first of all, I’d like to thank to each and every person that is willing to read and possibly reply to this long post
one question which will decide if this is realistic at all,
is 24 years old too late to start? I am pursing my mech e degree and will be done and at age 24 I was planning to start my training
1) as I understand there is an integrated path and modular path to become a pilot, would modular get me less opportunities than integrated? as I cannot afford integrated while working full time
2) how often do companies expect you to pay for your type rating? is it common practice or is that just something Ryanair does? speaking for EASA
3) I am from Croatia, meaning our national carrier does not have the best benefits nor the best routes, everything is heavily government subsidised and I wouldn’t like to spend my career here.
so my question would be, what opportunities would I have as Croatian and English speaker except low cost carriers? I see for all Lufthansa Group German is obviously required, and my guess is that Germans have advantage during hiring process.
also, what realistic opportunities would I have in the world? I hear really bad stuff about ME3 and Asian carriers now, but I am keeping in mind that is only for the Americans as their aviation world is totally different beast
(median salary here is about 12k/yr, so I am assuming for that kind of money I’d be willing to work a lot)
if I learned German, would they consider me for real or would they just dismiss it as I am not a native?
4) how accurate are paystubs at pilotjobsnetwork, from what I see salaries are differing wildly
5) how would I realistically progress on widebody planes, only option I see is working for ME3, also are layovers in those companies long enough to see each city or do you work literally till exhaustion and don’t even get to sleep in the city you land in? (speaking for long haul)
6) why do people avoid ACMI like a plague, are contracts really that bad or do people just prefer to be home every night
7) my main objective would be to fly cargo, what opportunities would I have with EASA license and EU passport?
does dhl take non German pilots
8) If I finish my education modular way, what are the chances for me to never get a job? some people claim that rejection rates are 10 people for 1 that gets a job.
I understand that people say work for the love of aviation and don’t think about that, but if I were to pursue this path it would require me to move back with my parents and work 6 days a week for three years to get my licenses, as there are no good paying jobs as mechanical engineer in Croatia
9) would you say you are fulfilled with your career, do you feel like you missed a lot of important events in your life due to the nature of your job?
10) what does the future for the pilots look like in your opinion? everywhere except the US it seems like workers rights and salaries are coming down, at least according to pprune, which some claim is a toxic ####show (at least according to Reddit, not claiming anything)
DISCLAIMER: I do understand that even if I started my training tomorrow these concerns are a long time ahead of me, but I simply cannot commit myself to the idea if I don’t have these questions answered, as this would require massive commitment in terms of working for 3 years like a dog and not having basically any social life.
anyway, I apologise for this long list of questions, and any insight you are willing to share would be massively helpful
P.S. I’ve seen user
rudestuff give a lot of sensible advice on all sorts of threads, so if you’d like to chime in with some opinions of yours, I’d be really thankful!