I grew up with generations of pilots. My love of flying has persisted. I know this might be something I have to decide, but I have been turning this over for years now. I know I will fly the rest of my life (although I am just officially learning now). At the same time I am in the homestretch of finishing my college degree in an area where I can pursue more training to become a "professional" or take a job as is. The pilots of my family encourage me to follow my dream, while also saying to make good money (something they really haven't done). Those in my family with flying careers say I'm better off becoming a professional with money to fly (yes it is very contradictory).

While I am not pursuing any career for money, I cannot pursue a career where I won't make any money. I would like to fly for smaller ventures, not the airlines in my home state (AK). My concern about the economy and finding a job has somewhat restrained me.

I guess I am looking for non-partial advice and just trying to figure out if I can really fly for a living.

Thanks for the help!

Even if you don't make that much money as a pilot, if you love what you're doing for a living, no matter what it is, you'll live a quality life.

Go with your heart and your passion. There are quite a few different types of jobs which can permit you to fly while earning a living.

The conventional paradigm of flying for the airlines has become less attractive from a financial standpoint, and it has a very definite "life style" that goes with it.

That said, there are opportunities in lodge work, in flight seeing operations, in construction businesses that work statewide, and use airplanes to support the business, in law enforcement, in wildlife management, and the list goes on.

I followed a different path than most in my flying career, flying for a natural resource management agency. We flew good equipment, in very interesting projects and with good people. Sometimes the flying was tough, but we didn't generally have to fight the BS that so many air taxi operators in Alaska seem to find their way into.

Then again, a good friend of mine was an excellent dentist and owned a superb Super Cub. He did a LOT more hunting and fishing with his airplane than I ever did......

Go with your heart. If you're passionate about a career, the pay is LESS important.

MTV

As has been said,

Go with your passion. IMHO today's commercial aviators should only engage the industry with a heart of full blown passion.

Not long ago senior airline captains earned up to $325,000.00 per year or it's inflation corrected equivalent, while flying 10 to 14 days a month. Coupled with 7 weeks of annual vacation, free world wide travel, insurance coverage and a generous retirement.....it was not unusual to meet professional airmen who went into the business "for the money."

The big bucks are gone, reduced by 30% to 50%, retirement plans have been destroyed, airline travel benefits have lost their advantage. Yet one can still make a very nice living and excellent income within the industry. Military, corporate, foreign contract flying, government agencies and outfits like NetJets offer excellent opportunities.....some superior to the airline careers of today. But.... none approaches the, romance, status,security, career progression, money and fringe benefits of a generation ago.

If you have attractive alternatives....then I would suggest aviation be considered only if you are like me.....passionate about flying and never having wanted or want to do anything else.

Bob

Yes, you can fly for a living if you want to. But don't do it unless you REALLY want to. I never would have asked the question, which suggests than you don't REALLY want to.

Regards,

Bill

P,S. I've just read what I said and it sounds harsh. I don't mean it that way, it's just that it isn't worth it unless you REALLY want it. Best to you.

Thanks for the help. Not that I don't want it, just been hearing about the economy and knowing lots of folks flying for living just don't know if I could break into the career right now.

I'm willing to try everything I have to fly. I just tend over to think things too much. Thanks for all of the advice. It is my choice, but I just needed to hear someone else say its possible. What do I have to lose? Nothing.

Personally, I learned to fly for the fun of it. I never wanted to do it commercially, because that turns it into a job .... and for me, that takes the fun out of it. I wanna fly when I wanna fly, not when somebody else sez I have to. You might wanna wait until you get your PP & maybe some of the ratings and see how you like it then, before you make flying your life's work.
Sorry, not trying to be a wet blanket- just throwing in my perspective.

Eric

I've got a question that relates to this subject. I'm on the downslope of my present career and have interest in flying commercially. I have a passion for flying, but have no rose colored glasses about the life of a commercial pilot. Are there some ways to test out the bussiness to determine if my passion for flying (fixed wing) is also a passion for making flying my profession?

The background to this question is that I basically fly an air taxi right now. 5-6 nights a week, I fly 5-6 hours worth of unscheduled on-demand shuttle of personnel and equipment from passenger terminal to passenger terminal. I'm told that the large difference between the military flying I'm doing right now and civilian commercial flying is the support you have to say no due to conditions or rest. Are you told to fly down to legal minimums when it is not necessary prudent and expected to do so without complaint or are you supported if you say that you are not comfortable.

Thank you very much.

I my pipeline work, it is always my choice, no questions asked.

I gotta say...patrol guy, you are the luckiest guy I know. I wish I had your job. Then i could fly all the time and still do engineering consulting.

UH-60,

I retired myself a couple of years ago after flying UH60s. Check out APTAP.com. Bunch of army and ex-army pilots helping each other go civilian. Lots of good info there. I gave the commercial stuff a shot, I just could not find any fun in it.

Be careful over there.

ak - I also say follow you passion, BUT be aware of what you're going to be up against.

