Simviation Forums

I'm 38, and I'm going for my instrument rating.Am i to old to the airliners?

Well, hiring in the US is on the rise again... there seems to be a shortage of instructors and crew.Regionals are hiring pilots with less time, and paying for more of their training.Also, the age-60 rule has been bumped up to 65.

You may have a shot.

However, the pay is still lousy at the entry level, and it's a gypsy life for most pilots, especially new ones always looking for a better deal.
So ask yourself not "will they take me?" but "am I too old to live like a starving student again?"

Many airline pilots have 2nd careers, which can work out if you take advantage of the limit on duty hours per month... but I'd imagine noobs don't just settle into that... they may go through a lot of changes before they have some sort of routine.

I toyed with the idea myself years ago when I got my PPASEL at age 34... but the next steps proved impossible for me at the time due to funds.
And in retrospect, I think I wouldn't enjoy that life or that kind of flying very much... my current long-term plan is to ease into instruction and maybe maintenance or restoration work, so I can at least do something interesting and fun with my retirement, and earn a little extra beer money.

Don't dismiss the career-instructor (that includes airliners; many type instructors do not come up through the airlines) or charter/fractional bizjet pilot routes (some of those bizjet jockeys start out with better pay and schedules than new airline hires, and usually fly more varied routes)... unless you really really want to be an airline pilot...that seems to be what it's about for most of those pilots now: they just love it, and wouldn't be happy doing anything else, even though it's a long hard road to that big paycheck, layoffs are still common, and the hours, lifestyle, and pension plan is pretty lousy.

Not at all!  I recently interviewed at ExpressJet and about four or five of the guys in the group were over 40.  Now that age 65 passed in December it should be somewhat easier to get on with a regional and move around from there.  There are some regionals, notice I didn't say quality regionals, that will hire with wet ink on a commercial mutli.  If you keep at it and can handle it financially, or even if financially you can't, I say go for it.  You only live once.

Got the XJT job offer by the way back in November, but they have yet again pushed training dates back.  First it was going to be Feb, then April, and now it's July, August, or even as far away as December.  Moral of this story is, airline hiring can change from great to stagnant in a heartbeat with little warning.

Best of luck and keep at it!