Help needed before I muck up my life with a bad decision
Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster.
I need some help on figuring out a plan before I make some idiotic decisions. If some kind soul would like to lend a hand and give some tips I'll be eternally grateful.
My current situation:
-27yo in Switzerland
-About 35'000€ in savings, last salary will be end of February.
-About to terminate a contract as an ATCO trainee after 3 year+ of studying, unsuccessful end of training
-Gigantic time pressure
I'll spare you all the details for the sake of longevity. I've been an ATCO trainee since 2021, after a long time the decision was took to terminate my training, both from the company and as well from my side, because even if being an ATCO was cool and all, I really, REALLY, want to be a pilot, and I was increasingly unhappy with my life, so I welcomed the change.
Well, all good right? I'll work a couple of years and pay for my training as I go... WRONG! Unfortunately, time is not on my side, and the reason is very simple; my lovely girlfriend of 4 years, which endured all the stress of living with a trainee in a highly selective environment (because yes, less than 50% of trainee never get to see a license in our ANSP), has been very patient, supportive, and in general an amazing partner, but she is also 33yo. Why do I mention this? Well, we spent large amounts of our free times planning and dreaming the day the ATCO training would end and we could start a family, both me and her really want children and the clock is ticking, nature is a bitch. She is very supportive of my ambition of working in aviation, also changing now to become a pilot, but the future ain't looking very bright when checking my options.
Bottom line is: If I want to become a licensed pilot, I better start NOW, there is no time to waste.
The options I have considered:
-Do the training integrated, the fastest option, but I can't afford it.
-Ask for a bank loan, possible via my father (they would reject me as I won't have a salary during training) but will also require me to work while training to repay the monthly check (no bank will accept delays on payment after more than three months), and not many schools aren't open to that (AELO in Locarno already told me that they won't accept it as the training is very intensive), while other schools in the area are very expensive and less recognized
-Get hired in a sponsored cadet program, I already sent an application to all those program open to me, but you all know how unlikely it is to get hired.
-Go modular, pay what I can as I go, this would be the slowest option because at some point I will have to stop and get the money up, thing that I can also potentially do during theory (PPL and ATPL mainly) as certain schools allow distance learning. In any case I would need to stop at some point as cumulating 30k€ extra is not exactly a 3 weeks task.
-Modular until December, deploy with the army for 6 months in January and finish the rest later. I have a chance to deploy in some peacekeeping missions as I'm a lieutenant in the Swiss Armed Forces, this will allow me to get 45k€ in a relatively short span, when back, i could finish my training. This option worries me as I will be away from any flying for 6 months, that's a long time, will I forget some stuff? Will my performance suffer from it? How long will all this take?
Additionally on all that, if I pick modular, where do I go? My idea is to go with the more affordable Spanish, Polish or Hungarian schools at least for PPL and hour building as it saves quite a lot, and maybe do the most key courses in more "heavy name" schools for my CV.
I got so much confusion in my head and so little time to think and act about it, my contract with my current employee end at the end of February, if I want to do this, I better have a plan.
Any help or insight will be extremely applicated!
Oh and PS: Yes, I'm 100% sure about flying, I had the luxury of getting free rides here and there with local FI at my airport where I could also fly the aircraft, and it was the time of my life, I LOVE it.