Originally Posted by
lucille
TempTCu, assuming you go the GA career route, how will your wife feel about being the main breadwinner? How will your family survive on the less than subsistence salaries in GA? True, people do but it’s not pretty.
Heres the hard truth. You’re late 30’s with children. It’s too late now to follow your dream, your sole responsibility is to your children. Bluntly, at your stage of life, you’ve missed the boat. Accept it, find other avenues of fulfilment. There are many wonderfull ways to enjoy recreational aviation which don’t cost a bomb.
By way of perspective, may I add that the harsh reality of flying as a lucrative career is that it’s no longer fun nor enjoyable and will be the entire opposite of what you imagine it to be. Not a single one of all my friends would recommend it to their children. The “top of the ladder” is long haul - a special kind of hell. Where you trade your health and family life for money.
I disagree, it's not too late to follow the dream. I know of several people who have started well into their thirties and even mid to late forties and are very happy with their decision. Sure it's not for everybody but it can work for some.
As for "top of the ladder" not everyone is obsessed with being a wide body captain.
So long as anyone entering the game is aware of the trials and tribulations of the job and have realistic expectations about where their career can take them and so do it with their eyes open then it can be a worthwhile and rewarding exercise. The problems happen when expectations and reality are not matched.