Andrew wrote in February: “I am a 24-year-old private pilot. I got a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and I have about $130,000 in school debt. Every day that I sit behind a desk, the more I dream about being a professional pilot. Is my dream impossible?”
The challenge that Andrew faces is common among more than a few aviators who rack up six-figure debt at aviation colleges, universities, and academies. They are not blessed with benevolent parents or rich uncles who pick up the tab. I posed the problem to readers and received many replies. Most echo this one:
David, a genuine aerospace engineer, said, “Earning an aerospace engineering degree was no cake walk. That’s why companies are willing to pay him $60,000 per year as a fresh graduate. You want the dream, young pilot? Work that high-paying job as hard as you can, but live at that pilot’s salary for the next five years, and pay your debt off faithfully with the extra money. You’ll be 30 years young and out of debt. Your dream to fly will be in your hand once you reach a much more important dream—to be debt free.”
Hum. Does anybody do the math? Retire the debt in five to six years? Let’s see.
In Andrew’s case, retiring a debt of $130,000 plus another $40,000 to earn all of the ratings and build time results in a total of $170,000 minimum. At 5-percent interest—a great deal if you can find it—that debt can be retired in five years at a monthly payment of $3,208.11. If he stretches it to 15 years at $1,344.35 per month, Andrew will be pushing 40 by the time he achieves a zero balance.
Then there is the real issue of paying off the debt while supporting a family on an engineer’s salary, and then taking a 60-percent cut in pay when making the transition to full-time professional flying. And what is the monthly take-home pay during those first years as a regional, corporate, or air taxi pilot?
Would-be professional pilots who need to satisfy the lust for the sky must remember there are many options to get airborne outside of airline and corporate flying. Become a member of the Civil Air Patrol. Build up enough time on a reasonable, pay-as-you-go schedule and sign up as a contract pilot in a Navajo or King Air flying corporate or air taxi on weekends. Become a truly dedicated flight instructor and not someone who looks at CFI work merely as time building.
Join the FAAST program and promote safety in the area by holding clinics. Start a flying club. Launch a business that requires the use of an airplane. Get experience and become a designated pilot examiner. The view out the window is about the same—only better because it’s on your schedule. Maybe, when you are in your mid-thirties, you can refinance remaining debt and make that jump into the airlines or big time corporate flying.
Don’t give up the dream to fly, but don’t sink ever deeper into red ink. Choose a realistic path.
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