50 secrets your pilot wont tell you

[tcco94]

VERY good article..

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/35- ... u-2399544/

[Craig.]

saw it this morning as well, bookmarked it right away. Some classics

[tcco94]

Wow im amazed by what some of these pilots say.

[RitterKreuz]

Wow im amazed by what some of these pilots say.

as far as airlines go... most of it is truth. 




seriously

[Fozzer]

Constantly reading horror stories regarding the trials and tribulations suffered by Commercial Airline Pilots, I am forever surprised that so many of our young Simmers seem to be hell-bent on becoming (commercial) Pilots!

Certainly not a job I would fancy!... ...!

Paul.

[expat]

Constantly reading horror stories regarding the trials and tribulations suffered by Commercial Airline Pilots, I am forever surprised that so many of our young Simmers seem to be hell-bent on becoming (commercial) Pilots!

Certainly not a job I would fancy!... ...!

Paul.

Me neither. Arrive at work 2 hours before you actually do any work to brief, check weather etc, Have fun for the first three minutes, then autopilot. Repeat fun for the last three minutes, tune AM to a local music station, chat with ATC from time to time, do a ream of paperwork, a cross check from time to time, sit in a cue waiting for the 20 aircraft in front of you to take off, say sorry to the "self loading cargo" about the delay. Spend a lot of your time in second rate hotels.........or get a proper job....................and fix them

[tcco94]

Well a lot of people would love it. Some people gotta do it. Just like people gotta be a garbage man, I'd hate that but hell someones gotta do it.  8-)

Just whatever you love to do.

[SaultFresh]

I couldn't imagine myself having any other job... with that being said, I don't consider myself one of the young simmers, and I do have a CPL... kinda don't have a job though...

[tcco94]

Why don't you fly then?

[RitterKreuz]

Why don't you fly then?

its a vicious cycle...

None of the majors are hiring... and the age 65 rule is allowing some senior guys to hang in there 5-10 years longer than they would have otherwise (mortgages to pay, kids in college... a guy has to work to pay for those things).

because of those reasons alone, movement in the regional airline levels are very stagnant. this results in movement in everything beneath the regionals being very stagnant as well. everyone is sort of stuck in neutral.

Most of the hiring on the regional levels comes only from attrition.

attrition which is mostly due to those young early 20's aged aviators who are 2 or 3 years into a career that they have invested a quarter of a million dollars into - only to realize it will be literally 10-15 years before they see more than about $20-25K annually. So... they seek careers elsewhere.

American Airlines hasnt hired any new blood into their main line in 10 years.

you read that right.

they still have a long list of furloughs to recall before they bring in anyone "fresh". enough guys are on furlough in fact to meet AA's staffing needs for quite some time. It is possible that there wont be a "new hire" at AA for another 5 years at least.

here is the info from some of the major airline websites

AMERICAN AIRLINES: "At this time, American Airlines is not accepting applications for pilots and we do not have an estimate as to when we will resume hiring."

UNITED AIRLINES: "In response to extraordinary cost pressure placed on the airline industry by increasing fuel prices, United is reevaluating staffing needs for our Flight Operations Division. As a result, we are not accepting any new applications for Pilot positions at this time."

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES: "Thank you for your interest in Continental Airlines. At this time, we are not reviewing applications for pilot positions."

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: "Because we are not currently hiring pilots, we have taken down the pilot application site, and you will no longer be able to update your information. Once we begin hiring again, we will put the application back up."

ALASKA AIRLINES: "Alaska Airlines is not currently hiring pilots."

visiting a lot of these web sites is like reading an obituary.

it is truly pitiful.

these kids get jerked off their whole life about becoming a pilot and they enroll at places like Emrby Riddle Aeronautical University and dump $200K+ into an education that they will be repaying for the rest of their life in the industry.

things are most certainly not like they used to be.

I think its safe to assume that for a kid who is 18-25 years old today just getting into aviation... flying that 787 or A380 across the drink is a pipe dream... it is an 875,000 lb carrot on a stick.

terrible situation 

[DaveSims]

Why don't you fly then?

its a vicious cycle...

None of the majors are hiring... and the age 65 rule is allowing some senior guys to hang in there 5-10 years longer than they would have otherwise (mortgages to pay, kids in college... a guy has to work to pay for those things).

because of those reasons alone, movement in the regional airline levels are very stagnant. this results in movement in everything beneath the regionals being very stagnant as well. everyone is sort of stuck in neutral.

Most of the hiring on the regional levels comes only from attrition.

attrition which is mostly due to those young early 20's aged aviators who are 2 or 3 years into a career that they have invested a quarter of a million dollars into - only to realize it will be literally 10-15 years before they see more than about $20-25K annually. So... they seek careers elsewhere.

