Great answer sir, Thank you. 
Zeljka,
Those still seem like rather young children to be leaving for days at a time, but if you and your husband can work it out that is great.
Like Adam said, 41 is definetly getting to the point where you need to make a decision.
One caveat to both our responses, neither of us is very familiar with aviation in the UK, so our answers are based on the US and as such might not fully apply to you.
Chris
Chris, thank you.
My dad used to be fighter pilot in the air force, and went commercial. Then flew a private jet for a businessman. I always thought he had a cool job. I on the other hand am on a desk, a bit bored to be honest. I was always good in Math and Engineering. Do you think it’s too late to get into flying school? I’m 35 now.
Carlo,
It is not too late at all, but it is important to make sure that you have realistic expectations. Airlines work strictly off of the seniority system, so the 777 Captains flying to Asia are the pilots that got hired at a very young age, it would be hard, if not impossible for you to reach that level in the airlines. However, that isn’t to say that you won’t have a great career in front of you. If you started training right now, and then instructed with ATP, you would be 38 when you were airline eligible, meaning that you would 27 years left of flying in front of you. Not bad for a second career.
Chris
Carlo,
Def not too late to start. Not even close, I didn’t start till 39 and the movement was nowhere near what it is today in the industry. I’m currently an A330 FO and I’ll be upgrading next month to 717 CA. That said I wouldn’t drag my feet for too long. Things are great now but I’m sure your dad would tell you things can and do change. Sooner is always better than later.
Adam
Hello Chris,
Around what age do you mean by the 777 captains flying to Asia were “hired at a very young age”?
I would like to know the average years that take for a pilot to become a FO or Captain that fly international flights (e.g., Asia, Europe, and etc).
Thanks.
No simple answer to that question. 21yo Regional pilots fly to Canada and Mexico and that’s International. If you’re taking overseas there are narrowbody 757s that fly to Europe and Major airline FO’s could get those slots after only a few years. At Hawaiian we have newhire A330 FOs flying to Asia daily. Now to be a widebody Capt can take considerably longer but again it depends. Depends on the airline, the fleet, are we talking Reserve, very difficult to answer.
Adam
The 777 Captains at my airline were all hired in their mid to late twenties, if you don’t get in very early it can be very difficult, if not impossible to reach those top spots.
Hi I just registered.I am starting my aviation career pilot on spring 2018 and I been doing lot of research. I just saw that after I graduated I will have to complete a 1500 hours to be able to get a FAA certificate If I wanted to fly for big companies. My question is how to get those hours and how long will it take. I was about to change back to my engineering program this morning but I was like let me ask some professional first. Help me out please.
Thank you.
Tank,
The short answer is you need to fly. The most common route moist pilots take is flight instruction. Obviously the time frame can vary greatly depending on how many hours you fly a week, month etc. ATP instructors average about 70 hrs a month and have generally have their 1500 within 1.5 - 2 yrs.
Adam
I know I am not there but what I actually wanted to ask was. Where do I fly. Like is it a part time job I need to do or like an internship or what is it
Tank,
The answer is yes, it can be a part time job, it can be a full-time job or it can be an internship. ATP is actually the only flight school I know that guarantees it’s successful students a fulltime instructor position. Other schools may offer a position if they have one. Some simply do not and its up to you to find a way. Instructors can and do work part-time but understand then the time to build the 1500hrs will increase dramatically. There are companies where you pay them to let you fly their airplanes. There are small charter companies, banner towing, traffic watch and other jobs available to low time pilots but they can be scarce depending on your location. As I said the most common route is flight instruction.
Adam
Tank,
What school are you looking at starting your training at?
Chris
Thomas,
There’s nothing to stress about. You’ll get there when you get there and you’ll advance when you advance. Trust me saying “I wish I had…” accomplishes nothing.
Adam
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Thomas,
I had just turned 26 when I was hired at Continental, but that is not normal. The average new hire pilot age is around 35.
That being said, if you are want that stellar career, you need to get started soon.
Chris
Thomas,
I was a First Officer when I left ExpressJet. I had just been awarded a Captain position when I was hired at Continental, so I never went to Captain training at XJT.
Chris
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I want to thank all of you gents for the thoughtful input both positive and negative.
I’ve been really struggling and flip flopping on my choice to start becoming a pilot. My main concern was “In the end, would all the money, effort, and time away from my husband be worth it?” If I’d eventually be making 100K-ish, then yes… even 75K, but putting that much strain on my husband all the years while I work towards those goals if they’ll never happen is something I’m struggling with.
Everything here is important, positive or negative, and I hope to go over this entire topic post by post with my husband.
Ty, guys!
Mikael,
Let your husband know that he is free to join the forum and ask any questions that he may have as well.
Chris
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Thank you, Chris! I’ll let him know!