Hello all,
My name is Nick and I am interested in becoming a pilot. However, the thought of being away from my friends and family for so many nights out of the month is holding me back. I know there are options to stay local that are not as high paying, such as being a CFI. Are there any decent paying options for a pilot that can stay local? Thanks in advance for the responses.
-Nick
Nick,
Pilots for the most part travel. That’s generally why people use airplanes, to cover distances they can’t by car. There are of course local jobs (flight instructor, banner tow, crop dusting, traffic reporting, etc) but none that pay a whole lot as those are usually entry level jobs. Your idea of what’s “decent” pay is something I don’t know? There is the possibility of moving up to lead instructor or flight school manager but again neither pays nearly as well as the airlines and frankly I don’t feel are worth the expense of flight training.
Adam
If you live in a tourist heavy area there are charters that fly local air tours. There are a few airlines that have a daily type route that gets most pilots home every day (Allegiant comes to mind), but that only works if you already live in one of their bases. The local sheriffs or PD may have an air wing, and fedex has “feeders” that fly from their major hubs out to surrounding smaller communities and back the same day. But I think good opportunities are few and far between, and like Adam said the payback on your investment may not be worth it.
Helicopter pilots tend not to travel very far, due to the nature of their aircraft. But it’s even more expensive to train as a helicopter pilot and I’m not sure what the pay is like to know whether it’s worth it or not.
Alex
Thanks for your response Adam. I was worried that might be the case. If I really want to be a pilot I might have to be okay with being gone many nights of the month. I guess my idea of decent paying would be about 100k or more.
Nicholas,
Alex listed a lot of options for some of the local flying jobs you could research. They aren’t as highly paid, benefits vary and you might be more vulnerable to multiple job changes as services come and go from your region but it is an option.
I think the Allegiant model would be more up your alley. It still is an airline job with good pay, benefits and “stability” but has a scheduling system more geared towards day trips for its pilot group. Frontier is also considering moving a lot of their flying to this system so something to look into.
Hannah
Nick,
Welcome to the forum, obviously you’re here because you’re interested in becoming a pilot. What makes you want to become a pilot? While there are options that allow you to be home every night, the rewards may not be as sought out, as others. As Adam said, people travel by airplanes because they can get to places quicker and shorter than if they were to drive. Driving from Philadelphia International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport is a 42-hour and 2,736-mile drive. If a person needed to get across the country, they fly to get there in 5 hours 40 minutes and 2,421 miles.
The Allegiant model is being sought by a few other majors to my knowledge, whether it gets implemented or not, is questionable. There are some avenues you could take if you decided to go into the airlines, fly high seniority as either a Regional CA or Major FO, and bid specific trips or fly as reserve. Corporate flying, career certified flight instructing, and other Part 119.1e gigs.
Brady
Hey Brady,
Thanks for your response. I suppose I’m interested in being a pilot because I love being in airplanes, I like to travel, and the pay sounds decent as well. I have looked at certain pilots’ schedules and it seems like they are gone half of the month. I have seen others where they are gone for maybe 8-10 days of the month. At this point I’m just trying to debate if the pros of being a pilot are worth being gone that often. The Allegiant model sounds appealing, however it sounds like it takes some time and seniority to get to the point where you could actually be home every night. Even then it sounds like you have to be based in certain cities.
-Nick
Nick,
I cannot stress enough if you don’t want to be away the airlines are not for you. I fly for Hawaiian Airlines. For over 20yrs InterIsland pilots were home every night, we had ZERO overnights. After the pandemic they reevaluated and we started doing overnights. We had VERY SENIOR pilots who built their entire lives on being home every night. They had side gigs, were caretakers for their children and parents, etc etc. The company shifted and that was that.
This is not a bash on my airline. They did what they needed to do. All airlines priorities are to their customers and shareholders first, not to your quality of life. I have a friend who flew corporate for years. He built his life and family in NJ. One day the company decided they were relocating to FL and he had to move or leave. Just because Allegiant has day trips today, doesn’t mean they will tomorrow. This is the nature of the industry.
Adam