Originally Posted by
mantoholic
Hi newbie here.
Have submitted my application to CX on 19th Jan but still pending reply. Got offer from HKIAA cadet programme, but it's too expensive plus employment is not guaranteed.
I just turned 36, earning over $120K/month in the public sector but sick of my job. Have mortgage, a wife and Canada passport. No aviation experience except flight sim. Have been thinking of pursuing an aviation dream and seeking inspirations in this forum, instead finding the realistic side of this sector.
Applied for the CX CPP before COVID but was rejected at the initial stage. No idea why.
It's a very difficult decision to start all over. Anyone have similar experiences?
I think it is very difficult to give suggestion to a person that have currently a stable salary that is comparable to a airline captain to resign from the current job and all-in to start another career at the age of mid-30s.
Here is my humble suggestion from a university student to-be graduated this summer could give you:
Other than Canadian passport, do you still have any other kinds of foreign residency/citizenship/ work permit? Say US/AU or even Europe.
No matter yes or no, I would suggest that you can make use of your annual leave/ holidays to go to US or Canada to have a discovery flight (and even try to get a private pilot license but it might take for few months even studying full-time) to see if you are really interested to become a pilot. Simply obtaining a PPL won't cost too much at your current income. (I think you could get a trial flight at South-East Asia for cheaper price, though getting a license at South-East Asia might not be a very wise choice since they might have less global accreditation)
Many people on the internet said they start to become a pilot even at the age of 40s/50s or above, so it shouldn't be too late for you to start flying at your age.
However, given that you still have mortgage and a family, I think you have better pay back all your mortgage first before you resign so you won't fall in a financial trouble after you switched your path to aviation. Better reserve about $1M for flight training cost (From 0 hours to flight instructor rating finished)
The difficulties for a career in pilot concentrates between 0 hours to getting your first job in regional airline. If you could get yourself to 1500hrs flight hours for PIC, it should make you competitive to find a job and the remaining part is to keep accumulating hours to get into major airlines
Hope my suggestions help and wish you can achieve your dream!
