I`m 33....Should I go for ATPL now
 

Hello

I`ve been dwelling on this for a year now......

I`m 33 and would like to go intergrated for ATPL but am not sure whether I can get an airline position due to my age and market situation.

Please be honest and a touch brutal.... I can handle it!!

Many thanks in advance

Apple :) :)

i did, i was 29, finished when i was 30 , now 31. But i have no job well airline job. just about to start working for airbus, but still hopefull of a pilot job coming up somewhere.

At the moment, there are very few jobs for anyone, especially new ATPL(f)s, regardless of age. But the signs are that things are starting to pick up, and hopefully will be better in a couple of years.

I think the best thing you could do is not to go integrated, but to do a modular course. Keep your current job, and work part time towards the ATPL(f). It will probably take 2 or 3 years, by which time the market will hopefully be better. And, if you can't get a job as a pilot at the end of it, at least you'll still have your current job to pay the bills.

Good luck!

FFF
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nice idea FFF but i wouldnt recommend part time as the course is hard enough as it is. i would recommend full time especally at 33 because time is ticking, also what happens if the airlines start recruiting next year he will miss the boat. But there is a positive if he does it part time, he will not be competition for me as i already have my fATPL. good luck apple

Good point, pilotchap. I guess it's a matter of weighing up risk vs effort. My suggestion is high-effort, low-risk, compared to your (relatively) low-effort, high-risk. Only apple knows his personal circumstances, so only he can say which is right for him. But for me (I'm younger than apple, but not all that much younger), part time suited me better.

FFF
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Apple

I too am 33, I have just completed my PPL and am doing hour building in SA in October. I start a residential ATPL course in November.

I have resigned from my IT Sales job and how do I feel..........scared witless, excited, about 200lbs lighter. There are pros and cons, I feel back in control of my life but there are many things I have had to give up to pursue this new career. Yes, I am already lying awake thinking about spending the £40k and not being able to get a job but if I wait a few more years I would never have done it, so the risk is yours to assess and nobody can give you the perfect answer. It really depends how you view what you are currently doing with your life and whether you can do it for the next 25 years, that's how I made my decision.

Good luck.

backontrack i too went to SA (FTC) and also gave up work as an engineer, as you say risked everything, that was over 2 years ago now. I have finished taining i have a fATPL and now back in engineering, currently on a lower wage, but i am moving soon to airbus on a higher wage than before my training so hopefully things are starting to look up. also i am sure airbus on my cv will not be a disadvantage.

Hi Apple,

I'm 39 and posed a similar question back in August. I got lots of great advice. Search for my user name and you'll see the post "What're my chances".

I still haven't made a decision since I have a wife, two kids and a cat to support so I have to get a job at the end. I've opted to wait for a bit and see what happens - market, war etc etc.

Synopsis of the advice I got was: do lots of reasearch, go for a full time modular, don't underestimate how much it'll cost.

Good Luck

Dave

Easier?
 

Buy a C172 instead

Hi Apple

The oldest student I ever taught ATPL groundschool to was 42 (I was only 28 at the time!). Market situation is forecast (by Flight International) to pick up in 2004, so there will actually be pilot shortage. Start soon and you'll hit it! Even old b#ggers generally get a break somewhere, according to the people I've talked to who've been in the industry a while.

I would agree that you at least consider modular, perhaps full-time straight through, in much the same way as an integrated course (I must admit I work for a modular provider, but I made the same choice three years ago, and went modular, saving about £12,000 and gaining extra 40 hours or so. I never regretted the choice). There are various advantages to modular courses in addition to the cost saving, and no-one has managed to tell me an advantage of an integrated course for the self-sponsored student, even after I posted a query here.

