Originally Posted by
lilmissre
....- they have told him that he can be captain in 5 yrs and that from start to finish 18 months of training and he can get his cpl. He was also told by one of his friends that he can choose short on medium haul flights which allow more work life balance as they'll typically be 4 on 4 off or vice versa, or fly in one day and be home in the evening.
....
We were thinking of moving in together, getting married etc but I'm concerned this might put a pause on everything, which I can handle, so long as he can get the captain job he says he'll get.
-Five years to get captain from a PPL is extremely optimistic, and also subject to factors not under his control (industry, pandemics, downturns etc etc). Be very wary if you're pinning your life happiness on this.
-Unless you are very lucky, work life balance in aviation is skewed very much towards work, especially on shift work. 4 on 4 off sounds great, until you get a run of 3am starts, then 3pm starts, and so on.
-"choose" short on medium flights? probably be a case of getting any job you can. It's much more likely you will have to move for this job.
-At 43, the time taken to make back your investment is much reduced, and whilst airlines should not discriminate on age, does make it harder to get that first job.
-There are other jobs in aviation that are much more fun and rewarding, with a good work life balance, but they are elusive, and often do not pay nearly as well as the coveted boeing/airbus gig. Consider looking outside the box at instruction, paradropping, light GA, etc.
-if he's really missing the flying, and contemplating spending up to 100k on flying, why not renew the PPL, buy a share, and enjoy flying using that 100k, flying for fun?
-Do not bet the farm on this.