Posting for the first time and glad to join this amazing community!
Finally took the first step to work towards my goal to become an airline pilot and did the intro flight today out of KMMU on board of a Piper Archer TX. The ATP instructors were super helpful and answered all my questions openly and in all honesty. Today was a beautiful day to be in the air with clear skies and warm temperatures. I was a bit nervous before taking off but then once in the air and taking control of the aircraft, the edginess went away and it was just a smooth ride from there with great sensations and satisfaction. I now know, that’s what I wanna do for the rest of my life.
I’m planning to join the Morristown ATP school as soon as possible and would like to start while the weather is better during the spring/summer season. I’m a full-time employee with a flexibility to work remotely (pretty much from everywhere) and I want to keep my job to be able to pay the bills. I’m flexible to manage my work schedule around flight training too. But I’ve been reading in some sources that it’s quite difficult to manage both. I would really appreciate any advice from anyone who managed to do the training and keeping their full-time job.
Thank you for reading this far and keep this great community going.
While I appreciate and understand you need and desire to keep working I would seriously caution you against it. The program is highly accelerated and provides you with the opportunity to earn all your licenses and ratings in months vs years. Im order to accomplish that you need to really commit to the program. Aviation is expensive and $80k+ is ALOT of money to gamble with, not to mention your future. A few checkride busts could seriously impact your entire career.
I suggest you take a look at the following thread started by someone who just stated his training:
I see absolutely no way possible for you to work full time while in the program. I know this is not the news you were looking for, but it is reality. The program is a highly accelerated program as it is and requires your full attention. If you work, something will suffer, whether it be your work or your training. My bet is that it would be your training.
Failed checkrides are a big deal, have two of them and you could be dismissed from the program and also have some serious explaining to do come your airline interview.
I would really encourage you to try to save the money up so you do not have to work while in the program.
Glad to hear you too had a great experience with the intro flight at KMMU. I took mine there 1 month ago and I am starting at that location May 20, this Monday. Super excited, I will wear that uniform with a lot of pride. Step by step I hope to achieve what everyone has accomplished as I am now in their baby steps. Hopefully I will see you there if you decide to enroll at that location.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Your first flight is one to remember. It’s also important to just have fun and enjoy it. So, I’m glad to hear that you did.
As the others have mentioned working while in the program is not recommended. There have been a few that have come forward and admitted to have gone against our recommendations. To each their own. I can’t speak for them. So, I’ll just leave it at that. I stand with Chris and Adam on this one.