jetcareers - View Single Post

E_Dawg · August 26th, 2004, 00:54

Let's just drop it and focus on the point of this thread.

Anyway I have a 'sucess' story. I guess it's more like a 'getting there' story than anything but here goes... my cfi was 43 (???) around 43 anyway. I did inst, comm, and cfi with him and he got a job flying cargo. He is now a training captain in a single and will probably move into the twin pretty soon... upgrade times are pretty quick. I'm not too sure what his future plans are, from recently talking to him it sounds like he's going to keep his current job for a while and build up some time to get on at Southwest or Jetblue... I think he's around 45 now so he still has some time.

He is a guy with incredible focus, the guy can REALLY get something done when he puts his mind to it... He had a poster on his wall of the cockpit and would do flows when he was in groundschool. He 'dry flies' with a cockpit poster of the twin to get ready to upgrade even though he hasn't flown a twin in a year. The guy has done various jobs during life and when he decided on aviation he put his mind to it and got a degree while cfiing and working another job full time.

So basically he worked like crazy and gave up a lot to be where he is now; but he is still 'just' flying a single around, still working like crazy, and only making whatever they make over there (no idea, probably not much). And this is several years into his professional flight career, after spending thousands on training.

So I would say it comes down to how much you have and how much you are willing to give up... i.e. is a shot at a new career worth being away from your family? My cfi lived alone, had a girlfriend and that was it. I don't think it'd have been possible if he was married with kids.

August 26th, 2004, 00:54	#24
E_Dawg Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: chicago Posts: 4,147	Re: Looking for a success story Let's just drop it and focus on the point of this thread. Anyway I have a 'sucess' story. I guess it's more like a 'getting there' story than anything but here goes... my cfi was 43 (???) around 43 anyway. I did inst, comm, and cfi with him and he got a job flying cargo. He is now a training captain in a single and will probably move into the twin pretty soon... upgrade times are pretty quick. I'm not too sure what his future plans are, from recently talking to him it sounds like he's going to keep his current job for a while and build up some time to get on at Southwest or Jetblue... I think he's around 45 now so he still has some time. He is a guy with incredible focus, the guy can REALLY get something done when he puts his mind to it... He had a poster on his wall of the cockpit and would do flows when he was in groundschool. He 'dry flies' with a cockpit poster of the twin to get ready to upgrade even though he hasn't flown a twin in a year. The guy has done various jobs during life and when he decided on aviation he put his mind to it and got a degree while cfiing and working another job full time. So basically he worked like crazy and gave up a lot to be where he is now; but he is still 'just' flying a single around, still working like crazy, and only making whatever they make over there (no idea, probably not much). And this is several years into his professional flight career, after spending thousands on training. So I would say it comes down to how much you have and how much you are willing to give up... i.e. is a shot at a new career worth being away from your family? My cfi lived alone, had a girlfriend and that was it. I don't think it'd have been possible if he was married with kids.