I am 20 years old and I’ve been working the same union electrician job since I was 18. I really do not want to be an electrician the rest of my life even though it’s a good paying job. If I change careers I would become a pilot. Is it worth quitting my job to join an aviation school? I don’t have any college credits. I’m still very young and I know I would have the time to do it but don’t know if I should. Any advice would be appreciated.
Jeremy,
Nobody on this forum, or anywhere in your life, can tell you what you should do with your career, only you can decide that. For me, being a pilot was a great decision, but that is me.
I suggest that yu spend some time reading these forums and the “Flying the line” section. I also recommend that you take an introductory flight.
Chris
Jeremy,
As Chris said these are grownup life decisions and only you can decide what’s best for you YOU. That said you make no mention of any flight experience (and no riding in the back of an Airbus on the way to grandmas’s does not count). I find it incomprehensible that anyone can consider a career in flying never having taken a lesson. If you haven’t you need to go up before you spend another second of your time thinking about it.
Adam
I’m going to start taking lessons for my private license. My first lesson is in 2 days. I will keep thinking about it more until after I’ve had some experience as you both say I should. But I would like to know the success rate of people who are legitimately trying to become a pilot and get paid good money for it. Around how much money does it cost from no experience to an airline pilot and how long?
Jeremy,
Chris suggested you read through some other posts which apparently you didn’t do. One of the reasons we suggest people do some reading is not because we’re lazy or don’t want to answer your question, it’s to get you in the mind set of having to actually LOOK for the answers vs having them fed to you. That’s what how the airlines do their training and something that has a lot to do with how successful you’ll be or not. As for nationwide success rates for people who are “legitimately” trying I have no idea how to get those numbers or how to quantify “legitimacy”? What I can tell you is there’s a worldwide pilot shortage and if you successfully complete your training, build your time and have no major blemishes on your record (arrests, etc) you will get hired.
To answer your question if you go to ATP you can go from 0 time to airline pilot in approx. 2-2.5yrs and the price is around $80k. Elsewhere can take longer and cost more.
Adam