Just turned 43 a couple of months ago. Seven months ago my wife and I sold the house, quit our jobs in Oklahoma City and moved to Florida to begin my flight training. Both our kids are grown and she's a nurse so getting employment for her is not a problem. I am currently about 3 weeks away from getting my Commercial Multi check ride done and hope to be CFI/II/MEI certified by June.
With the way hiring is going at the regionals right now, I hope to be gainfully employed at one by this time next year. I've seen many other guys my age at my flight school move on to regionals such as American Eagle, Express Jet, Colgan to name a few.
I started training 6 months ago, So far we've been blessed..,things are going well financially for us and I am VERY excited about future prospects. Here's what I've learned from this experience so far..,
1. Dude if it's in your heart, and within your means financially and family wise, go for it! Your not too old, alot of folks here will tell you that (as they told ME) I am seeing it now (guys my age getting hired by regionals) with my own eyes so I know it was sound advice.., I can now pass it on to others like yourself as "eyewitness testimony" of sorts so there's my two cents on that.
2. Not a good idea to go into debt for this, you're not going to be making much for a while, so it's best to be able to pay for it how ever you can.
For me it's my home 's equity and the VA.
3. Get a Physical done. Before you spend a red cent, quit, sell your home etc. you need to make sure (without a doubt) that you'll medically qualify for at least the Commercial Liscense that requires a Class 2 Physical. I personally got a Class 1 just to be sure as some airlines may reqire it.
4. Because of my age, my personal search for a flight school began with schools that provided a flight training program that gave me as much multi engine time I could get in the shortest time possible AND was VA certified AND that had a good flow of students so I could continue to be gainfully employed as a CFI building multi engine time as quickly as possible (whew, inhaling).
Everybody's situation is different and you'll know where you want to go as you learn more.
I'm sure there's more that others have experienced so don't hesitate to ask questions, there's ALOT of collective wisdom here. Best of luck!
Rudy