Too Old to be a pilot.

[tinmouse]

Hi,

I’m going to start training for my ATPL’s this summer. However I’m concerned about my age! I’m in my Mid thirties, and I have a year or two before I’ll have a Frozen ATPL.
My question is directed to those that are in there late thirties, and have got, or doing, there ATPL’s.

Can you share with me any issues you may have with regards age when approaching Airlines for Work etc? Any advice would be great!

Thanks in advance,

TINMOUSE.

[Buy one get one free]

Simply achieve a high standard during training. First time passes with 90%+ in each written paper.

First time passes, with no extra training, in the flying training.

Most important of all - a team player ~CRM~

;)

[Craggenmore]

My good mate got a job this week on the A320 and he is in his late 30's

He also does not have first time passes with 90%+ in each written paper and first time passes, with no extra training, in the flying training....

Job hunting is all about who you know...

[Mark Wannabe]

Tinmouse,
A question asked many a time on PPRUNE “am I too old?”.

I myself in fact asked just that some question a couple of months ago.

Most of the replies I received were based on peoples own experiences and therefore very subjective.

I think at the end of the day you have got to ask yourself do you want this with a passion.
If yes then go for it.
You have to be practical also.
Can you afford the training costs and the living costs for up to 2 years?
Do you have a family will they support you.
And so on.

I have found in my quest to find the answer to that age question that age to some airlines may be an issue but more than age experience is probably a more important issue.
Low hours pilots on the whole will go to the bottom of the pile.

Please find the thread What how old posted last week.
Some very interesting repies from airlines on the age issue.

Kind regards
Mark Wannabe

[tonker]

Hi all

To answer the above question i am currently on the waiting list for one freight operator to start there type rating, and last night another airline phoned to ask if i wanted an interview with them flying 737s!!!!!!!

35 years old, fatter than i should be but only going one way and i'm not about to give up.

Still really happy just to have an airline phone little old me after 7 years of flying and 3 seasons of being an instructor.

It's very easy for me to say this now with a flying job and at least 1 offer from an airline, but i could hack getting old knowing i gave my dream a good go, than growing old(but slighlty wealthier) wishing i had.

Good luck

Tonker

[Hobgoblin]

Can I leave my two cents' worth?

I am also rather older than most other students ( and also not someone who scores in the high 90% ) but believe that the main thing is to never EVER give up on your dreams.

I am currently doing the ATPL and am struggling financially, academically and in general just finding the whole thing hard but I believe in myself and my abilities and I know that somehow everything will work out.

I don't care what kind of flying I end up doing because anything up there where I can breathe has to be better than sitting in an office grinding my teeth because I feel like kicking the boss' backside all the way around the moon and back:E .

Maybe I will never end up in the left- or right hand seat of a B747-400, but Aviation is a large industry that has room for everyone from the Shuttle commander to the guy in the lawn chair with a bunch of balloons and a BB gun! I'm sure it has room enough for me too:D

So to everyone who is in the same boat I have three words of advice: WORK, WORK, WORK at it and you'll make it happen. Good luck all.:ok:

[Megaton]

I'm late thirties and recently started with a regional operator as an F/O. I did pass exams and flt tests first time but don't know whether that helped secure a job.

[Piltdown Man]

Started at 34, completed at 36. First job at 38 (after two years sweeping the streets, literally) First real job at 41. Command at 45. Properly paid, reasonable life, pension (until the fatherless get it) and as happy as a pig in poo!

[kilobravo]

The old "too old to get a job" question again!?
I am 36, struggling hard with the ATPL's, after nine weeks of the first distance learning module, with crappy notes that only the
f***er who wrote them can understand. Every day I wonder if I have the brains and the aptitude to make it. I have no house, I live AT HOME, I put off work, ( I'm a freelancer) , so I can do some xtra study, and I have no money to fly at the moment. Will I pass with 90%? Are you for real???? I would love to and I am going to try to get 100% but I'll be happy with the low 80s. I will pass those exams for sure, maybe not first time but I'll get them. Its all about doing questions over and over, best way to consolidate what you have learned. As far as jobs, well it's all about your IR, MCC and twin rating, so I am told, as well as who will vouch for you, put your name forward and say that you are a good guy and pleasant to work with. I am no genius but am starting to believe that all those people on the flight deck are not either( no offence to the geniuses on the flight deck and the non geniuses also sitting with them) The ATPL's are very important, as you can't do anything more without them, but your flying experience and competence matters a lot more. I will never understand fully all 14 subjects, dist learning in 10 months just will not allow for it, but that doesn't mean I can't answer all the questions, sometimes you just have to accept that something works without understanding all the reasons behind it, something very difficult for me to accept, but I will not pass unless I learn to move past something I don't fully understand and finish the rest of the material for that day. So I am still ploughing forward and doing the best that I can at the age of 36 with no prospect of applying for a job until I am 38. It's late I know, however at my school, instructors are leaving quicker than they can be replaced. The industry is on the up, probably for a short while, and I hope the be qualified with albeit bare min. hours when an airline is looking to fill a vacancy.
It's like this; if you haven't got all your training and exams, you will never be in a position to apply. Even if the work is scarce, I want to at least try, big risk and all that, financial etc. but this current pressure and doubt and hope and all the scary emotions is better than the " do I have to do this poxy job for the rest of my life?" feeling. I am no longer listening to negative things. Just keep going, do the best you can and be in a position to see if it can give you an new opportunity later on. Can't remember what my point exactly was put needed to vent a bit. Ah well, back to not understanding yet another chapter about God knows what with radar pulses blablablablabla................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
KiloB

