First off I want to say this forum has been incredibly helpful to me. There's a great group of men on here that provide insightful, interesting and useful information and I am eternally grateful. Its a place where men can be men and no one bitches at us for it. I always felt the shame society placed on me for acting like a man and now I couldn't give two shits. The red pill was surprisingly easy to swallow and every day I see things in a different light and I'm better off for it.
With that said, I would like to contribute back in the best way possible. So, I wrote a datasheet on how to become an airline pilot. This is for training in America. Foreigners can train here, but have to jump through the usual visa and department of homeland security hoops. I do not know any useful information on this process.
About me: I am an airline pilot in my late 20's. I started flying when I was 16, have a four-year degree and started flying commercially at age 22. I am here to explain how to become a professional pilot in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible. I have broken this article down into several subsections.
Understanding the Commercial Industry:
You have three major airlines: Delta, United and American. You have two major cargo carriers: UPS and Fedex. These are generally considered the top careers in aviation.
You have multiple low cost/medium size airlines: Southwest, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, Alaska etc. They tend to pay well but the salary caps are not as high as the majors.
You have multiple regional carriers. As a passenger, you'd most likely never know you were on one. They fly for the majors in their paint schemes. Examples are Endeavor, Horizon, ExpressJet and Skywest. The majors pay the regionals a set rate to fly specific routes. Most of these companies have no real assets and essentially provide leased aircraft and skilled labor. The vast majority of pilots will fly at a regional carrier before a major.
Salary and Benefits:
Salaries (Annual):
First year regional first officer: 18-22k Yes, you read that correctly.
Third year regional first officer: 30-40k
Fifth year regional captain: 65-85k
First year major first officer: 45-65k
Third year major first officer: 100-140k
Fifth year regional first officer: 120-150k
Tenth year regional captain: 160-200k
Twentieth year regional captain: 200-250k
DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee your career will progress in this fashion. Many people find themselves stuck as a regional first officer for over 10 years making under 50k. Many people never make it to a major.
Medical and Dental: Generally speaking, these are the same benefits provided to a white-collar professional.
Flight Benefits: All pilots, both at a regional and commercial level, receive flight benefits on the airline they fly for. For example, as a Delta pilot you receive Delta flight benefits. As a regional pilot flying for both Delta and American, you receive benefits on both airlines but at a lower boarding priority than those who are actual Delta or American employees. Generally speaking, this travel is free. It is standby and you only get a seat if one is open. Employees are ranked based on date of hire. This also allows for first class travel on a space-available basis. This is called non-revenue travel (non-revving).
All US carriers have an agreement to allow each other to jumpseat. For example, a Delta pilot can request the jumpseat on an American jet. Or even a UPS jet. There are one or more extra seats in the cockpit that only pilots may ride in. If there are seats available in the cabin, you will be expected to take one of those. This is a free benefit.
Lastly, you can buy standby tickets on most airlines around the world for about 10% of the ticket price. You will be the last to board and you do not pay if you do not ride.
To put this in perspective, I flew my own airline to Bangkok in first class round trip. I had to pay taxes, a rountrip cost of around $45. I then bought a standby ticket on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Chiang Mai for around $30. The public price from Thai Airways website was around $70.
Training and Education:
Medical Requirements: You must have vision correctable to 20/20, good color vision and no significant health problems. Some health problems can be waived. You must qualify every year and every 6 months if over 40. Here is more information: FAA Medical Requirements
College:
Most employers require you to have a bacheror's degree. The major is of minor importance, however having a science based degree, such as engineering, mathematics etc, will help. A good GPA will certainly help but a weak one will not kill you.
There are aviation degrees, such as Aeronautical Science or Aviation Science, and IMO are generally worthless. The classes are fun and interesting but are redundant when you consider the flight training you will complete. I highly suggest majoring in another field as this will give you options should you fail your medical or decide flying isn't for you. Let me say that again: MAJOR IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN FLYING PLANES. With that said, aviation colleges such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Purdue or University of North Dakota are excellent colleges with other options available.
Flight Training: You will be required to obtain a series of licenses before you can be employed as a professional pilot.
Private Pilot: This is the first step. You will learn to fly, fly solo, navigate air space and land safely in the event of an emergency. This takes most people around 60 hours of flight training and costs around $8,000-12,000.
Instrument Rating: This lets you fly in the clouds where you cannot see outside. 40 hours of flight training, $6,000-8,000.
Commercial Pilots License: Self-explanatory. Now you can fly and get paid for it. 40 hours, $6,000-10,000. Requires 250 hours total flight time, which you can log by buying or renting an aircraft. Total cost up to this point around 30k.