American Airlines hasnt hired any new blood into their main line in 10 years.

you read that right.

they still have a long list of furloughs to recall before they bring in anyone "fresh". enough guys are on furlough in fact to meet AA's staffing needs for quite some time. It is possible that there wont be a "new hire" at AA for another 5 years at least.

here is the info from some of the major airline websites

AMERICAN AIRLINES: "At this time, American Airlines is not accepting applications for pilots and we do not have an estimate as to when we will resume hiring."

UNITED AIRLINES: "In response to extraordinary cost pressure placed on the airline industry by increasing fuel prices, United is reevaluating staffing needs for our Flight Operations Division. As a result, we are not accepting any new applications for Pilot positions at this time."

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES: "Thank you for your interest in Continental Airlines. At this time, we are not reviewing applications for pilot positions."

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: "Because we are not currently hiring pilots, we have taken down the pilot application site, and you will no longer be able to update your information. Once we begin hiring again, we will put the application back up."

ALASKA AIRLINES: "Alaska Airlines is not currently hiring pilots."

visiting a lot of these web sites is like reading an obituary.

it is truly pitiful.

these kids get jerked off their whole life about becoming a pilot and they enroll at places like Emrby Riddle Aeronautical University and dump $200K+ into an education that they will be repaying for the rest of their life in the industry.

things are most certainly not like they used to be.

I think its safe to assume that for a kid who is 18-25 years old today just getting into aviation... flying that 787 or A380 across the drink is a pipe dream... it is an 875,000 lb carrot on a stick.

terrible situation

[SaultFresh]

Or you can be Canadian, in which case your national airline currently doesn't have a retirement age (or at least, that's the way it seems) because it's in the works of negotiations between management and the union. Also, people don't really hire CPL's... they hire CPL's who have all the benefits, like a Group 1 IFR... also, just because you have a CPL with the benefits of a Group 1 IFR, doesn't mean you can apply directly to a large airline... well you can, but you're not going to get the results you want, haha. In any case, the next year or so may be really rough, or really awesome, haha.
Also, I'm a lot smarter than those idiots at Embry Riddle... not in the sense that I'm a genius... because I'm not, haha, and my training is probably far less than there's, but overall, I'll have paid about 12,000 dollars on flight training from a well known Canadian flight school, and that will take me all the way up to a Group 1 IFR with my CPL. So, while it will take a few years of a 20K a year salary to pay off my debts, it won't take a lifetime, and if I play my cards right, it could take only a year to pay that off.

[RitterKreuz]

So, while it will take a few years of a 20K a year salary to pay off my debts, it won't take a lifetime, and if I play my cards right, it could take only a year to pay that off.

That will get you to the CPL with IFR... sure, but what will your 4 degree be in?

how much will it cost you to get a CFI, CFII, MEI?

how much will it cost you to get up to competitive hours?

im guessing a lot more than $12,000

the private license alone is about $5,000 so i think your figures might be a little in error.

additionally, on the regional level after insurance and tax etc your monthly take home pay is about $1,100

budget for a car payment
insurance payment
gas for the car
rent on your home or apt.
groceries

the list goes on.

at the end of the month you will probably have less than $100 to pay towards a student loan - assuming you went to college - such a loan would likely be $50K or more... on top of even a scant $12,000 for "all" (

[SaultFresh]

A Group 1 IFR is a Multi-Engine IFR.... the better of the two multi-engined IFR's. I also started on an Instructor Rating, half finished, and I've spent about 4000 on that... keeping in mind that it's only half done. In any case, I'm still ahead of the game, I'd much rather be $20000 in debt, than $90000... which only gets you to the CPL + Group 1. I have gone to college, but my flight training is free. I pay a relatively standard college tuition, about $2000 a semester, which my parents have actually been nice enough to help me out with (but I plan on paying them back eventually, I mean, what kind of son would I be?) Out of my pocket I've paid for (aside from the Instructor Rating bit) flight supplies, like a headset, and books, and such, which when totaled all up, probably cost around $1000 all together, and I pay for tests, such as flight tests, and written exams, and medicals. The only time I've ever had to pay for any ground school or time in an airplane, is when I was doing my Instructor Rating, which is currently on hiatus until I finish school. I didn't pay $5000 for my PPL, more like whatever the written exam was, and the flight test. I didn't pay the multitudes of thousands of dollars for my CPL either. Just whatever the written exam was, and the flight test. Same as the Instrument written exam (as I have yet to do my flight test for that)... that's the most I've paid for with regards to learning how to fly. I'm in a government subsidized program. The government pays for the flying, and I have to meet there standards (ie the "3-strikes you're out" sort of thing)

[RitterKreuz]

Well then, Count yourself fortunate.

for most folks... its a loan, or nothing.