Hi, this is m first post here to the forum. After several discussions with pilots in my industry (the car business, I’ve done sales, finance, and now sales manager and had several pilot clients over the years) and taking my discovery flight, I am very interested in becoming a commercial pilot. I’m an established 31 year old professional working long hours for good money but would enjoy less stress and more time at home for similar money. The only problem is I have to start over and think I’ll have to invest another 5-10 years to get back to where I am now financially.
With talking to a cargo pilot and doing some research it looks like cargo would be my ultimate goal. Are there any cargo pilots in here that have advice on which path to follow after school? Any airlines that work well with other cargos companies? I would prefer the big guys (fedex/ups) but may be open to others. I looked at fedexs “purple runway” program but it doesn’t seem very promising from the description. I’m still researching before I get my physical and commit with a school. It seems the pay is higher in cargo from what I’ve seen and you don’t have upset packages writing nasty comments online when delayed. Any thoughts are appreciated.
The path to the cargo Majors is really no different than the path to any Major airline in the US. You need to get trained, earn your licenses and ratings, build time instructing, get hired by a Regional, build time at a Regional but instead of applying to United or Delta you apply to FedEx or UPS. Just as long a path and just as challenging a goal. In the path the cargo pilots were paid better but due to many new contracts based on the shortage the pay is comparable all around.
I would caution you about the “less stress and more time at home” aspects you seek. While flying is my happy place, airline pilot frequently makes the list of most stressful jobs. While I would dispute this, someone must be feeling it. While in time pilots with SENIORITY enjoy great schedules and enjoy quite a bit of time at home that can take a considerable amount of time to reach.
Thanks Adam. None of the pilots I’ve spoken with have described their career as stressful. What stresses are usual for a pilot? Also, are there particular regionals that look better to cargo airlines than others or are the hours really all they’re looking for with a new hire at a major?
If you are looking for less stress and more time at home, I am not sure the airlines are the place to find that. Take a look at our schedules section, but the gist of it is that airline pilots spend many nights per month on the road. Now we do have a fair number of days off, but we are generally completely gone for the other days.
As for the stress, this job has moments of very high stress and people’s lives depend on the decisions that we make. Now I enjoy that stress and like the job very much, but it is certainly a job that comes with a fair amount of responsibility and thus stress.
At this point the legacy airlines pay just as much as the cargo ones do. I have never once had a passenger complain about me. The cargo airlines are a great place to work, but so are the airlines.
As I said I don’t find the job particularly stressful but a million years ago I sold cars and didn’t find that stressful either. As Chris said the responsibility can be stressful to some. Maintaining an ontime schedule another and then there’s training which most everyone finds stressful in some way. The initial training can be a bear and every year you need to come back for recurrent training as well as line checks. Again I’m a pretty low-stress guy but just last week I got a line check from a check airman while he was getting a line check from the FAA. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little pressure.
As far as the Regionals go not really. It’s time, experience and a solid 4yr degree. During your time at the Regionals it’s also a good idea to do some networking. Letters of Rec are always important.