'allo 'allo Rotorheads
I posted this questions on a US helicopter forum, and was advised to try here on pprune as well, just to get advice from a European perspective.
I have recently decided to give the ATPL-H a go, ready to cash in my savings and a moderate loan. I figure that if all goes ok, I could return trained and hopefully with some useful hours at 39 years old.
And now this: my employer has offered me a pretty attractive part time college program, all expenses paid. My current occupation is not my dream, but a good job and of course my backup plan. The additional qualifications would make that backup much more reliable and give me a degree. But, it would delay flight training for about 3 years realistically. PPL flying on the side no problem (fixed wing for financial reasons), but there's no way to do pro training while working and studying that program.
I know age does matter. I wish that 39 and 42 where equally good/bad because booth are long past the prime flight training age anyway. On the other hand, age 40 might be a cut-off age.
In short: would employers who will not hire you at 42, hire you at 39?