Multi-Engine License: This allows you to fly planes with more than one engine. Generally required for commercial aircraft. $6,000-8,000.
Now you need to pay your dues and build flight time. With these licenses you can get paid to do so, but you won't get paid much. To fly for a regional you need to accrue 1,500 flight hours. If you graduated from an accredited flying school, this requirement can be reduced by several hundred hours.
Paying Your Dues:
Flight Instruction: This is the most common route. You can train for the CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) certificate, which will allow you to teach students how to fly. This will cost around $6,000... and adding instrument instructor and multi-engine instructor will cost around $4,000 each. Expect to make anywhere between 15 and 50 dollars an hour depending on your location, but most will make around 20-25. This is a highly-stressful job as teaching people in an airplane is not easy work. Not only are you expected to teach effectively, as these students are often paying over $200/hr, you are expected to ensure the safety of the flight. You can expect to be drenched in sweat after many of these flights.
Part 135: This is generally the best route. You will fly small puddle jumpers around as charter pilots. You'll probably make less than instructors, but you won't have to pay for an instructor's license. Can be a blast... by far the most fun I've had in my career.
Other Commercial Flying Flying skydivers, towing banners, crop dusters or pipeline patrol. Pays shit and you'll work hard.
International Airlines: The Middle East and China are thirsty for western pilots. Emirates, Qatar Airways and multiple domestic Chinese airlines will pay 150-250k (tax-free) for your skills. You'll have to live there. The Middle Eastern airlines run a first class operation but the gigs in China can be shady.
Military: This is the best route. Try out for ROTC or apply directly. They'll pay for your training and you'll owe 10 years. When you get out you'll be competitive, but not as competitive in as in the past. Airlines tend to prefer civilian pilots from the regionals. Military cargo and refueling pilots are preferred over the fighter guys... as the former have experience operating as a crew.
Employment Outlook: Now is a better time than ever to become a commercial pilot. Commercial Pilot certification is at an all-time low. Of 11,700 pilots at Delta Airlines, 8,600 are set to retire by 2030. If you are hired now at a Major Airline you will be in command of a 300+ passenger, international jet, earning a salary of around 200k in 15 years time. All the other airlines are looking at similar attrition. The regionals can't fill their seats and are offering significant signing bonuses.
Well that's about it. Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer em!
With that said, I would like to contribute back in the best way possible. So, I wrote a datasheet on how to become an airline pilot. This is for training in America. Foreigners can train here, but have to jump through the usual visa and department of homeland security hoops. I do not know any useful information on this process.
About me: I am an airline pilot in my late 20's. I started flying when I was 16, have a four-year degree and started flying commercially at age 22. I am here to explain how to become a professional pilot in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible. I have broken this article down into several subsections.
Understanding the Commercial Industry:
You have three major airlines: Delta, United and American. You have two major cargo carriers: UPS and Fedex. These are generally considered the top careers in aviation.
You have multiple low cost/medium size airlines: Southwest, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, Alaska etc. They tend to pay well but the salary caps are not as high as the majors.
You have multiple regional carriers. As a passenger, you'd most likely never know you were on one. They fly for the majors in their paint schemes. Examples are Endeavor, Horizon, ExpressJet and Skywest. The majors pay the regionals a set rate to fly specific routes. Most of these companies have no real assets and essentially provide leased aircraft and skilled labor. The vast majority of pilots will fly at a regional carrier before a major.
Salary and Benefits:
Salaries (Annual):
First year regional first officer: 18-22k Yes, you read that correctly.
Third year regional first officer: 30-40k
Fifth year regional captain: 65-85k
First year major first officer: 45-65k
Third year major first officer: 100-140k
Fifth year regional first officer: 120-150k
Tenth year regional captain: 160-200k
Twentieth year regional captain: 200-250k
DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee your career will progress in this fashion. Many people find themselves stuck as a regional first officer for over 10 years making under 50k. Many people never make it to a major.
Medical and Dental: Generally speaking, these are the same benefits provided to a white-collar professional.
Flight Benefits: All pilots, both at a regional and commercial level, receive flight benefits on the airline they fly for. For example, as a Delta pilot you receive Delta flight benefits. As a regional pilot flying for both Delta and American, you receive benefits on both airlines but at a lower boarding priority than those who are actual Delta or American employees. Generally speaking, this travel is free. It is standby and you only get a seat if one is open. Employees are ranked based on date of hire. This also allows for first class travel on a space-available basis. This is called non-revenue travel (non-revving).
