Becoming a Pilot

[SmileyEH]

I'm halfway done college and nothing I've studied has blown me away yet, and I have no idea for a carreer. I've always loved flying so the idea of becoming a pilot seems pretty cool. Any pilots out there know the process toward becoming say a pilot or copilot for a sizable airline? I play poker for a living so I figured if anything I won't need to worry about a job while I'm training and could probably afford flight school (I think) once I'm done with college. Would it be feasible? Also, I have terrible vision and wear glasses, but once I turn 25 I'll definitely be getting LASIC - will this hold me back?
For qualifications sake I'll be graduating (hopefully) from a fairly prestigous american liberal arts college with a physics degree. Thanks,

-SmileyEH

[InchoateHand]

Good luck. Very difficult to break into right now. Used to just be ex-airforce, then a bunch of private training schools opened, and there is a huge glut of pilots in a pained industry. Check out what starting salaries are for people flying the regional jets, because you aren't going to start, or likely ever get, to a nice big 777 for United or SA.

[SmileyEH]

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Good luck. Very difficult to break into right now. Used to just be ex-airforce, then a bunch of private training schools opened, and there is a huge glut of pilots in a pained industry. Check out what starting salaries are for people flying the regional jets, because you aren't going to start, or likely ever get, to a nice big 777 for United or SA.

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[LAGmaniac]

^^^ yeah pretty much what he said. It'll be between $25000 to $40000 to get all your ratings, then you have to flight instruct to build hours to meet the minimums for the regionals. Once you get on with a regional as an F/O it's like $18/hr. You gotta do that for several years before becomming a captain which still doesn't pay all that great. You can start considering the majors probably about 8-12 years after you start at a regional.
Chechk out jetcareers.com for more detailed and better info

[JihadOnTheRiver]

Its expensive training and no real promise of a job. Airlines would much rather put their confidence in a retired military jet pilot with 4-5K hours than a civilian trained guy. If eventually get all your training done, you'll get in on the ground floor, which means flying really really boring regional flights on small prop planes.

I took the cheap route, I fly for the navy. You still have plenty of time to get into military aviation. If you have any specific questions PM me. I've been around a lot of people that are retiring and trying to get hired flying civilian, so I have a pretty good feel for the texture of the industry at any given time.

-Jihad

[d10]

From what I understand trying to be a commercial airline pilot today is like trying to get into the IT field in 2001. It's difficult to get started, difficult to find a job, and even then you'll be making a middle class salary and working a ton of overtime. I think there was a post by someone on here a few months ago who was already an airline pilot and he decided to get out of that job in favor of ATC.

[Ray Zee]

dispite what you may be told lasic will hold you back as much as your bad eyesight for advance ment. as it is the insurance companies that determine hiring policies.
my friend had a heart problem and spent a hard year of bulcrap trying to get his class one medical back, as he was told he would still have his job. after he got it he lost the job anyway for insurance reasons they wouldnt hire him.
pilots are a dime a dozen so low pay is the norm for lousy working conditions unless you can break into the majors which isnt likely for most.
buy your own plane if you like it and get on part 135 and do charters at your own leisure. you wont make much but get to fly the way its supposed to be.
someday if you get a plane look down on a small gravel bar 300 feet long for me fishing.

[otctrader]

You have to really be passionate about flying to take it up as a career. You'll be nothing more than a glorified bus driver (although you'll be paid less than a bus driver), away from home 3/4 of the month, and be put in the bottom of a huge seniority queue so you'll be treated like crap for a good decade or so.

Before they could sell you on going through the "tough times" since down the road you could aspire to flying 747's for $250k and working one week every month, but those jobs don't exist any more save 1 or 2 guys about to reach mandatory retirement.

The really horrible thing about this industry is job security. Say you do pay your dues for a decade (or more) and become captain at a respectable airline. If you have a serious medical issue, you're gonzo w/out any pension or bennies. Better yet say the CEO mismanages and/or defrauds the airline and it goes under - your seniority doesn't carry over to another airline. You'll start out as a first officer making what you made 15 years ago; good luck telling your wife you just took an 80% pay cut (actually most of these guys are on their 2nd or 3rd wives at that point).

Do as Ray says - get a job with some security, then pick up your license as a hobby, and if you really love it and want to take it further as a career (or run your own part 135 biz) the option is there. I've got a commercial pilot's license, but no way in hell I'd push buttons on some fancy jet for $25k. Once you get your tailwheel license and go do some bush flying up in Alaska in a J-3 cub you'll know what I mean.

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...bush flying up in Alaska in a J-3 cub...

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Friend of mine with a gazillion hours as a chopper mech moved up there a few years ago because he got an "offer he couldn't refuse." He said a lot of the bush flying was in choppers. We lost touch so I don't know.

Are J-3's still used? That was my first ride. Still remember it.

[SmileyEH]

Thanks for all the responses. Really doesn't look like an option for me - the military route is out because it's really not something I would want to do as a carreer. Looks like it will be recreational flying at some point down the road, but definitely something i'd like to one day be able to do.

-SmileyEH