Pilot Journey Forums

Hi, I'm Chad from Tulsa, OK. I'm 35, soon to be 36 and am considering a career as a commercial pilot.

Background :I'm currently a Master Control Supervisor for a cable network and am earning just over $40K a year plus one rental property just paid in full this month that should bring in at least $250 after tax/expenses. I have a little over 2 years of college, mostly the required courses and a few accounting classes, as I was working towards an Accounting degree. 

Concern: pay scale.  I can't seem to understand why on earth the pay is so low for say 80% of the pilots out there. My 80% is just a rough guesstimate, please correct me if I'm way off.  But why are the pay scales so low? From my research, it appears that unless your a Captain flying for a big airline, you just aren't going to make a decent salary. Don't get me wrong, it's not all about money for me, but it sure does help come retirement ;)

Paid to fly ideas that would be fulfilling for me:

-Tourism, Hawaii anyone?
-Sport, such as flying fisherman or hunters into remote areas or supplying remote camps with supplies.
-Local and regional flights.
-Corporate.

Taking in consideration my age, my 0 TT and training, what route of training could I do to make $40K+ in any of the above areas of interest?

I've been considering such a move to get out of the "office" and aren't to particular about a technical or industrial career. I've always loved learning to drive new vehicles ever since I was 3 years old on the farm in Minnesota.  I operated combines, tractors, skid loaders, hydraulic attachments of various sorts, dirt movers, plows, brush hogs, discs, planters and bailers by the age of 10. Operating machinery is something natural for me and I enjoy every minute of it (and Dad never paid a dime either!). But flying with my Dad was some of the best time I've ever experienced.

As usual, my quick post has become a novel. If you can help answer any of my questions or concerns, please feel free.  Thank you in advance!

BTW: I just watched "One Six Right: The Romance of Flying" and it just inspired me to indulge further into my research for a career change into something I know I would love. It's pretty much a documentary of the Van Nuys airport that touches on the alarming decline in GA airports around the country. If you haven't seen it, and you're an aspiring pilot or established pilot, check it out! You can rent from Netflix or purchase from www.onesixright.com. 


 

Hi Chad:

Looks like you are at least getting the brain thinking. There are many options that don't go the route of the commercial airlines.

I personally work on my own and make $45 per hour and I am booked up. I have been around for 20 years so I have made plenty of mistakes.

Just think about anything that uses airplanes. You may end up getting your own plane somewhere down the road but there are things out there that most people don't think about.

traffic watches
flying pipelines
crop dusting
Homeland security is even using general aviation.
In metropolitan areas there is a lot of talk about "Air TAXI's"
There is alwasy flight instructing
forrest service
DEA
Power line watching

You might be supprized to find out that the company you work for has planes monitoring cable lines. I don't know

I would just look around for a niche you can get into once you have a commercial pilot certificate and then run with it.

let me know if you have any other questions

airfreddy

Thanks for the helpful tips AirFreddy.  Everything you added to the list I would have never thought of.  $45 sounds pretty sweet, I would just love to be able to get up and fly and get paid for it.

That said, I think I will pursue my PPL starting next fall and keep the training for the CPL going.

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, what "brand" of flying do you do and what type of aircraft?

Thanks again for your time, much appreciated!
Chad