Posted: 7/31/2026 10:21:02 AM EDT
[Last Edit: toytruckman][Edited]
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He wants to become an airline pilot. He’s 34 with a wife and 2 Little’s. Was never mil does not have any college. He does have a good head on his shoulders and understands airplanes. What’s his chances of being successful? The wife and can back him financially to get him till he starts getting a real pay check from a flying gig. Talk to me ARF |
| Seems late in life to start. My niece got in some program to become an airline pilot. Seemed like a scam to me. Years later, she is a pilot (generally) but works as a clerk or something for an airline. Will cost a lot of money to get the training and training hours in for that type of flying. |
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Edit your title to include the fact that he wants to be an airline pilot. That way, you'll get answers from a bunch of airline pilots. eta: Just realized this was the aviation forum. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call on airline pilots directly. The first step is to get a pilot certificate. He can do that while he's still in his current job. |
9 lives - 9 pellets... Coincidence?
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Good info here, OP. This is from AOPA - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. I think you can hit this without a membership. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/learn-to-fly/flying-for-a-career |
9 lives - 9 pellets... Coincidence?
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Originally Posted By ske714: Edit your title to include the fact that he wants to be an airline pilot. That way, you'll get answers from a bunch of airline pilots. eta: Just realized this was the aviation forum. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call on airline pilots directly. The first step is to get a pilot certificate. He can do that while he's still in his current job. K changed the title, Thanks. We seem to think he can get up to instruments rating and keep his current job? Maybe? |
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: K changed the title, Thanks. We seem to think he can get up to instruments rating and keep his current job? Maybe? Originally Posted By toytruckman: Originally Posted By ske714: Edit your title to include the fact that he wants to be an airline pilot. That way, you'll get answers from a bunch of airline pilots. eta: Just realized this was the aviation forum. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call on airline pilots directly. The first step is to get a pilot certificate. He can do that while he's still in his current job. K changed the title, Thanks. We seem to think he can get up to instruments rating and keep his current job? Maybe? He could go all the way through training to ATP. It will just take longer, which means it will cost a bit more. Reason being, the more time between lessons, the more review time. There is A LOT to learn besides how to fly an airplane. A lot will depend on how well he learns and retains knowledge. He'll need a lot of study time between lessons. |
9 lives - 9 pellets... Coincidence?
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He's gonna need 250 hours minimum to get a Commercial rating to even consider working and NOT for an airline. He'll need 1500 minimum for an unrestricted ATP. Lotta hours and money. Most will get CFI/CFII ratings to ease the cost somewhat. He needs to research the Federal Aviation Regulations before he jumps in. He also needs to make sure he doesn't have any medically disqualifying conditions before he applies for a student medical. AOPA is a great source of info. I'm not suggesting he not do it, but do it eyes wide open. |
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If he is really committed, it’s not too late. It is the best part time job in the world once you get to the larger money at a major airline. Plenty of time in the early years to have a side gig to repay you for your investment in him if you agree to that up front. Current mandatory retirement is 65, but there is a lot of money to be made between now and then. |
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There is a program called ab initio training -- going from nothing to Airline Transport Pilot. It will take a while and will cost a bunch but will return his/your investment before he retires. Good advice above to ensure he passes his flight physical. I know several ATPs who got qualified with their private pilot license then worked up to commercial and ATP hours by flying for parachute drop zones. Many take-offs and landings, a few cross-country flights during the week. |
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I’d look into joining the military unless I was rich. Racking up 1500 hours to meet the minimums being a part time pilot takes a long time. Difficult to pay for full time training when you have kids unless the wife makes bank. Join the guard/reserve, keep your day job, and after flight school you can get restricted atp at 750 hours rather than 1500. You’ll get around 150 hours or more just in military flight school, rack up hours afterwards, and probably a better resume for any pilot job. |
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Originally Posted By ske714: Good info here, OP. This is from AOPA - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. I think you can hit this without a membership. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/learn-to-fly/flying-for-a-career Apropos of nothing my wife did the editing for that. |
