Originally Posted by
Nurse2Pilot
Could you really "prioritise life outside work" with a huge debt + type rating bond hanging over your head?
Yes! And had I been given the opportunity to do so earlier then I would’ve taken it. I self funded my own training, no help from parents etc. I left with about £40k in debt. I went modular because I knew I’d overstretch myself financially by going integrated. I went where the first job was, and did the same again for the second and third. I set out on my career to being a pilot knowing how much it would cost and how much debt I’d be in and what it would cost me to pay it back. I would’ve still moved home much earlier in my career if I could and would’ve taken a pay cut to do so because I’d done my research and not overstretched myself financially. It’s would be unwise both fiscally and mentally to set yourself up in such a manner that you can only take a jet job. What if that job never materialises? What if you have to end up flight instructing, or flying a piston or a turboprop? (Incidentally, many turboprop operators pay perfectly acceptable salaries). If a cadet is so myopic in their desire to get onto a shiny jet at any cost, then so be it, but I think they’ll come to regret it further down the line.
The original poster says that his ATR rating would be paid for and the money would be good when he gets his command in 18 months time. Reading between the lines he wants to be home and he doesn’t suggest that finances are the main driver in his decision making process. So I don’t see where MY financial situation comes into it at all. If he doesn’t have the financial constraint (which he doesn’t seem to from his original post) then I merely suggested that he’d be happier with the option that takes him home.
May I ask what stage of your career you’re at Nurse2Pilot, and what your aspirations are? The reason I said you appear bitter is that you come across as rather angry that someone might suggest that the luxury of putting a home life first over flying even exists?