Leaving that well paid job to fly
 

I've spent the past twelve months on this forum, have visited flying schools, been to Flight Training exhibitions and started a PPL. I've wanted to be an airline pilot since the age of 5 (I'm now 33) and today I put my hand up for severence from my unfulfilling but well paid IT job! It feels like the most sane and yet insane thing I've ever done!. .. .I feel excited and terrified at the same time!! I know that I am following in the footsteps of many of you and I guess I'd appreciate knowing how those of you who have given up the security of an office desk feel about it in retrospect. My main fear is that I may do this and not get a pilot job. There have been a few posts over the months which have worried me which indicated that the FTO's are a bunch of charlatans selling a dream to thousands which will only be achieved by a few. . .. .I know I love flying - it's in my bones and always has been, I know there are no guarantees but I can't help feeling that at 25 I had less to lose than I have now. The other issue is that I already work for an airline and so have spent ten years comforting myself with the fact that 'at least I am in the industry' and can ride juimpseats etc relatively easily but in many ways that has only made the passion to fly even more intense.. .. .Are you still glad you made a similar decision?. .. .Desk-pilot

Des. .. .You've made the right decision. Life is too short to just keep day-dreaming.. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" /> . .. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" /> . .. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

Hi Desk-Pilot, I suspect the consensus will be "go for it"! . .I think there are many people in your position, I am one, now 28 and also in IT AND also thinking of going for my CPL! From what I have seen it is a common occurence, many like me have tried and failed to get sponsorship a few years back, never dreaming of being able to afford to PAY for all that training!! I have only recently realised that is is more affordable than it seemed when I was a poor student.. .The best of luck to you! The only advice I am qualified to give would be to not set your heart on flying a Boeing for the majors, at least to start with. As long as you are happy doing something more modest and not very well paid you chances are not bad. Then anything more is a bonus.. .By the way, I would be interested in any training decisions you have made.

Mate - an office desk aint no security - it's a prison.. .. .Go for it

You never want to look back on your life and think.. I WISH I HAD DONE THAT. .. .I have just done the same and starting the ATPLs in September, I am scared to death of debt and lack of a job, but then i do not like the thought of my office being my home till i die !. .. .GO FOR IT

Guys,. .. .Many thanks for the words of encouragement - it's great to know that we are all in this together.. .. .Billy fish - My preferred option is Oxford mainly because my wife works at Heathrow and so I hope to trade our house for something smaller within commuting distance of Oxford for me and Heathrow for her. Prices are pretty high in that part of the world but we're looking. I'm booked on the Cabair open day because that's a contender too. I have ruled out Jerez, Michigan and KLM because to attend any of those would mean living away for well over a year and I think I'm asking enough of my wife already!. .. .Where are you guys going?. .. .Desk-pilot - but hopefully not for much longer!

I quit my desk in Feb 1999. Best move I ever made. My life now is incomparably better than if I had stuck with the safe option.. .. .Good luck,. .. .WWW

DP. .. .Cabair and Oxford are very similar, although I suspect Cabair is slightly worse (was when I was there). But it's pretty much of a muchness they all have to teach to the same standards and comply to JAR reg's. anyway.. .. .Good luck to you and keep the blue bit up.. .. .PS Just realised DP means something else too.

Hello,. .. .I'm curious. This thread is about leaving the desk job to go for the ATPL. Are there many out there who did both together? Fly at weekends, summer evenings etc... Do the exams via distance learning or whatever? AND keep your well paid desk job.. .. .Or are the ATPLs just to demanding to do both in any reasonable time frame? . .. .Cheers,. .. .PPL172

Never done a desk job. In fact, never had a 9 to 5 of any description. Can't see why anyone would want to do one in the first place <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> . .Well done on joining the real world <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

Early in my career I had to do AFIS work due to lack of flying jobs. Later, I took a year off from flying to work behind a desk. Aviation related work, but funny enough, after a year it started to itch, and you just have to find a simulator and get current again. . .. .I guess it`s like this. When you`ve made your decision to become an aviator, you just have to maintain heading and no 180° turn. Later, like some thousand hours later, it does not harm to do something else. It helps you from not getting a tunnel-vision.

I know exactly where you are coming from, I quit my desk job last year, terrifying yes, but I think it will be the best thing you ever did!. .. .Go for it.

Quit a safe and reasonably well-paid job in manufacturing management.. .. .Bashing away at those ATPL's, but wake up with 1000% more enthusiasm for the day, and the future for that matter - whatever it might hold - than I ever did ensuring we made our monthly target for gizmo production.. .. .Downside is I now make my own coffee and had to swap company Vauxhall Omega 3.0 for a jalopy and consequently can't drive round at 135mph.. .. .Upside is salvation and looking forward to my next company 'vehicle' being far faster.... . . . <small>[ 20 March 2002, 19:21: Message edited by: Gin Slinger ]</small>

yes PPL 72 I did all my studies and flying whilst still holding down a job. I was QFI at weekends and slowly built up the hours. You can have the best of both worlds but the hours go up slower.