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34 isn't too late but it's gonna be a time and $$$ commitment. Most likely any cadet programs (of those that still even exist, I'm not up to speed on them) will not be an option due to his age and not being enrolled in a specific college. The discovery flight is a good first step. I'd be very careful and take with a grain of salt anything any flight schools tell you about "pilot shortage" and "hiring booms" etc. |
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OP, Auburn University has a degree program with 1k hours of flight as part of it. It is in part sponsored by Delta. It will be big $ out of state, but the extras that come with it might be worth it. Two of the football starters a couple of years back who weren't NFL-caliber stepped right into Delta jobs. Seems like taking the dive for four years and then having this level of cert would be worth it vs 6 years or longer part time at his age, but I'm not a pilot. Auburn professional aviation program |
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: He wants to become an airline pilot. He’s 34 with a wife and 2 Little’s. Was never mil does not have any college. He does have a good head on his shoulders and understands airplanes. What’s his chances of being successful? The wife and can back him financially to get him till he starts getting a real pay check from a flying gig. Talk to me ARF It's not too late. I know several Delta/American/United/SouthWest pilots (now all Captains) who did not start flying till they were over 40 years old. My questions would be: 1) Verify he can pass an FAA 1st Class medical. 2) Is he above average in intelligence and not a quitter? 3) Has he researched schools nearby his home? The grind is worth it, and when you get the Flight Level 350, the view is the same for all. Reach out through the IM system here to connect with me if you like. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
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Originally Posted By Sinister: Army initial flight training age is capped at 28 without a waiver. People will complain about moving in the military but the chances you can go from zero hours to airlines without moving are slim. If you do then you will surely be away from home a lot of time going to where the paying hour building jobs are. There’s also immeasurable benefits doing the military route, most significantly the chance to be a full time pilot and live aviation while quickly getting paid well to accumulate hours. And you only need 750 hours rather than 1500 to go to the airlines. OP: make sure your kid knows that Army flight school starts every two weeks. ETA: OP, I always wanted to learn to fly but couldn’t afford it until I finished college and got a real job. Got my private license, decided I hated office jobs, and joined the Army at 27. There was a 32 year old o1 in my flight school class with no enlisted service and multiple warrant officers in their early 30s. If your kid really wants to fly he should at least consider the military. |
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Originally Posted By F224: It's not too late. I know several Delta/American/United/SouthWest pilots (now all Captains) who did not start flying till they were over 40 years old. My questions would be: 1) Verify he can pass an FAA 1st Class medical. 2) Is he above average in intelligence and not a quitter? 3) Has he researched schools nearby his home? The grind is worth it, and when you get the Flight Level 350, the view is the same for all. Reach out through the IM system here to connect with me if you like. Thanks, we are going Monday for a discovery flight and to talk about the programs. The local school is part 141 so seemingly well qualified. |
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So a bit of a general question….. Really how much dollars are all U guys talking about? To get to a point where he could start making money flying. I do realize to get to get to CFI is, round a bout 15K- 20K ish? But after that he should be able to off set some cost with working as an instructor yes? Thanks again |
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: So a bit of a general question….. Really how much dollars are all U guys talking about? To get to a point where he could start making money flying. I do realize to get to get to CFI is, round a bout 15K- 20K ish? But after that he should be able to off set some cost with working as an instructor yes? I would tell him to get his 1st class medical before he does anything else to ensure he has no medical issues, then get his private at a local FBO. Fly at least twice per week and he can have his private in a few months. It'll cost under $10k and then he'll know if it's something he really wants to attempt. If the time, work, and expense to get his PPL is a show stopper then he has no business trying to get to an airline job from zero hours. I would be very cautious in his situation unless they have a lot of savings or the wife makes a lot of money. |
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: So a bit of a general question….. Really how much dollars are all U guys talking about? To get to a point where he could start making money flying. I do realize to get to get to CFI is, round a bout 15K- 20K ish? But after that he should be able to off set some cost with working as an instructor yes? Thanks again "Making money" is a different question than "making enough money to support a family of four." It will be 5+ years before getting on at a regional airline or corporate gig where there will perhaps be enough to support a family. The age isn't an issue, there are lots of late-in-life career changers who can make it to a good paying position at an airline or corporate flight department. The question is being able to shoulder the cost to get the ratings and experience to be eligible for those jobs. |
