can find someone that both you and your husband respect.

Now, take a chill pill. Good luck.

Answer 4

I don't know that much about being a pilot but I do know enough to say jimmy.... is totally wrong. You cannot get a job as a private jet pilot without an ATP. The most he could fly is small prop jets. Major airlines generally want 15,000 Pilot in Command time of multi-engine aircraft. Most prefer 20,000. He'd start off at the very bottom of the pack making very very little money. Don't dissuade him; if he wants to then he should try. But he very much needs to look at the practicality of it.

Answer 5

don't even try all flight schools are a scam, they tell you that thers going to be a shortage of pilot s but is not true . airlines have thousands of aplications on file. and even if you make it to pilot you only make like 18000 a year in the beggining and that is after paying 50000 for the trainning, and chances are you will never make to the big airlines because now they want you to have a bachelor degree. and in the end you live with your parents making 25000 a year go for other careeeer this pilot **** is over is not what it used to be.

Answer 6

You've listed all of the "best reasons" why... well... you're right and your husband is wrong. Sorry dude. But he should pursuit his interest in flying for sure, have fun with it, and let the career pilot dream thing go. 45 is "too old" to start something like this. If you were rich, you might have more options (like buying a small plane for your own business), but you'd need HUGE sums of money for this.

Answer 7

There are a few real keys to dog training, whether you are trying to train your dog to come when called, sit, stop barking or any other behavior. Understanding their importance is critical to achieving rapid results that are long lasting and help develop the bond between you and your dog. Learn more http://OnlineDogTraining.enle.info/?6W6e

The first is simple; you must win your dogs mind. If you don’t achieve this first then you will be struggling the all the way. When I talk about winning your dogs mind what I really mean is that your dog looks to you for all the decisions. Before you do anything else watch one of the amazing video sites that show you the 5 Golden rules to establishing yourself as the pack leader. If you aren’t putting these in place then you are setting yourself up to fail. Just at the crucial point where you really want your dog to listen they will go and do their own thing. For sure your dog may play ball occasionally or even most of the time, you may even have a dog that is obedient 99% of the time, however if you want a dog who always listens to you and does as you ask then you need to win your dogs mind.

The second key to success is to motivate your dog. It is really important that you discover what it is that your dog enjoys both in terms of exercise and play but also in terms of a reward. If you can make the experience enjoyable then you will both achieve more and look forward to training.

Some dogs love to fetch, others love agility, and other dogs simply love obedience training, or swimming out into water and retrieve. At least to start with find out what your dogs love is and help them develop this, what I am saying is work with your dog. The other point to recognize is to make training enjoyable reward your dog.

Answer 8

Make sure you show him this response to get him to his senses,

I hope he gets a job as a pilot to get away from your negative thinking. You should be trying to encourage your husband and instead you are trying to tell im he is too old, too poor and can't do it. There are plenty of pilot jobs out there and he would qualify for any of them.

You need to check kyourself and your negative thinking. you probably have low self esteem. I hope your husband divorces you and finds a woman who stands behind him and his desicions. You must really be insecure with yourself and can't stand to see your sugar daddy improve himself.

They say behind every good man is a good woman but in his case he has a mean old hag behind him telling him he can't do it. You should be ashamed of yourself for putting the man down like that.

He can get a student loan and take courses at a part 141 school and get his commercial multi in less than a year, then he can earn money as a pilot. There are pilot jobs flying corporate jets, air cargo and the airlines.