Becoming a career pilot requires a huge investment of time and money to acquire the skills required to become a pro. But taking the plunge to make a living of flying requires a thorough life analysis as well. How will your career aspirations affect you and your family? Will you be able to complete your training without swimming in debt for the next 20 years? Does your career aspiration fit into your life plan?
I chose a pretty unorthodox path to where I am now as a first officer for a major airline. But that was mostly because of the hiring climate when I graduated from college--there was no hiring. I spent some time flying charters and flying about 200 hours per year for business as a staff editor for AOPA Pilot. Doing so, I had a great job that paid me a decent living while I was building time. Now the hiring forecast is improving. Many segments of professional aviation are looking for pilots, and that allows you to refine your search to the job that best suits you.
If you're single, great! This may be the perfect career path for you. You get to fly all over the place seeing different sights and meeting new people while getting paid to do it. If you're a home-centric type, certain careers in aviation don't bode well for tucking the kids into bed every night. Flying for a typical regional or major airline results in being gone as many as 20 days per month depending on your seniority. If your base is far from home, you can add another few days to that as you commute to and from work. After four years at my current airline, I'm off about 18 days a month, and those days can cover every weekend if I wish. If I elect to work on weekends, I can bump my days off to 19 or 20. Flying for a local corporation or charter company may be a better option if you want to be home most nights.
I've always subscribed to the theory that behind every aspiring pilot is a spouse who works. Were it not for my wife's job, it would have been challenging to make a living on what starting pilots make. The underlying message here is that, if you're married, this must be a joint decision with your spouse. Your other half likely will be picking up the financial slack for years before you can rely solely on your piloting job for income.
Employer stability is another wild card in the search for your dream career. It would be unfortunate to invest 20 years in a company and then watch your career go down the drain in a bankruptcy or elimination of an aviation department. Choose the best company for you and do your job as best you can to help it stay solvent.
If you prefer to work alone, single-pilot cargo operations are a good way to go. You're in charge of your own ship, and cargo doesn't complain about the ride. If you want to fly larger airplanes, you'll have to share the space in the cockpit up front since most require two pilots. You can still fly the quiet and cooperative boxes, or you can fly people who are only sometimes quiet and cooperative--your choice. You could fly a sports-car-like Cessna Citation X (for a corporation or fractional-ownership company) or fly a bus (regional or major passenger airline). All jobs have their ups and downs, and it's up to you to figure out where you want to be based on your lifestyle. Some of us try several routes before we fit our pegs into the right hole.
Pete Bedell is a Boeing 737 first officer for a major airline and contributor to AOPA Flight Training and AOPA Pilot magazines.
