I'm 29 years old from Vancouver, Canada. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia. I came to this forum looking for advice on how to pursue my dream. I know this have been asked many times before, but every situation is going to be a bit different. Considering how expensive flight school is, I want to get as much advice as I can get so that I can make the best possible decision.
I know it's often been asked if it's too late to start a career as a pilot. Seems like if people in their 30s can achieve their dreams, I guess I can too. I haven't started flight school yet as I'm still thinking about how I'll finance my education and which school to go to. Base on my research, it seems like Professional Flight Centre may be my best bet. I have even went down there to talk to a flight instructor to get an idea of how much it'll cost to be trained.
My ultimate goal is to fly for a major international airline. Since I'm a Canadian citizen, Air Canada seems like a logical choice, but from what I gather, it's very difficult to get a job at Air Canada due to the number of jobs that are actually available. I guess competition is going to be very fierce in Canada. Is that still the case as of mid-2014?
An acquaintance of mine works for Cathay Pacific as a pilot. He is a former classmate of a friend of mine. He briefly told me how he ended up working for Cathay. Basically he started flight school at about 26 years old full time in Eastern Canada (Moncton if I remember correctly). As soon as he was done, he applied to Cathay Pacific's program and he was admitted about a year after. Upon completion of the training program, he became a pilot for Cathay Pacific. This is all that I remember from our short conversation. Is it really possible to become a first officer in a span of 3-4 years after obtaining a commercial pilot license? He was more or less implying that it's possible and yet from what I gather over here at PPRUNE, it could take much longer than that. Unfortunately for me, I don't have HK citizenship so I cannot legally work in Hong Kong. The acquaintance have not just Hong Kong citizenship, but also Canadian.
Right now, I am not fully settled in Vancouver. I don't have a car loan, mortgage, or any form of loans. I don't have a house. I don't have anything that will force me to stay in Vancouver. Is it easy for someone with a Canadian commercial pilot license to work overseas? In the news, they always talk about huge demand for pilots in China. In fact, there was a story in the papers about a pilot from a town near Chicago making about US$21,000/year jumping to US$90,000/year after moving to Tianjin, China. Is this a viable option for me if for whatever reason I can't secure a job with Air Canada or WestJet? I can also speak Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese so that's something that's been on my mind.
I know it'll be difficult to tell me, but in your opinion, how long will it take to obtain a commercial pilot license if I were to do it part time? If I remember correctly, the guy at Pro IFR said 1 year is possible if I were to do it full time, but 3-4 years if part time. I would like to do it full time, but I will need to work to come up with the estimated $35,000-$40,000 to obtain the commercial pilot license.
I'm not sure if this have been addressed before, but would it be easier and cheaper if I were to become a pilot through the military? Recently I became aware that the Canadian military is looking to hire and train pilots. I don't know what the procedure and commitment is like. I do plan on dropping by a local recruitment office to ask some questions sometime later this week. It seems like this will be a much cheaper option and I'll get paid while I'm being trained. I'm not sure if it'll be easy or not to transition from the military to civilian aviation. I'm also not sure if I will have to commit a certain number of years to the military. I have a hunch that may be the case. What are your comments on this scenario?
I know that there are other jobs with other companies besides the airlines. The acquaintance of mine told me don't pursue this as a profession if my only objective is to work for an airline as I may never get in. Any comments on that? I'm not saying that I'll have to work for a major airline, but at the same time, I don't want to be making $25,000/year or so for the rest of my life working for (not sure the words to describe it) the much smaller regional airlines. I would hope that after making accumulating enough hours and experience, I can at least have a shot at working for a major airline and get a decent salary.
Sorry for this long thread. My questions seem a bit over the place. I've been thinking about this for a few years now. I've actually been thinking about being a pilot ever since I was a kid, but being Chinese, my parents wanted me to go to university and be a professional (lawyer, accounting, and etc.). I had the conversation with the acquaintance of mine a few years ago. I never went through with it because the cost of flight school just put me off. At this stage of my life, I don't want to have any regrets. I only get to live once. I mind as well give it a shot considering I don't have to make the upfront payment of $45,000. It's paid by the hour so at least I can give it a shot and see where things will go. Your comments will be greatly appreciated and I hope it'll help guide me on the right path to pursuing this dream.
Thank you.