Career Change

[rooshi]

Dear Forum users,
I have been cabin crew for 17 years now and i really want to fulfill my childhood dream of wanting to be a pilot. Is it too late for me now, i am 41 years of age. I was thinking about applying to CTC wings as a cadet, my two concerns are weather i would pass the course as i last studied at university 20 years ago, and the second question is if i would find a job at my age!
if anybody could kindly advise me or perhaps tell me of stories they know of. Many thanks!

[parabellum]

Have you spoken to your current employer, (pilot management department), about the possibility of swapping over to Tech Crew? Might be a place to start.

[paco]

You are certainly not too old to start studying, despite the gap - we have students at 53 and above, with no uni experience. The only limit I can think of would be the latest time they will invest in you for type ratings etc. So expect to self-fund!

[Flying Mechanic]

Do it! I have flown with at least 4 ex cabin crew. Don't worry about age.

[guyleedsutd]

Paco when you say the latest age to fund your type rating how old is this likely to be up to that an airline would fund it

[Bealzebub]

If an airline pays for type ratings, it pays for them in any event. It is not dependent on your age.

[paco]

If a company hires you it wants to get a return on its investment, obviously, when you're talking about $60K for a type rating. No good spending that kind of money on someone who is going to retire in a couple of years!

I believe the cutoff for the N Sea, at least (my expertise is with helicopters), is around 42. But then, that may not apply in the airline world. However, it wouldn't surprise me if it does.

[Higher for hire]

Although I don't have any personal experience in the field of recruiting I don't think that the training costs are reason enough not to hire someone beyond a certain age. Of course the company has to gain more money out of one pilot's workforce than that pilot actually costs - that's the way our economy is working. But this applies to any pilot independent of age.

On the long run the expenses for all the recurrent training sessions will be much higher than the cost of one single type rating course. The difference with respect to training costs between keeping a pilot for lets say ten years compared to 30 years is therefore negligible. If a company is telling you: "We would hire you but we can't afford the typerating." - how will they ever be able to afford all the necessary recurrents in the years to come? Probably such a company won't keep you anyway after your self-sponsored type rating has expired.

There must be more to the ever-lasting age discussion. Perhaps employers are afraid of "social disturbances" within their team if a middle-aged career changer starts all over at the very bottom of the seniority list? Maybe they consider you not tough/flexible/healthy enough to withstand that volatile business? Or they don't like the idea that one of their employees has yet another professional option outside their sphere of influence? I don't know - can someone with insight in HR possibly shed some light on this?

[nutcake]

Hi rooshi (http://www.pprune.org/members/412593-rooshi)

Did you do it? Did you actually start a new career as a pilot? I am in the same situation: I turned 41 yesterday and I am thinking about starting a new career as a pilot. But I have the same doubts as you do: That is the current and future job market situation, the costs after getting the ATPL, I mean the additional costs for needed ratings and the chances to find an airliner job at all after completing the training.
Could you please tell me about your experiences or is anyone else out there that could help us "middle-agers" about the decision to go for it or to better save ones energy, time and money...
Every tip is very much appreciated,
Mike