Good move, well done.. .. .You will not regret it if you 'stay the course', and I mean all the way to your first job, remain realistic, dedicated, devoted and just keep plodding on in the face of adversity. Starting off by reading Wannabes is a good first move, you'll hear the same encouragement and warnings to all who start out on this path.. .. .Good luck.. .. .PP

hope you did the right decision.. .do you know your job prospects are almost nihil at the moment ? . .just inform yourselves

Well done Desk-pilot. Go for it.. .I made the same decision recently to give up the planet and do the only thing that had been nagging me since I was a kid.. .It took 4 months of planning and asking questions before I finally told my wife and kids.......only just managed to hold on to the wedding ring....she, like everyone else thought I had lost my head completely.. .Anyway, I managed to sweet-talk them all round and before you know it, we had sold our house, sold our car and plunged everything we owned into this little venture.. .We are now living in a rented house and I drive an old BT escort van which I managed to scrounge for free but life is absolutely fantastic.. .There is still a long way to go, I've got the PPL, am upto 100hrs and rising rapidly and currently doing my ATPL distance learning with Bristol. When I'm not revising I'm flying.. .Keep going D-p, theres a lot of people and situations out there that can put you off so very easily. You just have to keep moving forward.

Left the desk job in June 2001 after 2.5 years of flying part-time, getting as far towards the frozen ATPL as I could while still working.. .. .Did the CPL and IR full time over the summer of 2001. I have very fond memories of those times.. .. .Passed my IR (first time!) on Sepetmeber 9th and got it issued on September 12th.. .. .Did an MCC then started an Instructors Rating but ran out of money half way through. It's academic anyway, as instructors jobs are nigh-impossible to get at the moment.. .. .I'm now back in a desk job waiting for things to improve.. .. .My moral? Never burn bridges, stay realistic and never say never:) Bills don't pay themselves..... .. .cheers!. .foggy.

I'll go along with ppl172,. .. .Don't see what the big deal of leaving a job is all about. Did my ATPL's part time 4hrs/night + weekends for nine months. I was certainly one of the slow ones as plenty others overtook me doing it the same way. Did 20 odd hours weekend CPL flying course + briefings. . .. .Only IR to go and could do this full time over a months holiday (or so) at Bristol, Oxford or Jerez if I wanted to name drop on my CV. But I can meet the same qualification standard doing a part time course for 1/3 the cost and no loss of earnings.. .. .Don't see the logic in throwing away one year of IT pay and 35K+ to do a full time course and cover myself for travel & expenses etc. So what's that work out to be a total loss of 70K, probably 100K (before tax) at the end of the day depending on the IT position. It is possible to have a (secure?) well paid job and achieve your flying dream at the same time.. .. .Sounds more like a lifestyle make or break decision without fully testing the water. Who knows you may not like the pressure and lifestyle of the airline job at the end of the course (although I very much doubt it).. .. .Anyway best of luck and enjoy the year out.

Go for it!!!!!. .. .Well said Scroggs. Same here, never done a 9 to 5 office job - the idea of ever losing my licence fills me with horror. Commuting same time every day??? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" /> ,not a chance. And every time I fly I just love it, even 6 days on..... .. .Not always been easy- I've lived in a Ford Fiesta. .for 3 months when I ran out of cash (1990 was not a good year to try and get a flying job, especially when Saddam invaded Kuwait 5 days after I got my UK CPL/IR issued). But the hardship was more than worth it as I now get to strap an airliner to my backside regularly <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

ppl172,. .. .Did my ATPL exams, BCPL, Instructor Rating, IR and MCC whilst in a well paid full-time job which I still have. . .. .Result: CPL/IR, FI, MCC, over 1000 hours and no debts. No flying job either, yet. I have one disadvantage, I am in my mid-forties.. .. .I am still instructing, so at least I am in regular flying practice and hopeful that I will get that dream job. . .. .In the current climate taking eighteen months to two years to get a Frozen ATPL by distance learning and part-time courses might be the best plan of action.

Sorry to digress a bit but.... .. .Pilot Pete - how's your situation? Are you still flying for JMC? What's the word?. .. .Otherwise, make the decision and don't look back with regard to jumping into the aviation field! Just do it - you can always go back to the desk job..... .. .Cheers

ppl172, I did my tech exams (UK ATPL) by correspondence while working full time - took 3 months with a 1 week full time brush up course. Navs took 4 months studying 8-12 hours a week. Did my flying after the exams though. JAA might be more work. Now I can't remember whether it was difficult or not - so don't worry, just do it....

As everyone is saying, go for it - OK so the job market isn't as good as it was - but the business is cyclical and it'll come back.. .. .If you don't try it now, you'll always wonder. . .. .I was lucky enough to get a "big cheque" from my employer last year and signed up for a PPL at Oxford (I had many years on gliders before that) followed by their Full Time Modular course.. .. .I'm doing the ground school at present - quality of the teaching / books etc. is very good. For about £ 5.5 K for 7 months the cost isn't too bad and it's the same quality as the full time sponsored students get. . .. .Flying training looks expensive, but they run a satellite operation in Tyler (Texas) which would help if you are free to travel. The PPL school at OAT is good (albeit expensive) although they have been "poor cousins" of the commercial school for too long.. .. .OAT run open days every month or so. Adverts in Flight International etc. . .. .Best of luck...