[tinmouse]

Thanks everyone for your replies, it’s nice to see someone in the same boat as I. As I have no kids etc maybe I have less to worry about. It’s a bit like talking a leap in your own faith though! And a scary leap if that! I’ve started now so I’ll probably keep going and maybe in a position to give someone advice some day when I’m flying back and forth somewhere.

So keep those comments coming, I’ll probably be 38 or so when I’m qualified and I here finding pilots will be very hard in the next few years. Anyone got an airline job at 38 with fATPL?

Thanks again.

Tinmouse.

[ikea]

i agree with the fact that you must believe in yourself, if you dont believe in you, why should an airline? I am only 20, and im soon to start training for my PPL and hope to be 'airline ready' (and NO! im not one of these who expect to walk straight into a job!). Im paying for all my training, and i live in a council house, so ive had my fair share of setbacks, and people putting me off due to the financial side of it, but i dont care if I have to live on beans on toast forever, at least im giving my dream a go, and hopefully one day it will pay off.

[grim421]

your are never too old!

I'm also 38 years old, done my CPL with www.th-aviation-connexions.com , currently I'm doing hour-building with them.

Focus shouldn't be only on the airliner career, charter-flying is much more adventurous, imo.

[High Wing Drifter]

I'm 38 this month (beer vouchers please ;)), in the middle of me CPL. For me it is Airlines or part-time instructing. I imagine those are strange alternatives but I won't quit my current career unless I stand a chance of earning a decent amount. If that opportunity doesn't come to pass, then I'll swallow the cost, instruct at weekends and enjoy the IR privately.

[Busbo]

Being only a little scamp myself I'm in no position to talk through experience but I seem to recall being told that airlines look to get at least 12 years out of you which would be enough to make it worth their while so you're perfectly ok with mid-thirties. Also some airlines actually prefer the older guys and wont take people under 28 (although thats not a legal policy of course so its not official and they wont tell you that, they just 'prefer' the older guys) all to do with life experience or something rediculous like that ;) Why shouldn't they like young guys?! I'm indestructable and I do actually know everything there is to know!! ahem.

Good luck

[JimK]

More on the subject of age ... I'm 40 and planning to take a year out to learn to fly. This is all part of my mid-life hiatus and is for fun (and will be part of a longer trip to New Zealand/Australia). However as I look in more detail at planning this I'm starting to wonder if I could also have an option to train for a CPL if I excel ... I have no desire to work as an airline pilot but, at the ripe old age of 43-44 with limited hours would there be any other options for a career in aviation?

[cujomomba]

Just Go For It!!
Life should be an Adventure and if you have the opportunity and resources take the plunge. :ok: And don't look back or listen to naysayers as they're everywhere and usually miserable.
Good luck.
CM

[Tallbloke]

HWD, I am in the same position as you, it is reassuring to have an exit strategy.

Slightly off topic, I was at a seminar on Saturday where a guy decided he was going to try and set Don Darby of FlyBe straight about older candidates, I think he has set our cause back by about 1000 years. He started off well enough, with the (bog standard) argument about the loyalty that older candidates mat offer etc etc, but then when presented with the (bog standard) argument about training risk, he launched into (what I considered) a personal attack. Questions like "When was the last time you took a type rating course?" in quite a hostile tone. I think probably did little to further the cause of us crumblies, especially, as I am not even sure that Mr Darby is actually a pilot, so the question may have been even more ridiculous.

[sidtheesexist]

Tinmouse - my scenario for what it's worth. Left full-time employment in 98 aged 32, FATPL march 2000, no job, FI rating april 2001. part and full-time instruction until dec 2003 when I landed tprop job with uk regional. Now off to fly A320s. If it's encouragement you are after, I hope my experiences might help. Very best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

Regards, Sid :ok: PS feel free to PM me if you have any specific queries

[High Wing Drifter]

Tallbloke,

I suspect (hope) that the person in question did nothing more than close one door on himself. The training risk excuse is an easy one and understandable. Regardless, I think that soon they won't have any choice but to consider CVs on an individual basis. The 30 somethings will probably be in the majority at some point...with a fair wind :)