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Zach
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« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2012, 10:19:40 pm » |
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I am a private pilot and a student at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, I am graduating in the spring with a degree in Aviation Management. My colleagues and I have been facing this same problem for close to 4 years now still trying to figure out what to do. We had all wanted to be professional pilots and quickly got drawn away because of the costs. The new rule passed by congress (like they would know a thing about being a pilot), will take effect in August 2013 and is that an entry level job as a first officer will require 1,500 hours of flight time compared to the minimum of 250 hours currently. Reaching 1,500 hours of flight time will take a significant investment of money and time just to get a job making maybe $20k a year. Many say just become a flight instructor (CFI) and build hours training students, but building 1,500 hours as a CFI will take many years while making not much more than $12 an hour. With the new rule, there will be a large supply of flight instructors and a limited supply of students, so building hours as a CFI will take a long time. How do they expect someone to invest upwards of $80k on flight training and college to then make $12 an hour for years as a CFI and then just maybe $20k as a first officer for many years more while trying to live and pay back debt? My colleagues and I have for the most part given up for now and are chasing much better paying jobs within the industry and are flying just for fun now. The FAA states they want pilots to be smart, but if your smart you don't become a pilot because anyone with a GED can realize that spending at least $80k to make maybe $20k a year is not a wise choice when you can spend the same money on a better degree that will provide a better return on your investment. The pilots that I do know that are building hours either have rich parents or are taking massive loans at high interest rates. Many argue military, which is a great option if you can get what your promised and are up to the health standards. Believe me, every single person I go to school with wants to fly F-16's including myself, but there simply is not enough military flight spots for everyone, especially if military expenditures get cut. I myself have looked into buying a plane but just can't justify it, it is far cheaper to rent than own considering all the costs associated with it unless you can find people to split the expenses. Buying a plane may be practical, but buying the plane is the easy part, flying and maintaining it is what is expensive. A small plane burns 6-8 gallons an hour, at over $5 a gallon you will spend $30 to $40 an hour on fuel alone, not to mention oil, tires, maintenance, hangering, an annual inspection, insurance, your monthly payment and those small nagging expenses that always seem to show up.
I don't mean to sound negative and yes making it in the pilot world is possible, but there is no simple answer to the question. Believe me, I have been facing this problem for my entire college career and my colleagues, professors and myself still can't find that magical answer to that question. My route right now is to graduate, then work on an MBA so that I can get a good paying job that will help me pay for my flying. I'd kill to fly helicopters but don't get me started on that, $380 an hour for the cheapest of helicopters is not affordable as a college student. I've considered selling my VMC 81 7UP to take helicopter lessons, but what I would get for that machine wouldn't get me too far flying helicopters. My suggestion is to spend your money on education right now not all on flying, our best chance for aspiring pilots is to stand up to congress. If we can get congress to realize that the new rule will make it near impossible to become a pilot they may drop the hourly requirement. Flying is not cheap, nor will it ever be, but paying good money for hours in a log book is not logical when that money can be invested somewhere else. An airman certificate is worthless if you don't have a medical certificate to back it up, what happens if you get injured badly or develop health problems that cause you to loose your medical? You airman certificate is now worthless and the hours in your logbook that you just spent dang good money on are now worthless too. Like I said there is no simple answer, if you can get a military flight spot jump on it, but they are limited and difficult to achieve. Our best chance is to fight against congress and have the new rule revoked or adjusted so that it will be practical to become a pilot. I can go on and on about this, but experiencing the same problem first hand with my colleagues too, we have learned that becoming a professional pilot is a difficult challenge and for now flying is just a hobby we like to do to attract chicks and pretend to be Maverick from Top Gun. Any SMC members reading this, help us fellow pilots stand up to congress about the new rule!
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