16 Year Old Looking to Talk To a Commercial Airline Pilot

[cheese737]

Hello, and thanks for clicking on my post.

I am 16 years old and a Junior in High School. My plans are to eventually become a commercial airline pilot, and my preferred airline of choice would be to work for Southwest Airlines.

What I am looking for is a CAP First Officer to talk to about what it takes to become a CAP. What the life style is like, the total cost all said and done, (I plan on attending Western Michigan University at an estimated cost of $140,000 US Dollars. I do not wish to get into any branch of the service, so I dont view the Air Force as an option.

Does Southwest Airlines pay for training at all, or offer any compensation? Or is this just rumor?

By the way, there is a local pilot school that offers Private Pilot. Is that recommended?

Any help from a CAP, and if you are from Southwest I would really apprecieate your help, will be taken with gratitude. Please send all information to my email at [email protected].

Thanks well in advance!
Nathan

[SNS3Guppy]

Nathan,

There are plenty of folks here who can respond, probably quite a few who fly for SWA. I don't fly for SWA, but can perhaps address your question a little.

In the US, airlines don't pay for your pilot training or sponsor you. Once you are a qualified and experienced pilot, many airlines will provide the specific training in the type of airplane you'll be flying. This leads to what's called a type rating (Boeing 737, for example... a specific rating on your pilot certificate to fly that airplane)...airlines generally "type" you once you're employed with them. The one big exception is Southwest Airlines...which requires that you obtain the type rating on your own.

Going after a college education is a wise move. Whether you want to do your flight training with a college is up to you. It's usually a lot more expensive to go that route, but you may be able to secure financing by doing your training through a university where the training is part of the curriculum. You can do it for a lot less money (with a lot less debt in the end) by going through a local flight school...but that's up to you.

In the US, generally a pilot will obtain all his or her ratings in the first couple years of training. The first job is usually flight instructing, done for a year or two. This gives a little more experience, and a pilot will have a thousand hours of so of flight time when it's time to seek the next job. From there a job doing freight, or grand canyon tours, or charter comes next...working up in time from single engine airplanes to multi engine airplanes to turbine powered airplanes, etc.

Over the past few years, hiring opportunities have been excellent, with very low time pilots getting their first taste of professional flying almost right out of flight school. Regional airlines have been hiring pilots with just a few hundred hours of experience. That's changing with the changes in the economy. There's been a big slow down in the industry, and we're seeing higher hiring "minimums" (the requirements to apply to a company)...meaning one needs more experience to be competitive.

Having a degree is an important part of being competitive. I don't have one, and it's definitely a draw back when it comes to seeking work. Again, you're making a wise move planning your college now. It's important. Don't neglect it.

While the recent hiring trends aren't really typical, a pilot can expect about ten years to pass from the time he starts his flight training until he starts to get ahead in aviation. It's a long term commitment. Wages aren't great for much of those ten years, either. The hiring trends improve and decline from time to time. I had over four thousand hours before I got my first turbine job. I don't want to discourage you...but one thing that really annoys me are schools and recruiters that paint too rosy a picture.

A well known school that offers online aviation degrees presently did that for many years...they even offered a four year degree long before they ever had it to grant. They parked a drug seized airplane at the airport where they did their flight training, and told prospective students it was part of their program...it wasn't even airworthy. Even supposedly respectable schools aren't above baiting people into their programs, and the recent demise of Silver State Helicopters showed just how pervasive it can be. The largest helicopter training program in the country folded overnight, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars with it, and leaving thousands of students stranded...all on pipe dreams and false promises.

Airlines won't pay you to learn to fly, or sponsor you. They won't talk to you until you have a significant amount of experience under your belt,and that will take several years. The good news is that by the time you get through your training and start into your first job, the economy will be rebounding, the industry will be picking up again, and you'll see lower hiring minimums, more opportunities, and may well find that it doesn't take nearly so long to get into the business. So long as you have a realistic picture of what it takes going in, understand that you won't be seeing big returns on your investment for sometime to come, and are prepared...then go for it.

Bear in mind that many pilots hiring on with regional airlines today are making less than twenty thousand dollars a year...you can do it if you're really frugal and share a room with other starving pilots...but it's nearly impossible if you have a family...or loans to pay back. It's tough. It can be done, but it's not an easy business to enter.

You'll find others from other countries who do get sponsorship, who have cadet programs, etc. Just not in the US. Don't give up hope, and don't give up pursuing your goals. You asked if obtaining your private pilot is a step in the fight direction. It is, of course...you'll need your private, your commercial, an instrument rating, and most likely a flight instructor certificate, too. It's all part of the process. You may find that working toward your pilot certificate is a good way to see if you're going to like flying. You'll probably find it's addictive, and that it makes you want to fly, even more. The opportunities will be there, rest assured, but not without some significant sacrifice and commitment on your part. It's not easy.

In my opinion, it's worth it...but you'll have to decide that for yourself.

[cheese737]

Thanks for the well thought out reply. I printed it out for my reference and will place it in my career folder.

So the thought of being hired into SWA direct from school is not going to happen. Good to know, and almost, its kind of a good thing, because I think I will enjoy the variety of tasks and aircraft presented by different employers.

Again, thank you SNS3Guppy for the well thought post. Much appreciated,
Nathan

Again, if anyone else would like to build on any of this, please drop a line at [email protected]
Thanks in andvance!