� Q: I’m 53 and I have a commercial certificate and instrument rating with 1,200 hours and 250 hours of instrument time. I would like to pursue a second career as a commercial or corporate pilot. I am in a position where I can invest in training and not rely on a substantial income to support my family.
1. What additional ratings should I get in order to position myself for a paid pilot job? Should I get an ATP, a multiengine rating, or a type rating now or wait to see what is required in job applications?
2. Is it reasonable to think I could find a pilot job where I would work for nearly free and have the employer pay for all ratings they would want me to have, building experience in a right seat while I completed training?
3. Is it possible to find right-seat opportunities to build flight time while I complete rating certifications?
4. Is it unreasonable to think a 53-year-old with a commercial certificate, instrument rating, and 1,200 hours could find a second career as a pilot?—Bailey
� A: Bravo, Bailey! Going after a long-deferred dream is laudable. I am living proof that a 50-something can still make the leap to commercial aviation, having transitioned from a broadcasting career to airlines at 55.
Let me answer your questions in numerical order.
1. Get another 300 hours and earn the ATP certificate. It is a must for the regionals and any good-paying corporate job. If you don’t have a multiengine rating and at least 100 hours in twins, you are at a serious disadvantage. Skip a type rating and plow that money into multi time.
2. Nope. Any employer is going to take well-trained or experienced pilots to fly its equipment. There are far too many competitors getting pumped out of aviation colleges and academies vying for entry-level jobs.
3. Those opportunities are virtually nonexistent unless you are good friends with a Citation owner. Insurance requirements also make this type of arrangement difficult.
4. Absolutely not, but you need to come dressed for the game before you play. There are regional airlines that cannot fill their new-hire classes and, with the pilot shortage, corporate operators will be looking for talent. At your age, I would take the regional airline track. It appears that it is more of a sure thing than corporate. You would have another decade to buzz around in an RJ.
Get another 300 hours, an ATP, and at least 100 hours of multi, and you could find some airlines rolling out the red carpet for you.
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