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Originally Posted By MudEagle: "Making money" is a different question than "making enough money to support a family of four." It will be 5+ years before getting on at a regional airline or corporate gig where there will perhaps be enough to support a family. The age isn't an issue, there are lots of late-in-life career changers who can make it to a good paying position at an airline or corporate flight department. The question is being able to shoulder the cost to get the ratings and experience to be eligible for those jobs. I agree, but in the case of corporate it will take more hours to meet insurance and hiring minimums than 121, usually several thousand more in most decent departments. Our dept is hiring right now, and won't go below 2500 with some jet time. You also have to be very cautious with who you sign up with, there are still a lot of hazardous depts out there. But generally a good, safe (and these could be single plane or many planes) dept will likely require 2-3000hrs as a minimum, with meaningful jet or turbine time. Thats very hard for a new pilot. The fractionals would likely be easier to get into, or if nothing else a 135 but be very aware of how they operate. |
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Well some things. He has no college degree, last i looked all the majors required a 4 year degree in something. maybe that has changed, but look into it first. maybe non-major carriers don't require a 4 year degree, or maybe the majors changed their requirements. Last i knew, the max age for Military flight school was 29. That may have changed, look into that if that is a consideration. Go get and pay for a 1st class medical certificate if he has no disqualifying medical conditions, but check for disqualifying conditions first. And if he has no known disqualifying conditions, then go see if he can pass to be sure. Should only be a few hundred dollars, including an EKG/ECG especially if he has not had one recently. that will be required at 40 years old which is about when he might be interviewing with an airline. ie. ADHD med use within a certain time frame is disqualifying. So is SSRI use. It is always better to delay the medical, fix things or wait the time period ( like with ADHD meds ) and then get the medical than to fail the medical. Once you fail a medical it is much harder to recover from. Also have him take an school introductory flying lesson to see if he likes it, doesn't get sick, and is something he is going to love. Flying is a demanding job, not something people do just because. It is full of hurdles and real work and requires skill and confidence and a love of flying to be successful. If that is what he really wants to do after the above steps, then go for it. It's a great life in many respects but does have down sides like everything else. the people that fly for a living do it because they love flying. Good luck to him, not discouraging him, but it is a game of rules that must be understood one of which is expense and if he quits before he gets a job, all that money will be down the toilet with not much to show for it, but many people get into the game at his age or older. |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
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Nobody is coming to save us.
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: So a bit of a general question .. Really how much dollars are all U guys talking about? To get to a point where he could start making money flying. I do realize to get to get to CFI is, round a bout 15K- 20K ish? But after that he should be able to off set some cost with working as an instructor yes? Thanks again Google AI says: If you are calculating the total cost from "zero hours" experience up to achieving your CFI rating, the comprehensive cost ranges from $80,000 to $140,000. AI says single engine cessna costs $160 - $220 per hour wet. Instructor costs $60 to $90 per hour. Minimum 40 hours to private, most people go beyond that by quite a bit. Commercial is minimum 200 hours. You can not fly for compensation before getting this. CFI minimum of 250 hours Then comes the multi-engine land rating and the instrument rating. And that does not include any turbine time yet. Once he has the commercial rating he can log time, get paid, ( tow banners, inspect pipe lines etc ) and turn that back into lessons to further his ratings maybe have some left over to live on. I don't know what the current pay rates are for that stuff. Another option is to go to a school like Emery Riddle, get the 4 year degree in aviation degree and the ratings through commercial (and maybe CFI) , I don't remember. That is something you can directly look into. Some people graduate in 4 years, some 6 years. |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
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Nobody is coming to save us.
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Regarding the FAA 1st Class medical. Most Aviation Medical Examiners will do a consult before you do the actual medical. At the consult, he should be able to determine if he's eligible for the 1st Class or not. College is "preferred" this days at the majors, but not currently required. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
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Originally Posted By ske714: Sidetrack, but relevant - Years ago, a lot of people built time by flying checks for the banks. I assume those jobs no longer exist. Are there any similar jobs, good for time building, other than flight instructors? Flying bank bags was my first turbine job in a Cessna Caravan. Nearly died a few times getting into some bad icing. Those were the days. 
