Being 37 is too old ???

[RobertFL]

Iam about to start my flying school and maybe try to continue and get more ratings , who knows maybe I can switch careers :)
My question is Iam bit old probaly, is 37 too old for trying to get into aviation ???
Thanks Robert

[Tuareg]

I'm in a similar situation asking the same question, I'm 35.

[RobertFL]

I asked that question on american forum and most of the people said not a problem I was wonderring what is the situation in europe , reason for it I intend to move to europe

[High Wing Drifter]

I hope not! I'm 37 in April and have only just done my first set of ATPLs.

Good luck!

[mattpilot]

here's a quick test: If your starting to get bald spots on your head, you know its to late :E hehe

There is actually one guy at our school who looks (and probably is) over 40. He has a bald spot on the back of his head. He also is the subject of many jokes. :=

[RobertFL]

Iam working currently as a software developer but have enough of it ,money wise that will be probably less then I make now , but what a fun job

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Mattpillock,

I started to develop bald spots on my head when I was 19, I must be in real trouble!:D

[mattpilot]

i feel kinda sorry for you if thats true :E hehe
that is, if they occured naturally :)

[TheDogsBollocks]

RobertFL,

In the USA your age will not be a factor, however in Europe with the current job climate I cannot say. I had an ex-flight instructor colleague of mine (British citizen, FAA ATP) did the PPSC licence conversion and secured his CAA ATPL.

He was in his mid thirties, the problem he had was getting an interview for his first job. He had sent numerous CV's over a period of more than nine months and this was back in 1998 when the job market was a lot better.

The issue he found was that his U.S. experience was given scant regard by some companies and was even told that by a chief pilot for one of the companies he interviewed for! Fortunately he got a start with Emerald and has now moved on to Air Contractors so there is hope.

You may find this supercilious conciet, that is prevalent in the old world more of a hurdle than your age. You don't state your experience level or nationality in your post so your circumstances may be different.

Best of luck to you.

[High Wing Drifter]

Robert,

This may provide some comfort: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5654

[Tuareg]

Thanks for the link, that is a very encouraging thread.

I live only 2 miles from my local airport and watch those lucky ******s flying over my house every day. I'm now convinced that 35 is not too old and it's time to stop dreaming and start doing.

I'm a firefighter, so I'll be giving up a good pension (and not so good pay), but a pension isn't any comfort for a missed oppotunity or an unrealised ambition.

Age, maturity and life experience can be a real benifit let's not look on it as a disability.

Good luck everyone, we are nothing without our dreams.......

[High Wing Drifter]

Yeah!

There were some posts in this forum a while ago stating that older (over 35) are not viewed favourably by Airlines because they have more trouble learning the new skills. Can you believe that?

When I look around at me fellow ground school students, the 30 somethings in the class seem to have had as easy or as hard a ride as the rest. I do know we ALL passed the first 8 ATPLs first time :)

The only thing that I think can realistically inhibit older low hours fATPLs are: remaining length of service and potential inflexibility due to family commitments etc. I guess those issues will vary from employer to employer with some positively looking for young 'uns and others with no opinion on the subject one way or another.

What I do think, is that with the inevitible stella growth in regional flying (in the UK and Europe), the types who are not hell bent on 737/A320 jet jobs will do OK.

All the best,
HWD.

[scroggs]

Jeez, if I had a quid for every time this subject came up....;)

Unfortunately, age is not just an attitude of mind. How I wish it were so! There are many age-related issues which can and do affect the potential employment prospects of our older Wannabes. There is the proven deterioration of learning ability with age. There is the combination of lack of experience and limited productive service remaining. There is the perceived problem of re-educating a life-experienced individual into a company's mindset. Etc. etc.

All these (and others) are reasons for not employing older fATPLs when times are bad in the industry, as they have been for the last 3 years.

The good news is that, even in these bad times, we have heard of some of our older contributors getting European and UK employment. Most of you are aware that Capt Pprune (Danny Fyne) was 37 when he started training; he is just the most prominent of many Ppruners who weren't in the first flush of youth when they began. And the market is suddenly getting much, much better....

There are companies with prejudice against older beginners - and not just in aviation. The same can equally be said about ex-US (or wherever) pilots, and I'm sure it would be equally true in the USA if the positions were reversed. There will always be obstacles placed in your way to what you want, but generally the biggest obstacles are placed there by you yourselves.

There are plenty of precedents for older pilots succeeding in this industry. Why shouldn't you be one of them?

Scroggs

[High Wing Drifter]

Jeez, if I had a quid for every time this subject came up....
That would be a crisp fifty then? I just love a good debate and this is certainly worthy :)

First thing to say is thanks for you support, it is easy and safe to say "don't bother." I think we by and large agree and I hope I am not appearing to drag this one out too much...

There is the proven deterioration of learning ability with age.
Not at 30 or 40. Even 50-60 I dispute from my observations of others. As with just about anything else in life, one's ability to learn is nearly always directly proportional to their motivation.

There is the perceived problem of re-educating a life-experienced individual into a company's mindset. Etc. etc.
Agreed when the key word is "perceived" and this will ultimately be the most frustrating thing for older fATPLers. Most who are inclined to sit on a rock and think this over for five minutes or so would probably reach the conclusion that this not a product of age, but of circumstance and duration. Anybody who has a somewhat singular working experience will be difficult to re-train...IMHO. Of course, this can work the other way, in that somebody can have a veritible myriad of working experiences and may not be suited to the more dictatorial environment of an operational Airline. Probably more a CV and interview problem than an age problem...prehaps?

Laters,
HWD.

[RobertFL]

Thanks for all the answers and good words.
I know there are lot of obstacles specially for me.
I was born in Poland,so thats why I feel more european than american and thats the reason I want to move back somwhere
in europe, if it's not gonna work I can always comeback to the states.