Quote:
Originally Posted by Navyvet1
Ok so heres the deal, I'm 23, still really haven't figured out what i'm doing yet. I was in the navy 4 years and now i'm working for jet aviation as a line service tech...though i havnt started yet. I'm trying to decide if i should go to school to get my commercial pilots license or not. I mean i've always wanted to be a pilot but the family thing kinda changed my mind back in the day but i get mixed feedback on how family life is.
The first thing is how's the pay? The school i would probably go to is for a b.s. in aviation operations (33,000 yr. including flight training) so by the time i'm done, i'm sure i'll have atleast some loans for what grants and gibill dont cover. I dont really want to spend that much money and find out that i cant pay any bills with the money i would be making. The good thing is that school hires 80% of their graduates to be flight instructors to gain flight hours.
The next thing is how is the family life? I mean my girlfriend i'm with now waited 6 months for me to get out of the navy only seeing her on the weekends...and not all weekends either. So it may not be that big of problem, but when i do eventually get married and have kids, i dont want to never be home and my kids not know who i am! i kinda doubt its that bad (though it does happen in the military).
So basically is it worth the money if you want it bad enough or should i save my money and get a degree in something else.  |
Well you opened up a never-ending-debate-can-of-worms. I spent ten years in the Navy myself. The answer to your question is....it depends. If you're going to do this career, as a pilot, you need to have an understanding and independent significant other. Divorce rates in this industry are probably as high as in the Navy because of non-understanding non-independent significant others.
As far as a degree, my humble opinion is to get a degree in something other than aviation. This is a fickle, cyclical industry and it's smart to have a back up plan. Do not go to an expensive flight school or university. Employers really don't make that big of a differentiation between bachelor's degree programs (unless you go to an Ivy league school) and the flight certificates/ratings you get at your local FBO are every bit as valid as the ones at an expensive school. You will need to have a low overhead if you're going to survive the initial years of poverty in this industry.
Pay rates vary widely. You could google airline pay and see some rates. A basic rule of thumb is to take the hourly rate and add three zeroes and that should give you an approximate of annual pay. Figure on 5-10 years before you're going to make a livable family wage.
Good luck with your decision.