Do it, but do it modular. Dont give up your job. Im 32 and i started a year ago, and i take my last exams in March. All i would say is you have to be totally committed. It is very, very intense study. Big change to your social life, and you need to have the wife on your side. I spend so much time in the study shes forgotten what i look like, the dog growls at me and the kids cry cause they think im stranger !
Great feeling getting there though. If you don't do it you will be asking what if forever

most guys who completed a JAA fATPL cant find any work in aviation so i guess this idea is not so good. If it was cheap (its not) or short (its not) i would say go for it but it costs 50k and takes 2-3 years. would you seriously invest 50k and two years in anything with a ZERO guarantee of any return ?
in the current job market, the JAA fATPL is a totally useless piece of crap.
you can discard "send clowns" advice, he is working for a flight school and needs your money. Dont fall for the marketing bull**** of flight schools.

If you want to do it, do it! If you are dedicated and if you have can stand waiting for a job you should not hesitate. Sell your house, drive an ugly car and eat rice six times a week. As avrodamo pointed out you should not play the what-if game for the rest of your life.

deTrix

Apple,

Lose from your sight and memory the posting by piperindian. If you have any doubt about what I say, then I suggest you click on his user profile, then click on his other postings - I think you should be able to make your mind up from there.....Shades of Ronchonner, but theres another story!!........lets get back to your topic:

The age thing is not critical from what I have read on other threads from folk of around that age - indeed in some cases it has worked in their favour, depending on the background of the individual.

Avrodamo's posting is spot on, DO IT, but do it modular. And do your research first. In fact it would do you good to look through Avrodamo's past postings.....but also:.....

I would suggest you look for a few posters that seem to be talking similar language then send a private message to those posters - even get in touch with them by telephone.....a lot more realtime and your learning curve will be better by talking to someone who has been through it...

And do not ever get the feeling that your age is the problem, although I understand why you might think so!

All the best,

Laurie.

laurie, since you seem to be so well informed can we know if you possess a JAA fATPL in the first place ?
your advice is also bull****, smells of flight school advice.
I think advice should come from JAA fATPL holders.

Piperindian,

You are entirely correct in your opening sentence; I AM well informed.

As to fATPL - I am in the process of securing mine.

then you go on to say, you genius,
"your advice is also bull****"........You may or may not be correct with that. Let the reader decide.

"smells of flight school advice."........Not true - I have never endorsed any flight school.

"I think advice should come from JAA fATPL holders." - I beg to differ, tough guy - this forum is about information between all members - the dross will soon get sorted from the gen.


You have a good night, PI,


Laurie :)

Hahahaha, piperindian, I had already pointed out I work for a school.

However since I don't own the school I get no more or less money if Apple comes along to our school, let alone one of the many other fine schools around the country that he may choose instead. I do not 'need' his business. In any case I was merely passing on the existence of students considerably older than Apple, and the advice of Flight International, that can be readily checked in your or his local library. It was an issue some 6 weeks or so ago. I am no expert in the aviation industry, so am unqualified to advise on my own authority, nor did I pass myself off as such.

I do know a fair amount about flight training having seen the JAA system from a variety of aspects (it is rather unattractive from all, but at least the CAA do their best to assist us) so any practical queries, Apple, feel free to contact me via my profile.

P.S. Apple if you want to talk to someone about the age issue, find Flying Farmer on this site. I'm sure he would be happy to reply to any questions. He was one of my best students ever, and is a little older than you are (not sure how much ;) )

Apple,

On balance I would say probably go for it. If you are the type of person that will kick himself in 20 years time for not trying and you currently have the funds then do it. The modular route is probably best and if you can keep your current job on a part-time basis then that's even better. If you do it that way, it should take you about 2 years or so. Full-time modular courses should take the same time as their integrated equivalents, generally a year to 18 months.

Make sure you have a back-up plan if things go pear-shaped.

Best of luck!

piperindian I note that although you suggest that a none-ATPL holder has no say here (a strange idea in open forum) you do not admit to any licence at all. Are you a pilot, or a troll?

well send clowns when you speak of impending "pilot shortage" in your first post you are ridiculing yourself. its the ultimate marketing bull****. i wonder whos trolling.

as for a license, yes i possess a full-fledged multi/IR JAA fATPL, a totally useless piece of crap BTW.