I'm 32, and a single Father with sole custody of my son. Im looking to switch careers, was told to find what you love and do that as a profession. I have loved flying since childhood and seriously considering switching over to avaiation.
Will this be possible being a single parent of a 4 yr old?
Jon,
Honestly the answer is no, or at least not without ALOT of support. The training alone will require you to be away. Further, pilots by definition fly to travel distances you can’t do by car. That means being away from home. The average pilot is gone 15 days a month, and as much as 18 when you start.
Adam
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Jon,
Getting through training and time building would be difficult but doable because you’re home most nights. However, I can’t see the rest of your career working out being gone 18 nights a month.
Do you live near family that would support you to the extent of stepping in as your sons parent while you’re away? That’s the only way I see this working.
Hannah
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Jon,
I think it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to be a single parent and be an airline pilot. I mean you could do it, but you would be gone a considerable amount of time. You would certainly need to have somebody who could raise your kids over half the month.
Chris
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Thank you all for your replies. The only family that is close wouldnt be willing to help at this time. Im considering relocating to my home town if my family there would help. I know of some colleges that offer pilot degrees and aviation management courses. Looking into that as well. Would take longer than this accelerated program but might make it do able with my current situation, its that or wait 14 years till he is 18.
Jon,
It isn’t just the educational portion of your career. Take a look at our “Schedules” section as it will give you a good idea of how much we ar eon the road.
Chris
I’m also a single father and I’m a widower, two boys 3 and 8. I had my commercial single engine cert before my wife died suddenly and unexpectedly. I got my Multi-Add on about 7 months after and it’s taken me about 18 months but I’m about to get my CFI soon. I’ve got a really good support system, but even then it’s been a giant challenge to find sitters and get to the airplane, but I imagine that problem will evaporate when I’m a working instructor getting paid to fly all the time.
My current general plan is that when I get my hours and start at an airline, I’m going to pay either my mother in law or my aunt or whoever the right person is about $20-$30k a year to take care of my boys on days that I’m gone. Essentially giving up 50% or more of my paycheck, but I think it would be worth it. Do that atleast until I find the right person to remarry who will love my boys like they’re her own.
But there’s a lot of possibilities that I’ve explored. If you have a guest room you could hire a nanny or an au pair. Give them free rent and utilities plus a salary to watch your house and your son. Another possibility is you live with a relative and pitch in on bills and they baby sit while you’re gone.
The other thing to consider is that there are other high paying flight jobs you can do and build tremendous experience until your son turns 18 and then the airlines will hire you in a heart beat if you still want to work for the airlines. I think there’s some charter operations where you are gone and back in the same day. You can also make a great living as Sim instructor at places like Flight Safety giving people their Citation, Gulf Stream Type Ratings or you could make a great living as a Flight Instructor and DPE collecting checkride fees.
In short I would say aviation is an incredible and rewarding endeavor to pursue and there are lots of well paying jobs in the sector outside of the airlines you can build experience in until your kid grows up. However I think it’s totally doable to start at an airline as a single parent if you’re willing to make some bold moves, problem solve, sacrifice and find the right family members to make a mutually beneficial arrangement. It can be done.