The thing is that license gives me that tiny opportunity, that slight rare possibility of that telephone call or that letter through the door. Is it not worth that?
No, at least not for now.
If you want to get in risk-free, I' d advise you to buy ATPL books and start reading. They are easy to read, even for beginners.
The modular practical training can be done in less than 6 months if you start in the spring. The ATPL theory is the one that takes most time to clear, so if you prepare that in advance, you are ready to bounce in anytime you judge it is worth jumping in. This is relative to everyone but for me it would be when airlines would be desperate to hire on acceptable T&C' s.
If you work another job now, you can easily save 30K over the next 2 years and cover over 60% of your modular training' s cost. You won' t miss a thing in the meanwhile, except maybe the expensive license renewals and alot of frustration from the negative or lack of response from the operators.
After work, grab your ATPL' s and read. Read all the books at least 50 times and go for a 100 on all subjects. You won' t get a 100 because many questions are very tricky, but you won' t be far off.
If you can, find a job in aviation. I' d avoid check-in or jobs like that, go for more operational aircraft-related jobs.
Don' t tell your potential employers that you want to become a pilot, tell them that you are very interested in aviation and that you would work for them for another 30 years. They hate wannabe pilots because they didn' t work for longer than 3 years in the past (though they tend to stick around longer now, guess why).
If you do find such a job you will realise that all this no-airline-jobs talk is real. You will meet many frozen ATPL' s there (many lie their way in or know somebody on the inside, because otherwise they are not in demand for the above mentionned reason), and you will more than ever enjoy your debtless situation.
My personal experience (pm me if you want details)
To reiterate my advice:
- Work another aviation related job (I repeat, don' t tell them at the job interview that you want to become a pilot), in the meanwhile study the ATPL books.
- Save at least 30K on a savings account (it is such a pleasure to see the balance go up and up) over the next 2 years, rely on mom and dad for that.
- If and when the airlines start hiring again, still hold your breath, don't jump in too soon. Remember, there' s alot of people in the same pool, and they' re all at least as good as you are.
- When you see more than 50% of airlines hiring first officers, jump in immediately, pass your theory exams that you have prepared and do your practical training full time in less than 6 months, using money from your savings.
That' s the best advice I can give to you and to all other wannabe' s.
We' re all in the same boat (though I' m already considering other careers, if I do get the right opportunities) and we should all help eachother.
Good luck.