Career Change at 32

Kurt,

I’ll answer from previous posts while you wait for the mentors but as I’m a betting man their answer is going to go something like this.

You will be sacrificing some as everyone before us has but unlike the past the Regional’s are paying a lot more than so it is a little less compared to what Adam endured when he made the decision to leave being a business owner and become a pilot (at 49 if i remember right).

Is it realistic? That is more of a personal question for yourself. What are you willing to give up for 4-7 years (more or less) to get into Aviation and make it a career, giving up your current pay and benefits to do schooling for a year, have lower pay for 2 years to get to the regionals and then $33,000-$50,000 for a few more years before getting to a major.

Depending what your current lifestyle is you probably wont be able to as ATP is an accelerated course and leaves little room for personal time and items.

Now your lifestyle in 5-10 years will be what you make it with your pay, time off in between trips and what route you go (airline vs corporate).

I would suggest taking a deep look into why you want to get into aviation as you entered your current career with at least some motivation if not jumped in feet first and now you’re fed up with it. Dropping $100,000 and sacrificing over xx years to be fed up with aviation is a lot to look and think about.

Here are a few links that may help:
https://airlinepilot.life/t/what-do-pilots-really-earn/16495
https://airlinepilot.life/t/what-does-an-atp-student-need-to-do-to-be-successful/10421

But those are just my 2 cents while you wait for the Mentors.

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