Peter Carruth ⋅ Sacramento, CA Strato Communications, Inc - Former USAF ⋅ 15 years experience

Reach me off line - will provide link etc to "career transition" info in order to effectively create a Communication Strategy and how to create plan. I know it works and is a corp training.

Pete

George Wilhelmsen ⋅ Rochelle, IL Sargent & Lundy ⋅ 38 years experience

I've written articles about this for several publications.

The road you are thinking of taking is challenging. The salaries mentioned above are about right. The first few years are very challenging.

If you intend to go in this direction, I would suggest the following:
1. You need 1200 hours for an ATP. Figure around $100 per flight hour, and that's a bunch of money. People get around this by working to get their Certified Flight Instructor certificate, pick up with a local flying school, and accrue hours that way, while being paid (and not paid enough) to do this. That eliminates the $100 per flight hour drain. It's a slog.

2. Alternately, you could enroll in an ab-initio program, where you pay to get the right skills, do some CFI work, and get transitioned into a first officer job. The pay is about the same for around 5 to 10 years, after which you build enough hours and seniority to move up.

3. You could also consider air traffic control. There is an acute shortage of controllers (the last number I saw was a shortfall of 1900) and the FAA is actively hiring. You could pick up one of their accepted training courses (Lewis University is said to have one) to help you in this process.

4. If you are technically savvy, you might consider a career in avionics installation and repair (long shot for a good fit given your goals). What I can tell you as someone who monitors that market, is even through the recession, people have been hiring trained professionals, and there is a shortage of them in the market.

Re: A career as a pilot will be advantageous for several reasons at this point. A lot of pilots hired in at the same time, and are retiring at around the same time. This has resulted in consistent hiring for the most part, when the economy has sufficient forward momentum. It has also resulted in layoffs when the economy is not robust.

I wish you well with your decision. Let me know if you have any questions.

George Wilhelmsen

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Just a practical note :

- Starting pilots make less than minimum wage. If you do get a job, it will be starting around $36k. You will fly five or six days per week and put in 80 or more hours per week, measured door-to-door (hotel room to hotel room).

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Colgan-Air-Salaries-E15814.htm

- You will be competing with people who have tens of thousands of flight hours for the better paying jobs. People who have flown everyday for the last two or three decades. Pilots landing (no pun) an A320 job have 30 years experience and 22,000 flight hours. Until you reach that experience level, you might fly a Beech 1900 or a Cessna 402.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549

The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, who was on the last leg of his first assignment in the Airbus A320 since passing the training course to fly the type. Skiles had accrued 15,643 flight hours throughout his career.

- Don't expect to have a family or social life and trying to build flight hours at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive. Many pilots or air crews (flight attendants) rent a house shared by 12 to 15 people near the hub where they work. This allows them some downtime between flight excursions. Many, if not most, are single, not married. The exceptions may be married in status only.

- Have you considered aircraft maintenance as a career ? Its more stable and you don't change cities every day, living out of hotel rooms.

Robert Jurasek ⋅ Hollywood, FL Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ⋅ 45 years experience

Dear Clay,

I cannot answer all of your questions, but I might be able to provide some information that will assist you.

Eventually, you will need an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate if you want to fly for scheduled air carriers. The regulatory requirements for the ATP are listed in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 61, Subpart G—Airline Transport Pilots (http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=e1497595692e7d49aeb2b9475c71f701&mc=true&node=pt14.2.61&rgn=div5#sp14.2.61.g).

The ATP is where you need to go—now the question is how you get there. You almost need a couple of different business plans, or at least spreadsheets, to project the cost and the amount of time it will take for you to achieve your goal and realize a return on your investment. One plan might be for full-time study/pilot training, while another option might include full- or part-time work and flying on your days-off.

To further your research, I suggest that you visit the websites of the various regional carriers to view their hiring requirements and to see if they have any programs that might offer you training, tuition reimbursement, etc. Not to single out or endorse anyone carrier, take a look at Envoy Air as an example: http://www.envoyair.com/pilots/. You can find a list of the regional carriers at the Regional Airline Association website, http://www.raa.org/?page=Airline_Members. Also look for partnerships between flight schools and airlines. It is not uncommon for some airlines to make tentative job offers to the graduates of a particular flight school.

And while you are working on your ATP, consider applying for an Aircraft Dispatcher certificate. You can find the regulatory requirements at 14 CFR 61, Subpart C—Aircraft Dispatchers http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=61ef3271dee60404a61d81811a982e27&mc=true&node=pt14.2.65&rgn=div5#sp14.2.65.c, as well as a list of FAA-Approved Part 65 Aircraft Dispatcher courses at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/afs/afs200/branches/afs220/media/part65.pdf. The knowledge tests for two certificates are identical with the exception of 5-10 questions. Several colleges/universities that offer ATP or Air Traffic Control programs also offer the Aircraft Dispatcher course as an elective. If nothing else, the Dispatcher certificate will look good on your résumé.

Lastly, I found a website created by a USAF pilot who transitioned to an airline career http://www.aviationbull.com/2016/jun/23/military-pilot-should-i-give-retirement-join-airlines-now. Granted, there is a huge difference, especially in flight hours, between making a flying and non-flying transition; nevertheless, the website still may be of value to your research. I cannot attest to the accuracy of the information, I will have to leave that part to you.

Good luck with your new career, and thank you for your service!

Sincerely,
Bob Jurasek

Richard Infusino, PMP ⋅ Lakewood, WA U.S. Army, Chief Warrant Officer ⋅ 20 years served

Hey Clay,

I only have anecdotal evidence and can only pass along advice given to me. I'll save you from hearing/reading that with the hope someone with FW experience will chime in. I found talking with the flight schools have been a good source for info. I talked with and met several instructors here: http://washington-aviation.org/. Also, since you're in the NW, you may find some employers at the JBLM Career/Transition summit (Washington State Transition Summit - JBLM - 12-14 October 2016 - (https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/event/washington-state-service-member-life-transition-summit-0)

I know this doesn't answer many of your questions, but maybe it gives you some leads in the meantime.

Rick