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Originally Posted By Mach: Another option is to go to a school like Emery Riddle, get the 4 year degree in aviation degree and the ratings through commercial (and maybe CFI) , I don't remember. That is something you can directly look into. Some people graduate in 4 years, some 6 years. ERAU's website shows going from zero to commercial multi engine is $60k and that CFII and MEI cost another $30k. So $90k to get everything and have 250 hours (might be less than 250 since it is an accredited school?). Lots of caveats about fuel prices and if you need more than the bare minimum number of hours, either of which could add significant cost. That $90k is over and above the cost of full time tuition which they quote at $50k/year (that excludes housing). Side note, I had no idea ERAU was that expensive. That's what CalTech, MIT, or ivy league schools cost. ERAU is over $1900 per credit hour! If OP's kid lives in LA, LSU tuition is also in the $400 per credit hour range. ERAU is a good school but not that good! |
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Well dang, I guess I was not thinking that much $ for the flying part. I was in the 100Kish range for the flying part and then I will have to supplement the fam of 4 on top of that. Till he starts getting some kinda pay check from flying a airplane. We are not rich by any means, we have retirement money, but live and die by the market. So I guess I could be broke on any given day if we was to have a 1929 again? Well going Monday for the discovery flight at Gulf Coast Aviation, at KNEW. And yap with them. Thanks everyone for the words of wisdom, will keep U all up to speed on our flying adventure. |
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Does he currently make any money? Can he afford a private rating and a Cessna 150? Get a good CFI, study hard and don’t fail anything and get his private. Fly a cheap Cessna 150 every day building time and experience. Add an instrument rating at some point. Add commercial at 250 hours, then multi engine commercial add on. Build 1,500 hours and go right to a regional that is owned by AA. He can make $100k a year in the right seat and $200k+ in the left seat in two to three years. Since he has no degree he can “flow” to AA. Technically most majors don’t require a degree but it’s heavily preferred. It is not too late but he needs to catch up. He could be at a major airline at 40 which still gives him 25 years. I went from zero time to heavy jets in six years but I worked my ass off non stop. |
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There is an excellent community college, Iowa Lakes CC in NW Iowa that her will be able to complete everything through his CFII at for much less than ERU or any of the other big name schools. |
Dave Funk
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
Past President and now a Board of Directors member Iowa Firearms Coalition. Past President of the Iowa Chapter-SCI.
| OP, it sounds like you are starting to catch on. I don’t think there’s much chance of doing what you are describing in less than 4 or 5 years for less than $150k, plus whatever it costs to support the family. At 34 years old with a wife and kids, I’d say he needs to be doing whatever job pays the bills now. If he can do that job, take care of his family and go to pilot school all at the same time, then maybe he should. If he needs to take 5 years off from real life while his parents support his family, he absolutely should not even consider it. |
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And another thing to think about too is family. He’s 34 with a stable family relationship but how does that work if he’s working a day job and then more hours outside of that to get his hours in. Then, even if he gives up his regular job to be a CFI or so it may be nowhere near the pay level of what the car dealership job pays. Then later transitioning to being gone 12 to 18 days a month? It could put a strain on the relationship as you have to have somebody strong at home to take care of everything while you’re gone, but then also try to make you feel like you still have an input on things when you are back at the house. And all of that is considering if he can find a CFI job where he lives, or something else local. He’s not in his early 20s where he can just pack up a car full of clothes and move to a different state and live in a crash pad while he flies skydivers seven days a week, etc. A coworker has a son with 300hrs and he doesn’t want to instruct, so I send him job ads all the time but most are 400hrs minimum and require a move; Alaska SIC, Fort Lauderdale to fly SIC to the Bahamas, various pipeline jobs I went to a 141 school, and then when I got out, I held a regular job and flew skydivers on the weekend for several years to get me up to my 1500hrs. By that point, I had a family and starting regional pay was dismal, so I gave up flying to keep my regular day job and my regular life. Fast-forward to age 46, regional pay was starting near 30 K., still awful, but would only be temporary. Year three as a CA was 100 K., which is what a lot of FO’s at regionals now make? But I was also gone a lot, and the kids were in the upper years of high school, so that forced me to miss a lot of events that I would not normally miss. I left the regionals for a part 91 job and there are a few benefits of corporate versus airline if you find the right one (more nights at home, but airlines will generally have better long term pay, better 401k and a set schedule), so lots of long term things to consider besides how much it cost just to get there. We are hiring 2 pilots right now and have over 60 applications for a corporate flying job and I think the airlines are equally swamped with applications when they hire. Some family factors: Strong, understanding, wife Some of the regionals are almost like college life where there are outside opportunities to mess up a good marriage. I suspect the majors can be the same. Pay can become a factor until you “get there”, but what have you missed or sacrificed to get to that level? Not trying to be negative at all, just wanted to make you aware of everything. I love what I do and a lot of my trips are day trips and home at night, or one leg out and sitting for about a week at the destination, then one leg home, and my wife often flies out and meets me where I’m staying for that week (both domestic and international). Good luck. It can be a very rewarding career! |
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I hate waiting, but I really hate waiting to wait. - sgtgeo (having to wait on a Form 3 before sending a Form 4).
