Over the hill?

[gregrr]

At 34 yrs old, do I still have a chance of landing a flying job in the near future? When I completed my initial flight training it was 1991. Not a good time to be looking for a job as an entry-level pilot. I remember applying everywhere and getting turned down instantly. Even with an Instructor Rating, jobs were very difficult to come by. And after an extremely short stint I gave up Instructing real quick. Something about trying to live off $15.00/hr of your flight time (it had to be close to living on the poverty line). Given the weather in the Toronto area you really didn’t fly that much. With a mortgage and a baby on the way I wasn’t about to move for a job as an Instructor. Fortunately I also had my post secondary education in Computer Science and had a good job in the IT field, which paid for my flight training. Well 9 years later I managed to fly 1200 hrs TT mostly in retractable high performance aircraft. With advanced systems such as Flight Directors, Altitude & Vertical Speed Pre-select, GPS Approach approved Garmin GNS430’s and King KLN89 & 90b. I have about 200 MEL and a current Group 1 Instrument Rating.

I would have to give up a pretty good job in the IT field to start working as a pilot. The question I have is how long would it take to make about 100–130k working as a pilot in Canada.

[CallYouBack]

It all depends on how bad you want to fly. The airlines are full of pilots in their first 5 years who gave up good jobs with comfortable salaries, and traded those in for 3 or 4 years of financial hardship, after which the full benefits of the profession, financial, lifestyle, etc, were theirs for the taking. Nothing worthwhile comes without a high price. You have to decide exactly what your priorities are.

So you're making 100-130k doing something that at the same time you're wishing you are someplace else, like in professional avaiation.

With your experience level you have to go back to the bottom and work your way up. And in this business, that means working....or should I say, flying....long hours in out of the way places, at the most inconvenient times, at the minimum wage.....for X number of years, and always having an ear to the ground for the next 'good' job, and so on. With perseverence, and luck, your number just might come up.

The rewards for those sacrifices are immense for those of us who are fortunate enough to do this professionally. Financial, lifestyle, internal satisfaction are just a few of the parameters of those rewards.

You'll never jump from your salary bracket in a job outside of aviation into the same brackety inside of this business.

Decide what's most important to you in the long term, then ask yourself if you are willing to make the sacrifices required, without any garantee of 'making it'.

The ball is in your court. You have to decide, but whatever financial comfort level you enjoy now will not be the same for probably the next 5 years.

Been there....

[Randy_g]

There is another way. Instead of giving up your decent wage in IT work, why not work part-time as a charter pilot. At your age, you will find it very difficult to get into the airlines. A friend of mine flies part-time, and loves it. He has the best of both worlds, earning real money working on computers during the week, and on weekends he flies charters. It is a thought, because the airlines tend to not want guys over 35 who don't have something special. And they are about the only ones who will pay that kind of money. There are other options open to you, but they may not pay as well. Corporate flying, air ambulance, aerial tankers (water bombers) are all out there and do offer challenging, rewarding flying. They also tend to not have the "unofficial" age restrictions on their hiring.

I hope I have helped you in some way. I'm not trying to discourage you from flying, quite the opposite in fact. Flying is a great occupation, and for me, is very rewarding. If money is a major consideration, then you may have to examine what you really want. It may take quite a while to earn $100,000 + even with the airlines. So good luck !!!

Randy_G

[gregrr]

Thanks for the advice, at this point I think
I am going to sit tight, keep current and continue flying whenever I am able to. Working part time does sounds like a good option to explore. I really do envy many of the friends I trained with and other professional pilots who trained around the same time I did and stuck it out during the hiring drought of the early 90's. Many now have pretty good jobs at Royal and Canadian/AC. Who knows if the NASDAQ market ever recovers, my stock options may eventually be worth something and I just might be able to buy my own airplane at some point.

Enjoy your jobs flying, for anyone that is fortunate enough to fly for living. You really do deserve it, it is a tough road and like everything else is well worth the sacrifice.

[offshoreigor]

Greggrr:

There is a way! If you want to go RW, then you may be able to achieve your goal of 100-130K in less time than you think.

You need to get your ATPL(H), this is not as daunting as it sounds. You may have to bare low salaries for about 1 1/2 years, but go to the Air Ambulance as a low time Heli driver. They will give you all the knowledge you need in IFR, Bush and the unexpected.

After you have the necessary 2000 hours, you can get on with a company like CHC International. You will earn from 55K-70K per year but here's the kicker. You will be on the Overseas Employment Tax Credit (OETC).

What this means is you will only pay tax on twenty percent of your income. Therefore, you will take home what you are now in the 100K-130K range.

I would have to make at least 150K in Canada to take home what I do now.

If you don't want to go RW, then you may want to talk to companies like Ken Borick, who by the way operate under CHC's OC in Burma. They also qualify for the OETC.

Hope this helps.

Cheers' OffshoreIgor http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif

[Azure]

Offshoreigor:

I believe it's "Kenn Borek" http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/tongue.gif

But that's okey, we all spell crappy online!

Great to see this forum coming alive....I actually had to scroll today! Proof that many people are looking at this forum, few have made contributions in the past, but now are getting involved. The one nice thing about PPrune, it's not an AC/CAIL, AC/ACR, fighting match, with the same old "rhetoric"?

Now you can spell check me!

Anyway, the BS spread on certain Canadian forums, gets tiresome. This forum seems like an ideal place to get a real dialogue going with pilots everywhere!

And for those that complain "foreign pilots" are taking our jobs, have you ever wondered about how many Canadian pilots are now overseas? In my small aviation world, I know of several.

[m&v]

I believe you said you had an "instructors"
Rating!! Good,go to the closest 'Field'do part time Instruction(they all need instructors at the moment)-you need the 'PIC'time! Get a 'feel' for the employement opportunities around. IF Necessa-
ary,if it means a definite job,Buy an endorsement( from a Tax recognized establishment)the 'heavy'time means well in the long run.(f27/convair/b737),or sign a 'bond' to stay several years to justify their training Expense!!With about 3K hrs ,apply to the Heavy Carriers(Air Canada has hired recently up to 46years).
With the 'Large'Carriers,you'll have to be with them several years(you start about 40k,for at least 2 years),before you near the
100k mark.There's a Pilot employement 'Wave'
at the moment(Air Canada needs 400year),don't even consider what will happen
if 'United' can get unlimited'green'cards!!!