£3300 pa for 5.5 years

[Stu Bigzorst]

In late 1999 I posted on here wondering whether or not to switch jobs and become an airline pilot.

Here's some basic maths for any wannabe's.

I went to Oxford and did the ab-initio course. It took a few months, but I got a job with a turboprop airline (no outlay, but just a bond).

After a year and a half I got a job with a large loco, where I paid for their training.

If I take my total earnings (net) from this 5.5 year period, and subtract the two cheques I had to write for training, then I have taken home:

£18,500.

Over 5.5 years that's £3,300 a year.

Out of that I've had to pay for all my normal accomodation and living costs.

Just so you guys know (and I reckon I've been one of the luckier ones on my course at Oxford).

Stu

[wbryce]

and I bet you would do it all again.....:ok:

[Flying Farmer]

4 years in and probably £30,000 down on the deal :ok:

[sir.pratt]

if i took my net pay from the last 5 years, took off the amount i spent on beer, kids, motorbikes, waterskiing, overseas travel, widescreen tv's, and a bit of flying i'd have, well, NOTHING!

the question to ask is, are you enjoying yourself?

if yes, then what is the problem?

if no, then move on.

[The African Dude]

Stu, interesting!

Maybe it might save a wannabe's career if you can share with us any money-mangement strategies you developed over the last 5.5 years?

But did you really live on *this* money?
I mean, you weren't getting paid £3,300pa during your training - how did you survive then? And... you havn't been living on £3,300pa since finishing training, have you? The only reason I pick up on this is that as a student I know how having nothing one month is OK but the following month you might need everything you can scrape together, so whilst actually living on £3,300pa may be hard for 5.5yrs, living on less during training and more during employment might actually be easier.

[Stu Bigzorst]

No, you need a huge wedge of cash (or a huge loan) to start with.

Assume you can live on £12,000 a year.

For the first 2 years you will need £24K living + £46K training. That's £70K.

Then my earnings at the TP airline paid for my living, and I could save £500 a month. So after a year, £6K saved.

Then you need £28K for easyJet. £23K for the cheque and £5K to live for 3-4 months and pay for relocation to somewhere random in Europe.

So at the start you need £70K - £6K + £28K. That's a cash requirement of...

£92,000

Of course, if you feel you can live on £700 a month, then you only need...

£84,000

After the 5-6 year break-even time, you will be left with a job that pays £2800 a month. Of course, you will need luck and a bit of skill - some guys on my course at Oxford never made it.

Stu

[N380UA]

That goes a bit alongside with my post last week. As Stu said, apart from skills it takes luck. I guess for a bachelor a 1000 quid's a month is enough. A cheap apartment and the rest is beer and some food. It becomes more difficult with a kid and even more so with a wife.
I'm almost done repaying my training loans – paying since mid 1999!

If your willing to take such large amounts of cash and convert it into a license to fly airplanes bare in mind that you might not find an employer to assure your living even if your a really thrifty guy/gall!