Thoughts on this career path...??

[gwrench]

Can anyone share some insight on what I might encounter, persuing a
career as a regional pilot at age 42? I do think that I'd be perfectly
content to stay at the regional level as opposed to flying anything larger.
I wonder if this would make me more valuable to a regional or not. (?)
I'm also hoping the fact that my salary wouldn't progress as far as that of
someone who started much earlier, is a plus. I welcome all serious responses, especially from anyone who has gone this route.

Thanks in advance.

[Jason]

Ok here goes.....I don't think you'll encounter any substantial problems with a regional career if that's what you choose to pursue. As far as being looked favorably on by the airlines...in general I'd say yes but not necessarily for the reasons you outline and it definatley depends on the HR department at the particular airline. I've been thru 3 different regional airline initial training classes and each one had at least 1 or 2 people over the age of 40 so it's definatley not uncommon. I'm now working in a training position where I see a number of older guys - 50+ year olds taking (early)retirement from airlines - coming thru training for a **large operator of business jets** and the most common complaint I hear from them is they don't feel like they learn as well/fast as they did when they were younger and the lack of rentention makes it difficult for them to get thru training.......in reality, they are doing just fine in the training but that seems to be their mindset. There is an incredible amount of information during training but it's definatley manageable. I would imagine that the biggest problem you will encounter is with the lifestyle. Depending on which airline you end up at, you may very well find yourself working with a bunch of 'kids' that only care about building time and getting out and that can lead to frustration. If you want to go to an regional I would suggest looking at some of the so called 'career regionals' such as American Eagle or ExpressJet - I think you'd be happier there than someplace like Pinnacle or Mesa. At your age, even going to American Eagle with it's forever upgrade times you'd more than likely still be a Captain for the last 6 to 10 years(guessing) of your career which isn't bad.

There are alot of people that are perfectly happy being at the regional level and with 18 years to go until retirement you'd definatley be able to have a good career if you choose to pursue it. Have you ever considered someone like NetJets?? It's kinda' sorta' like an airline but way, way more civilized.

Jason

[gwrench]

Thanks, Jason.
I've never had much difficulty learning things by being shown as opposed to learning exclusively from a book. As for lifestyle, I'm
not married / no kids, so the travel aspect of the job greatly appeals to me. As long as I can manage the first few "macaroni & cheese" years, the wages seem livable for the most part - I don't expect to get rich doing this. I'm actually looking forward to the teaching phase.I used to
teach the classroom & road curriculum at a tractor trailer school so I've had a taste of what that feels like.
I plan on visiting Ari Ben in a couple weeks....looking forward to that!

Thanks again for the input.....much appreciated.

[Goldmember]

Hey Man,
Do you have all your ratings etc..?

[gwrench]

Goldmember,

I assume you mean Truck (DOT) ratings. Yes.
New York State Commercial class A.
Doubles / Triples / Tanker endorsements.
MV524 In-Cab Instructors' License.
Hazmat is only good for 2 years, and I don't use it.
------------------------------------------
As for flying, I'm essentially at zero hours unless
you count an intro flight and 1 unofficial lesson in
a 172. Funny story: After letting me take off and land,
the instructor turned about as white as a ghost after I
told her my only experience doing that was with MS Flight Sim. 2002.

[blee256]

Originally Posted by Jason

. At your age, even going to American Eagle with it's forever upgrade times you'd more than likely still be a Captain for the last 6 to 10 years(guessing) of your career which isn't bad.

Jason

Dont forget Horizon.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by blee256

Dont forget Horizon.

And Horizon....and a few others I'm sure!