All US carriers have an agreement to allow each other to jumpseat. For example, a Delta pilot can request the jumpseat on an American jet. Or even a UPS jet. There are one or more extra seats in the cockpit that only pilots may ride in. If there are seats available in the cabin, you will be expected to take one of those. This is a free benefit.
Lastly, you can buy standby tickets on most airlines around the world for about 10% of the ticket price. You will be the last to board and you do not pay if you do not ride.
To put this in perspective, I flew my own airline to Bangkok in first class round trip. I had to pay taxes, a rountrip cost of around $45. I then bought a standby ticket on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Chiang Mai for around $30. The public price from Thai Airways website was around $70.
Training and Education:
Medical Requirements: You must have vision correctable to 20/20, good color vision and no significant health problems. Some health problems can be waived. You must qualify every year and every 6 months if over 40. Here is more information: FAA Medical Requirements
College:
Most employers require you to have a bacheror's degree. The major is of minor importance, however having a science based degree, such as engineering, mathematics etc, will help. A good GPA will certainly help but a weak one will not kill you.
There are aviation degrees, such as Aeronautical Science or Aviation Science, and IMO are generally worthless. The classes are fun and interesting but are redundant when you consider the flight training you will complete. I highly suggest majoring in another field as this will give you options should you fail your medical or decide flying isn't for you. Let me say that again: MAJOR IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN FLYING PLANES. With that said, aviation colleges such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Purdue or University of North Dakota are excellent colleges with other options available.
Flight Training: You will be required to obtain a series of licenses before you can be employed as a professional pilot.
Private Pilot: This is the first step. You will learn to fly, fly solo, navigate air space and land safely in the event of an emergency. This takes most people around 60 hours of flight training and costs around $8,000-12,000.
Instrument Rating: This lets you fly in the clouds where you cannot see outside. 40 hours of flight training, $6,000-8,000.
Commercial Pilots License: Self-explanatory. Now you can fly and get paid for it. 40 hours, $6,000-10,000. Requires 250 hours total flight time, which you can log by buying or renting an aircraft. Total cost up to this point around 30k.
Multi-Engine License: This allows you to fly planes with more than one engine. Generally required for commercial aircraft. $6,000-8,000.
Now you need to pay your dues and build flight time. With these licenses you can get paid to do so, but you won't get paid much. To fly for a regional you need to accrue 1,500 flight hours. If you graduated from an accredited flying school, this requirement can be reduced by several hundred hours.
Paying Your Dues:
Flight Instruction: This is the most common route. You can train for the CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) certificate, which will allow you to teach students how to fly. This will cost around $6,000... and adding instrument instructor and multi-engine instructor will cost around $4,000 each. Expect to make anywhere between 15 and 50 dollars an hour depending on your location, but most will make around 20-25. This is a highly-stressful job as teaching people in an airplane is not easy work. Not only are you expected to teach effectively, as these students are often paying over $200/hr, you are expected to ensure the safety of the flight. You can expect to be drenched in sweat after many of these flights.
Part 135: This is generally the best route. You will fly small puddle jumpers around as charter pilots. You'll probably make less than instructors, but you won't have to pay for an instructor's license. Can be a blast... by far the most fun I've had in my career.
Other Commercial Flying Flying skydivers, towing banners, crop dusters or pipeline patrol. Pays shit and you'll work hard.
International Airlines: The Middle East and China are thirsty for western pilots. Emirates, Qatar Airways and multiple domestic Chinese airlines will pay 150-250k (tax-free) for your skills. You'll have to live there. The Middle Eastern airlines run a first class operation but the gigs in China can be shady.
Military: This is the best route. Try out for ROTC or apply directly. They'll pay for your training and you'll owe 10 years. When you get out you'll be competitive, but not as competitive in as in the past. Airlines tend to prefer civilian pilots from the regionals. Military cargo and refueling pilots are preferred over the fighter guys... as the former have experience operating as a crew.
Employment Outlook: Now is a better time than ever to become a commercial pilot. Commercial Pilot certification is at an all-time low. Of 11,700 pilots at Delta Airlines, 8,600 are set to retire by 2030. If you are hired now at a Major Airline you will be in command of a 300+ passenger, international jet, earning a salary of around 200k in 15 years time. All the other airlines are looking at similar attrition. The regionals can't fill their seats and are offering significant signing bonuses.
Well that's about it. Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer em!
“There is no global anthem, no global currency, no certificate of global citizenship. We pledge allegiance to one flag, and that flag is the American flag!” -DJT
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