Aviation as a Career: Flying for a living offers some rewards that you can't get with any other job. The flight deck has a better view than any office building in the world, and you actually get paid to travel the world. There aren't too many other jobs where you're in charge of something that costs $260 million dollars and goes 600 miles per hour. Those benefits come with some draw backs - the travel takes you away from home, the ladder to the top of the industry is long and crowded, and the industry itself is less than stable. The instability is often what shatters the most dreams.

The beginning of an aviation career consists of long hours of training and study. The road to earning a commercial pilot certificate is not the difficult part, it's what comes next. Most people will earn their commercial pilot certificate with about 200 to 400 hours of flight time under their belt. The major airlines require upwards of 2,500 hours and that's the minimum just to be considered - 5,000 to 6,000 hours would be competitive. So how do you get from having just 300 hours to having 5,000 hours? First, a disclaimer: the major airlines should by no means be considered the only goal nor the pinnacle of aviation. The major airlines tend to be the most visible part of aviation to the public and therefore have become the holy grail to some. There are many other types of aviation that are also very well respected and pay well.

Many people choose to become a flight instructor to increase their hours. This can be very rewarding if you don't mind working in a high stress environment for very little pay. There are other ways to gain flight experience, banner towing and traffic watch over major cities, yet both of these have many of the same drawbacks as flight instruction. At about 1,000 hours of flight experience, you have met the hiring requirements of some regional airlines and cargo operators. These jobs are a step above flight instructing, but still lack many of the benefits that jobs in the non aviation sector offer - mainly job security and good pay. If you have been near a TV or newspaper in the past year you may have noticed that the airline industry is falling apart and pilot jobs are not secure. Go into any Home Depot store and we would be willing to bet you'll find at least one if not more furloughed airline pilots working there. If you are lucky enough to get a regional airline job the starting pay is right around $20,000 to $25,000. Expect to make that for the first few years, and don't forget that you'll be on the road more than half the year - away from home and family.

We are not trying to turn anyone away from aviation, we simply want people to go in with the knowledge of what's ahead of them. Too often flight school advertisements make it seem as if you can be an international 747 captain within 2 years of starting your training. Go into it more realistically, and you'll enjoy the ride a lot more. Remember: while the challenges of flight training can be great, the real challenges come after the initial training is complete.
 

©2011 a New England Aviation Publications Website