Lavdump. .. .Still clinging on by the toe nails! Currently working 3 months notice with a redundancy date of 7th May.............Still don't think I will be out of a job on that day, still some hope that things will change. Anyway, don't want to hijack the thread so I'll be off now, probably just as well as I think Mrs PP is (finally) going into labour!!!!!. .. .Oh, just to put something relevant into this post, there is a certain train of thought that during a downturn in the market is the best time to train........just don't sign up to get it all done in 12 months, take your time and keep earning in the meantime. If the realistic view is 3-4 years for 200hr pilots to be employed again in any sort of large numbers then plan to have 1000-1500 hrs by then (yeah I know the next question! Been done to death, use the search facility). Anyhow, 4 minutes apart so time to go pack the bag (we're old sweats at this now so there's no panic! PANIC, who said PANIC!. .. .PP

I gave up a very well paid job, jumped through all the hoops, have all the paper work. Completed my FATPL and one year later still no real work. One more month or so and i'll be back on my tools if I can. I don't want to be all doom and gloom but I strongly suggest you carefully read and inwardly digest the thread on Rumours and News titled Free First Officers.. .Don't forget it's alot easier looking out from the inside than it is from the outside looking in.

Thanks for all the replies.. .. .I must say, in this crappy time for aviation, I'd be more inclined to stick with the day job... fly more in summer (evenings etc..), study more in winter. If it takes longer to get the FATPL, who cares? Maybe the industry will have picked up by then?. .. .ppl172

I spoke to a commercial pilot who trained with Cabair and he said they ripped him off and it took some work to get a refund, so I'd take care if anyone is dealing with those.. .Pay NOTHING up fron. Pay as you go. I also hear stories of people paying cash up front, going to the states and finding tumble weed where a flying school once was.

Oh Yeh! Good Luck by the way. Just be careful.

Just to add my bit.. .. .I did PPL, IMC, night, Multi, ATPL Writtens and BCPL all whilst working full time. It's hard going and the trick is really to keep motivated, I then took a career break for three months to do the approved IR upgrade full time - thankfully I have an understanding boss.. .. .As said earlier, do not burn bridges and work hard. It took me three years in total, and it was done just about within budget. It's challenging but also very enjoyable.

Hi i did the same nearly 2 years ago now, company car, mobile, laptop and loads of money all given up for a life of studying, grabbing any flight time you can, early mornings, late nights for next to nothings. . .But i've never once looked back even during the toughest times.. .Looking down on all those people stuck in jams coming back from the office every day is great. And boy what a great office we have.

Want to hear from somebody who nearly did it and didn't?? I was a cop in Kent, instructed part-time, booked my CPL course and then thought - 'I'm getting promoted, the job market for pilots is zip (80/81) - I'll stay in.' One thing I hated though was the unsocial hours so I eventually left for industry in 86. The biggest step for me was starting my own business - 5 years of sleepless nights but now success! I own 4 aircraft - nothing flash or complicated, just a mix of new and old fixed singles. More to the point - I can work when I like, fly when I want and sleep when I'm tired. Am I glad I didn't do it? Yes I am. However, had I not made a success of my business, things may well have been different. So, if you love flying - what better than to fly your own and hang it on your own business. However, if a big jet blows your frock up, you don't mind working for somebody else and may not get your command for some years - doo oo oo it! My ex-instructor chums have all gone on to be captains and are all happy with their jobs. Just remember her indoors though. No point in earning big bucks, giving most of it to no.1 wife and owning a tenth share in a 152. Oh yes. DO I miss being a cop? Not one jot!

The Jar frozen atpl took me three years and approx 50k while working full-time at the same time but i had to quit a good management position to do the IR. . .I have been looking for a job for 1,5 years already, sent tons of cvs, without even one interview. . .standard answer : we dont hire or mins are 2500h Considering the crap state of the job market i would never do it again ! such an investment does not make sense if jobs are so scarce.. .I know many many guys in the same boat ath the moment. And dont expect it to improve soon for wannabes. For uk only, there are 1200 jobless experienced jet pilots.

It's a very similar story for me to PiperIndian. . .The novelty has gone and the satisfaction of pursuing my dream has dissappeared with the 40 or so K .. .When I started out the market wasn't in such a dire state as it is now although it was in need of improvement. I was told the usual old storys by the trainning providers that things were forecast to pick up and of course being green fell for it with the rest.. .Very few people I know have got themselves that right hand seat which can only lead me to beleive that the pile of qualified pilots out of work must continue to grow by the month.. .Unfortunately as I mentioned earlier I may have to give up completely and due to my age albeit relatively still young and the state of the job market of the field I left I am becoming increasingly worried about finding work there.. .I don't wish to sound all bitter and twisted although perhaps I am just a little. That is why I directed people to the free first officers thread in the rumours and news forum before I posted further.. .I don't want to put of any wannabes off I just think that it may be prudent to wait it out for a while and take extra caution when planning for the future.. . . . <small>[ 23 March 2002, 10:22: Message edited by: Im Not ]</small>