Career Change to possibly commercial aviation

[jermyster]

Hi I need some advice.

I'm recently in remission and can now get a 1st class medical. I only have my PPL and looking to begin IFR training. I've been thinking of career change and become an airline pilot. I'm 35 yrs old and currently have a career in foreign policy, with a current salary of $95k. <--this is to discuss the pay cut to go to regionals.

I wanted to know if flying regionals is a fast track to the majors?
How is the lifestyle of a regional pilot (has it improved since the colgan air crash)? is the salary that bad and are there any medical benefits 401k plans?

I currently fly my Piper around, but have always thought about flying as a career, now without cancer. it seems very possible to become an airline pilot.

Would anyone go for it?

[TizerTheAppetizer]

Hi,
It sounds like you've just won a big battle, so as a fighter I'm sure you could make a go of it.

But I've asked for similar advice myself here and the answer is that only you have the anwser.

That is, only you know your own personal circumstances. Can you take the financial risk? Are you prepared for upsets? If you can't find work straight away (it could take months to land a job) what are you going to do? Etc. etc.

I'm in London, surrounded by major airports and top FTOs within a one-hour drive, loads of airlines, pilots etc. and I'm still thinking hard about leaving a well paid job before starting my FT.

For me persoannly I tend to go with my instincts; most of the advice here advised against it, but... make your own decision.

[John Farley]

If you were being interviewed for a job with an airline major and were asked "Why do you want to be an airline pilot?" your answer would reveal so much about you and your suitability for the job.

You must ask yourself this question. Only your answer will determine whether you should actually try to become one.

[Intruder]

I think you would be sorely disappointed with the financial end of the airline industry. However, if you can afford it, you can try it. How easy would it be to get your old job back?

Without an ATP, the question is academic only. If you survive the trek to the ATP, and still want to try the airline industry, then you should probably do it.

FWIW, 15 years ago I left a $56K job as a software engineer to go back to flying. I don't regret it. For me, cockpits are MUCH better than cubicles!

[mixture]

Would anyone go for it?

Harsh as it may sound, I think the first thing you need to do is take off those rose tinted spectacles and take a long, hard look at what you're thinking of doing.

In particular, you need to look properly at the financial side. No, not how much you might/possibly/perhaps never earn if/when/should you eventually make it into the right hand seat in the commercial world. But the financial side of getting yourself there.

In this day and age, the bank is not going to throw money at you without wanting blood, and be perfectly honest and truthful with yourself, can you really take the financial risk, or would it mean you have to remortgage your house and sell your kids in order to scrape together the required cash ? Please don't go using your retirement money or long-term savings ! You need to also realise that if you go down the self-funded route, you are NOT guaranteed a job at the end....so you need to factor in that the financial risk you are about to take is one you can maintain for a few years after completion of your course whilst you're searching around for a job. You also need to consider the worst-case scenario that you're unable to find a job and have to write-off all that cash you just spent.

The chances of you (or anyone) getting onto a fully sponsored course are slim given the limited number of seats on such sponsored courses and the huge amount of competition for those seats. Hence you need to consider the self-funded route.

Finally you've posted this thread in completely the wrong place. You should have posted in (and you should be reading, because the sort of stuff you're asking is pretty much a Frequently Asked Question) the appropriate Wannabes Forums.