This is my first official post on the forum, however I have been reading posts for quite some time, many of which are dated years past. I am sure more topics will come with time as I delve deeper into information.
I am still in the “data gathering” stage of this journey, and I am taking my intro flight with ATP this coming week; I am quite excited for it. Before that, I wanted to gauge how the current industry is doing - Is there still a “pilot shortage” that was projected by many airlines? Do you see graduates without work? Instructors unable to get hours?
I’ve seen various answers to these questions, but sometimes it’s reassuring to hear something in the present context. These are the kind of questions that keep me up at night wondering about pursuing this dream career. The last thing I want is to take out a ninety thousand dollar loan, only to end up with a dead end and a huge amount of debt. Aside from poor interviews or just being a bad student (which I would like to think I’m not, honors scholar and all).
I’d be looking at jumping into this full throttle, if you’ll excuse the pun, within the next few months, if everything seems to lineup as it does in my head. I’m at a point in my life where I’d like to make a change and am ready to do just that in a relatively short amount of time.
I appreciate any guidance you can give me, as I know this could be my first step into a much larger world. I have already found immense help in the FAQs section, which lead me to make this long post initially. Sorry!
The good news is the pilot shortage is forecast to continue for many years. Everyone is building time and getting hired at a rate not seen maybe ever.
What disturbs me is this seems to be the primary concern of many new perspective students. While I appreciate the fact you don’t want to get stuck with a huge loan and no job the fact it’s there are zero guarantees. Almost 20yrs ago the industry was also doing very well. Not as well as now but hiring was booming. Until 9/11. In addition to the tragic loss of life the was the immediate loss of countless careers. Hiring stopped, people in training were sent home, people with classes scheduled were canceled and many pilots were furloughed. The thing however is this. Since that time I’ve met many pilots who were effected by this. Those who signed up simply because they thought it was cool and was “easy to get hired” moaned and groaned, took jobs elsewhere and counted their training as a waste. Those with a true passion for the profession stayed with it. They took jobs instructing, banner towing, parks service or even as flight attendants and gate agents. ANYTHING to stay in it. Those are the people that were ultimately successful and are the Major wide body pilots making $400k a year. Those that quit are kicking themselves.
Starting this career is a tough decision and even with the hiring boom will require a tremendous amount of hard work and discipline to be successful. It’s an amazing career and I consider myself to be extremely fortunate. If this is something you believe you’ll be successful at and enjoy by all means but if all you want is a job guarantee, this might not be the job for you.
Deffinately not looking for a guarentee, I’m not foolhardy enough to think that’s how the world works. I’m more of a realist. Painting with a broad brush, outlook is generally positve, that kind of thing.
I deffinately know it is a tough journey, and I wouldn’t be doing it to chase a dollar figure. It’s something I have been passionate about for a long time, and grown ever more fond of the more I am able to experience flying. I know that if I commit myself to something, I will see it done. That’s just the type of person I am. I am prepared to commit myself completely, because failing would not be an option. The financial cost and potential risk is something I understand, college is much the same, expense with no guarantee of anything once you finish.
I imagine those questions crop up often because they are indeed legitimate concerns, looking from a logistical standpoint. I primarily asked those because I wasn’t able to find satisfactory answers elsewhere. A lot of the questions I have thought of, or great questions asked by others in these threads, have already been answered, which is fantastic! I try my best to do research ahead of time and not ask simple questions that I can find the answer to myself.
I appreciate your thoughts Adam, they’re very helpful!
Again I understand your concerns and they are most definitely legitimate. But I always ask myself when I see them what if the answer was no? What if I said sorry, the pilot shortage is over, we’re back to business as it was. There are jobs but it’s very competitive. I always wonder what the response would be? If it’s “I’m out” then that individual should probably think a little harder.
Definitely a fair point. I suppose it wouldn’t change my opinion either way regarding openness of jobs - afterall, this is a career field for people passionate about the profession.
Perhaps the question came off sounding different than it was intended. Coming from a scientific background I like to have all of the facts so that I can look at it from all angles. From there it makes it easier to make an informed decision, instead of just reacting on emotion.