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Originally Posted by LoadMasterC141 I see that flying could get boring, like anything else, but is it greener? That is all subjective so it is obviously hard to tell for sure. |
I have now spent about 9 months with an airline. I'll be honest, I'm already looking forward to the next step. It was fun at first but now with a back to back 3-day and 2-day looming just 8 hours from now (I have to get up at 3:30AM) I'm not looking forward to going back to work and time away from the significant other and dog, just to come back again with 2 days off, then a 4-day.
If I could do it all over again, I would like to get a degree in something that's worthwhile and I would LOVE to make $70k/yr right now. Right now, we're living in a 863 sq. ft. apartment that costs over $1,000 a month. We couldn't purchase anything worthwhile in this area because our incomes don't come to but $50,000/yr combined, and we haven't been able to save much after all the moving around we did, searching for "that job" (you do know you'll probably have to move, don't you?). When I go away on a trip, I take a fairly large cooler with a loaf of bread, peanut butter, honey, salmon, tuna fillets, oatmeal, crackers, and snack mix with me. Costs about $13 for a 4-day's worth of food. I eat that, and ONLY that, on my trips. Yep! You read that correctly - I don't spend any money on the road. Do you really want that life?!?
There are some good things about it - when I'm home (14 days off this month) I am at home, relaxing, etc. In another 3 months I'll be on second year pay, which will increase my pay by about 50%, or another $750 per month pre-tax. Wooo-hooo!
Even after upgrade time, in the next few years, CA's make around $55-$60k here. And that's assuming no hiccups with the economy, etc. We most likely will still be renting an apartment, because the company could close my base at anytime, if I do upgrade.
Hopefully the picture I paint isn't too bleak, and yes there are other options than going to a regional, I would explore them first. The problem is, those options generally require more total time than a regional (backwards, eh?) and if you think the picture I painted was bleak as a regional FO, don't even get me started on being a CFI!
It sounds like your wife earns quite a bit; if she is FINE and DANDY (and you are sure, you know how women are) with you earning practically nothing after dolling out about $35k or so for flight training, then go for it. You only live once. But I'll be honest, I can't wait for the day when I can actually afford to splurge and rent an airplane for a few hours on a weekend, and fly on my terms
. You're extremely lucky to be in that situation.
If you can get through that, to answer your question, 31 is certainly NOT too old. A former CFI I worked with was 55, retired lawyer, and will be upgrading to CA in the ERJ soon. He's happy he was actually able to "check that box" on his list of things to do during his lifetime. All the money in the world can't buy something like that (well, it can, if you attend gulfstream
).