I was a former "freight dog" working for 2 different companies along the way: Redding Aero and Ameriflight. Both were decent companies, but the routes were the same, only the weather changed. You could make more money working at McDonalds as a fry-cook, but it's all about the multi-engine hours, right?? The whole time you are trying to keep your eye on the ball, which was to land the big flying job (i.e. Skywest, Southwest, American, Delta, who cares!)... Meanwhile you are flying the same routes, you are doing check rides every 6 months, getting medicals every six months, studying your ass off, going on interviews, etc., etc., etc. All the while telling yourself that if you can hang on for just a little while longer, you'll get that opportunity. Someone will say "yes"... It shouldn't matter that there are 500 other well-qualified pilots trying for the one or two positions open. You're the best-of-the-best, right?

It's a tough career to maintain, let alone be gainfully employed. It's made even tougher in this current economy. If you have other obligations, such as a family, then you need to take a REALLY long and hard look before jumping in. Been there, done that, got the cool jacket. I didn't make it, but maybe you will.

Now I build hospitals and make enough money to fly my Maule around (barely). But I can say that I am a better pilot because of all that experience. Nothing can take that away either. I can, with all of my heart, say that I gave it my best shot with no regrets.

Good luck, kid.

http://www.careerinfonet.org/acinet/oview5.asp?next=oview5&Level=BAplus&optstatus=&jobfam=&id=1&nodeid=7&soccode=&stfips=&ShowAll=

A constant battle I fight with myself too. Good thread.

Man... what a dreary picture... Like MTV and others said, follow your passion and it will be the right choice. My flying job isn't one of the most conventional, but I wouldn't trade it for any other. Well... maybe a twotter on floats gig for a summer on a greek island

Good luck!
Rob

And, Rob makes an excellent point. Many people cannot seem to recognize that there are literally hundreds of OTHER ways to earn a living flying than flying for the airlines.

And, nowadays, many of those flying jobs are a lot more attractive than many of the airline jobs out there.

Don't confine your interests to one particular type of flying job, and the possibilities open up considerably.

MTV

Tough question, with no right answer. To pursue a flying career today is a real crap shoot. As far as I know, the only real money in flying is in the majors after you work up to the big iron. And the path can be brutal. If you really have that love of flying and are the type of wierdo that can't keep your head from gazing skyward every single time a plane flies overhead, then yes, you need to do something about it. At this stage of the game, I would not suggest aiming for the airlines. By the time you get through all the baloney and actually make it to the left seat of a big jet, you will likely have lost the "romance" of the great blue yonder.

I am not a pro, but I know for a fact that being an airline captain is nothing like it used to be. My dad was a Pan Am captain during the "Golden time" of aviation. He loved flying, made top dollar, was treated like a celebrity, had lots of time off and flew very cool airplanes with big round engines, before the jets came along. And this was when the Captain was the friggin king! If the weather was good and he wanted to take his DC-3 down to the deck and buzz a moose or a bear on his way up to Fairbanks, then thats what he did. Then when the planes got bigger, the poor guy had to fly over to Honolulu and spend the night on Waikiki before heading back the next day. And this is when Waikiki was a friggin PARADISE!!! Dang he had a good job! He literally cried when they made him retire.

Anyway, as Clint Eastwood said in (Unforgiven) "It aint like that no more".
You got two choices. Pursue something that will pay you a real decent wage and fly when, where you want, or pursue a pro career in flying. If you cannot go into a non aviation career that you like and makes good money, then dont. Pursue the flying career. A career that you dont like is a bummer, I dont care how much you make. And if you want to pay for flying, you better be making a darn good wage.

Now, If I decided on the flying for a career as my choice, I would probably lean away from the major airlines and shoot for something like Kenmore Air here in Seattle area. They fly Beavers and Otters and are very busy with scheduled runs and charters etc. (Plus round engines on the Beavers). Cool planes, great scenery, flying low and landing on the water with okay pay I hear.

Having said that, be prepared. I could be tough getting started. There are lots of Jr. Lindberghs out there with a fist full of ratings. But if your young, and aren't tied down, go for it. If your not married yet, stay that way for now. If you are married, I hope she really loves you.

I am working on a career change myself and flying on my time, my weather and my destinations. Funny thing is if you search for forums on any career you can pretty much change "flying" to anything else and get the same responses. Do what you enjoy !!

whynotfly wrote:You got two choices. Pursue something that will pay you a real decent wage and fly when, where you want, or pursue a pro career in flying. If you cannot go into a non aviation career that you like and makes good money, then dont. Pursue the flying career.

Agree. Find a job you love and you'll never have to 'work' a day in your life. If that's flying, great (if it's the kind of flying you want to do) else hope it pays well enough to let you fly for fun.

Benton 25jan09

As far as I know, the only real money in flying is in the majors

I dont know. I know alot of spray pilots riding the gravy train on biscuit wheels. Might be something to look into. Max pay for seasonal work.

Benton wrote:Agree. Find a job you love and you'll never have to 'work' a day in your life.
Benton 25jan09

Kinda reminds me of something joecub said to me when I asked him about his job (flying)....

joecub wrote: ...beats workin' for a livin...