[fsuflyer]

Originally Posted by gwrench

Goldmember,

I assume you mean Truck (DOT) ratings. Yes.
New York State Commercial class A.
Doubles / Triples / Tanker endorsements.
MV524 In-Cab Instructors' License.
Hazmat is only good for 2 years, and I don't use it.
------------------------------------------
As for flying, I'm essentially at zero hours unless
you count an intro flight and 1 unofficial lesson in
a 172. Funny story: After letting me take off and land,
the instructor turned about as white as a ghost after I
told her my only experience doing that was with MS Flight Sim. 2002.

lol

[Beechlover]

Hi GWRENCH,

I'm currently a 42 year old career changer myself who is also flying at Ari Ben Aviator. Been here at the school about 3 weeks and am enjoying THE HELL out of it. By the way I just passed my first check ride for my PMEL add-on! Not sure what to tell you about the regional career choice except that it may be too early to really decide what you want to get into into you really get yourself into the "piloting" community, know what I mean. I my self have "thoughts" on where I might like to go, but literally the skies are the limit. Even now, I realize how little I know about the industry and what opportunities may arise. To limit my self to one potential career path is probably not realistic in my opinion (at this stage).

Sooo.., what would say to a fellow 42 yr old guy thinking of jumping into this. I'd say, get the best training you can for the money that will give you the most options. Be financially smart, try to avoid going into debt doing this crazy life changing stunt etc... I personally really like Ari Ben for many reasons. #1 Multi training, conducted in a mulit engine flying school, leading to an MEI job flying multi engine aircraft at a price thats hard to beat!

In my opinion, thats the best bang for a buck if I ever saw one, but that's me. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions. Best of luck to you buddy, It's really cool to see someone my age thinking about this. This web sight is great!!! I look foward to seeing you here at the Aviator someday Take care.

Rudy

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Beechlover

Hi GWRENCH,

Not sure what to tell you about the regional career choice except that it may be too early to really decide what you want to get into into you really get yourself into the "piloting" community, know what I mean. I my self have "thoughts" on where I might like to go, but literally the skies are the limit. Even now, I realize how little I know about the industry and what opportunities may arise. To limit my self to one potential career path is probably not realistic in my opinion (at this stage).


Rudy

A very excellant point!! People tend to get into the mindset that they have 3 professional options A) Regional Airline Pilot B) Major Airline Pilot or C) Corporate Pilot but there are dozens and dozens of options out there....start researching some of those jobs that are "off the beaten path" and you may find something you love doing with airplanes that you had never even considered before.

Jason

[falconvalley]

I know a guy who got hired at a small regional in his early 50's. I think it was his first airline job. He made money in an outside business and was doing this for fun. At the time, the airline had been losing pilots at a high rate. At his age, he'd have to retire with more years at the company than most of the pilots there. They could see it as a retention thing...

[gwrench]

Thanks, everybody.

I'll definitely keep an open mind as I make my way down this path. I checked out some of the websites of the fractionals. I wouldn't rule that out at all. It seems that at this age, I have a better understanding of (and appreciation for) what quality-of-life means.

[John_Mitchell]

Hey, here's another old fart in the air over here!! I'm 36 and just got my private and hoping to go take the next steps to instrument, commercial, multi, etc... By the way, do any of you pilots out there have an extra $40k lying around? hehehe

Best of luck to you other "old farts" out there!

Mitch

[MFT1Air]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

I know a guy who got hired at a small regional in his early 50's. I think it was his first airline job. He made money in an outside business and was doing this for fun. At the time, the airline had been losing pilots at a high rate. At his age, he'd have to retire with more years at the company than most of the pilots there. They could see it as a retention thing...

I wish it were my transitioning into the airline industry as well. As much as I enjoy what I do right now, flying full time would be nice despite the nuances of the industry. I'm retired military, so the airline industry's BS really can't compare to what I experienced from 25 years of military service.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by MFT1Air

I'm retired military, so the airline industry's BS really can't compare to what I experienced from 25 years of military service.

Roger that.

[gwrench]

I'm sure there's some BS in every environment. I just try to avoid places where its falling from the sky, step over where its already fallen, and realize that no matter what, once in a while you're just gonna get a little on you.