First time on this forum. I’ve wanted to be an airline pilot my entire life but like many was put off by the cost of flight training, and for many years the need of a four year degree as well. My happy medium was to become a mechanic instead. I’ve worked for Delta as an AMT for close to ten years now and enjoy good pay, and decent time off, but I still have that flying bug and am looking at transitioning to a pilot position through DAL’s propel program. My concern is that i’m not young, i’m 35, and by the time I have all the requirements for the program met i’ll be 37. Factor in three years to get my ratings and flight instruct to get my ATP (while on leave from my AMT job), then two years or so at a regional to build 1200 hours turbine time, that makes me a 42 year old FO if all goes well. How long does it take to make up the cost of training and lost wages? Will I be better off in the long run if I’m successful? Keep in mind, for me the joy of flying matters more than the income, and I would take a pay cut to do what I love, but I’m also someone’s husband, so income and quality of life effects more than just me.
This is my first reply in this forum and I wanted to say I’m 38 and I’ll be starting this coming Monday. You’ll likely see several replies telling you it’s not too late. I’m not qualified at all to speak on finances, so hopefully someone can come in with a confidence boost for you there. But don’t let your age stand in the way.
As you’ll see if you browse this forum, there are many people who are late to the party (some more than others), but at 35 you’re really only a few years off the average. I like that you have a realistic timeline in mind but there are a couple of tweaks.
First off if you train with ATP (who is a Delta partner school) you can complete all your training in just 7mos and get you to Endeavor in 2-2.5yrs. The good news with that is it would reduce the time you’ll need to sacrifice. First year pay at Endeavor is now over $50k (and may come up to match others) plus they’re offering bonuses well over $100k. Keep in mind the time you may need to stay at a Regional longer than planned as all Delta’s info say “a minimum of”. You should also know that while Delta has removed the degree requirement, in all their info they clearly state “a 4yr degree is preferred” which means they will take those with degrees sooner than those without.
With all the above said if you truly want to fly there really is no better time and while this career almost always requires some sacrifice, right now that sacrifice is potentially lower than ever.
I am not terribly familiar with what AMTs at the airlines make, but my understanding is it is usually around the $100k range. Captains at the majors can easily make $300k per year, so the question of will you recover your training expenses is a pretty easy one.
You are right, you are not young at 42, but there are plenty of people that enter the industry at your age or older. As for being better off, that is really how you define quality of life and success. Financially, you will most likely be more successful as a pilot than as a mechanic, but of course there are no guarantees.
You will be starting over at the bottom of the seniority list for things like bidding schedules, so do keep that in mind as well.
As Adam said, you’re really not that behind the curve. Since you’re employed with delta I’d seriously look in to the propel program. As far as I know, you get a leave of absence and complete all your flight training, time building then off to a regional carrier for Delta (endeavor or Skywest) and then flow to Delta within a four year time period. Not sure if they have a degree requirement for the propel program, so you’ll have to research that.
With you being a part of Delta’s team as an AMT and as Hannah mentioned the Delta Propel Program, you should seriously inquire about it. You’re not far behind the curve and I think the national average for flight training age is in the 30’s. Find yourself in a program like ATP, do well and succeed in the 7 months and you’ll be instructing in no time, which means time building to your 1,500 TT mark and starting your airline training in late 30’s. Who knows what these coming years could bring with regionals (there’s always rumors), but “everyday” it seems something changing and the drawing board is being visited by administration/union teams.
Thanks everyone for the replies and the good info. Adam and Hannah both mentioned the degree requirement, while I do know someone who was accepted into the propel program without one, I plan on earning the rest of mine once I’m at the regionals, just in case the goal posts move again. And to reply to Chris, topped out AMTs make around 120K or possibly more if they are willing to work overtime, which many of us do. I figure I will probably be flying commercially about ten years before all costs are recouped and I’m starting to pull ahead financially. Not sure how airline pay scales work, or how fast pilots can move through the ranks, though I suspect that number varies depending on the airline and the individual’s success as a pilot.
From what I’ve learned about it the Propel program through Delta eliminates a lot of the uncertainty of transitioning to pilot if you are fortunate enough to be selected. Hope I can make the cut!