Just wondering if anyone on here has personally, or knows someone personally who has become a pilot. Flight school is damn expensive, and I keep hearing about how pilots starting out are barley making minimum wage for the first few years. Just looking for some feedback from anyone with personal experience.
Thinking about becoming an airline pilot
- Thread starter wazawski
- Start date
JAHpow
Active member
Chug is a regional airline pilot but he never comes on here anymore.
Otherwise military is an option. My aunts (in law) dad flew B-2's in the air force then flew the trans pacific flights to Japan and made crazy money. Imo military is the most straight forward way to go. But, it's difficult to become a pilot in the military. Great grades, great medical, and great eyesight are only the beginning. NSer Dustin flies F-16's so maybe he has some pointers for ya.
Otherwise military is an option. My aunts (in law) dad flew B-2's in the air force then flew the trans pacific flights to Japan and made crazy money. Imo military is the most straight forward way to go. But, it's difficult to become a pilot in the military. Great grades, great medical, and great eyesight are only the beginning. NSer Dustin flies F-16's so maybe he has some pointers for ya.
japanair
Member
both my brothers in japan are pilots. It's different in Japn though bc you can just apply to pilot jobs out of college as if it were a regular job. super competitive to get into but they will train you from scratch if you get the job. One of my brothers took that route. The other didn't get accepted so he went to flight school on his own, paid for it, then eventually got a job at the company that originally said no to him. If you love flying you should go for it. It's expensive to learn and you probably won't get rich unless you become a captain at a major airline, but you'll have a lot of fun and it's better than what i'm doing, which is sitting in a cube. haha.
7springsprod
Active member
I work at a Regional airline. If your long term goal is to end up at an airline Military probably isn't the best route imho. If you're really serious about this it's a career path unlike any other industries you could imagine. The schooling can be done dozens of different ways. You absolutely have to love flying if you want your career to be successful. It's pretty expensive to go from 0 to airline pilot and if you find halfway through that it's not what you wanted, you're back to square one. I've seen plenty of students drop out of college programs and kicked out of flight schools cause they simply don't have motivation to do it or simply don't have the skill set. It requires ultimate dedication and a skillset unlike any other. I still love flying though. It's an awesome gig if you're willing to buckle down for a long time!
7springsprod
Active member
Also PM me if you have any questions
Gryllz
Member
topic:wazawski said:
My dad and both my uncles are airline pilots now. My dad started as a bush pilot and my uncles were in the airforce. My dad told me about how one of my uncles wont be a captain for about 8 years and wont make very money because of how many people are flying now and days. My other uncle flys for Dubai airlines and is living rn in dubai. Dont think that helped much but from what I know you have to really love flying becuase your away from family a lot and the pay is mediocre in the beginning. Rushed
I have two uncles that both own airplanes one had to sell it because he could no longer afford it.
Getting your pilot's license is definitely expensive but all machines are eventually going to be self driven and your jobs going to become obsolete if you want to work for an airliner. Maybe for the military but even then Drones seem to be taking over.
Getting your pilot's license is definitely expensive but all machines are eventually going to be self driven and your jobs going to become obsolete if you want to work for an airliner. Maybe for the military but even then Drones seem to be taking over.
Lt-Aldo-Raine
Active member
My uncle is a pilot for Jet Blue. He started out in the Navy, they paid for everything but obviously you have to serve. At one time he had the most landings on an aircraft carrier in the country. He dropped a few bombs in desert storm then was a Blue Angel for the maximum number of years. He became a high rank in the Navy and was making bank then left to fly commercially for Fedex then Jet Blue. If you decide to join the forces choose wisely between the Navy and Air Force. Not sure if this was informative just thought id share.
IMO if it's something you're really passionate about, $$$ should not be the big concern. Idk, to me a lot of people who say "I want to do this but they only make $" are looking at things the wrong way.
I mean, I would make sure it's something you want to pursue before dropping the money on schooling, but you're old enough to know what you want. If you think it's what you want to do, and it would make you happy go for it.
A lot of people in the ski industry don't make much more than minimum wage. Life isn't all about $.
Good luck.
Also kevtron's dad is a pilot. Paging Kevtron
I mean, I would make sure it's something you want to pursue before dropping the money on schooling, but you're old enough to know what you want. If you think it's what you want to do, and it would make you happy go for it.
A lot of people in the ski industry don't make much more than minimum wage. Life isn't all about $.
Good luck.
Also kevtron's dad is a pilot. Paging Kevtron