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Thanks to everyone……. We did the discovery flight, and talked with them for about 2 hours. Left with my credit card on file and the starter flight bag. They were seemingly really honest. Like look U can’t do nothin till U get a private license so let’s work on getting that then we can chat about next steps. He got a King ground school and has his first 2 lessons set up in 2-weeks. The instructor said come back having ‘mastered’ the first two lessons of ground school. I guess in 4 to 8 months we will know. Thanks Everyone 
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I made my son get his private license whether he wanted to do it professionally or not. Its a confidence builder and I think it looks good on a résumé too. |
Ever see a lion after he eats a zebra? - MrClean4Hire (RIP Brother)
I hate waiting, but I really hate waiting to wait. - sgtgeo (having to wait on a Form 3 before sending a Form 4).
I hate waiting, but I really hate waiting to wait. - sgtgeo (having to wait on a Form 3 before sending a Form 4).
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Originally Posted By toytruckman: Thanks to everyone……. We did the discovery flight, and talked with them for about 2 hours. Left with my credit card on file and the starter flight bag. They were seemingly really honest. Like look U can’t do nothin till U get a private license so let’s work on getting that then we can chat about next steps. He got a King ground school and has his first 2 lessons set up in 2-weeks. The instructor said come back having ‘mastered’ the first two lessons of ground school. I guess in 4 to 8 months we will know. Thanks Everyone Congratulations and I wish him well. It’s going to be a busy decade for him but he can do it if he wants it enough. I am an airline pilot and here is what I would tell him and feel free to compare my advice with any cfi or airline pilot. Study materials: Pilots handbook of aeronautical knowledge. This is a technical knowledge textbook and explain aircraft systems, aerodynamics etc. Airplane flying handbook. This will explain how and why maneuvers are flown. The instructor will likely brief the next lesson and he can review those maneuvers etc. Private pilot oral exam guide. This will prepare him for the one on one interview style exam that is part of the private pilot checkride. The examiner will have him answer technical and likely scenario based questions. Private pilot ACS. This book has all the items he will have to demonstrate for the private pilot exam and to what standards. This is all information he will need to know for his checkride. FAR/AIM. Federal aviation regulations/airman information manual. If he has a question on a regulation he can look it up in this. He will likely have to demonstrate to his examiner that he is familiar with it and can find his own answers. The written exam is done in advance and he will provide the examiner his test results. This may seem odd when it comes to the written exam, but study for the test. SheppardAir.com will provide free sporty’s courseware prep for private pilot. Then after when he gets his instrument, commercial, and ATP, he can continue to use their programs for those written exams. They model their training course to look exactly like the actual FAA test and they even have the real answers. He can basically memorize the right answers. Yeah, this seems bizarre but just do it to pass the test and then build his actual knowledge by reading the above listed textbooks cover to cover. This will set him up for success. These study materials will get him through most of his training all the way to commercial pilot. When the time comes he will only need the Instrument Procedures Handbook and the appropriate oral exam book and ACS book for each checkride. Don’t waste your time with other books, they are just condensed versions of these materials. The FAA books are even available free on the FAA’s website but if he’s going all the way, buy a copy so he can highlight it and make notes etc. |
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| An old friend just retired as a Delta pilot. He was never in the military and just worked his way up. Originally he went to college and got a degree in Agribusiness. He got his private pilots license to fly around as an Ag salesman, that was the plan. To help get his hours, he started teaching with the flight school. Then he applied and got hired as a third officer on a small prop commuter airline. Worked his way up to captain then the commuter airline got bought out and he went with the company. It was bought by Delta. He got trained on jets and started as copilot on domestic flights. Worked up to captain again. Then he started doing international. Same thing, copilot to captain. Then he retired. That’s how he did it, no military background with an Agribusiness degree. |
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Great info from everyone above... My route for him to be sure about this major life choice and investment: 1) Is he medically qualified to get and hold a Class 1 Medical? 2) Is the family comfortable with the sacrifices he will need to make while chasing this and then continuing to fly? Some relationships can't navigate the challenges of one person being on the road and the other at home handling everything 50% of the year. 3) Go do a discovery flight. Get them to do some fun stuff, show him boring stuff. Have them pull out the books and say "see that? You've got to know ALL of that!" Challenges ahead: 1) Affording training 2) Finding a job paying not a lot more than min wage in order to accumulate enough hours to apply at regionals. 3) Getting hired at a regional airline 4) Getting hired at a major airline Getting hired is feast or famine. No real way to determine what the state of the industry will be when he's at the minimums to be eligible. When the majors hire, they hire the pilots from the regionals (and other sources). The regionals then need pilots so they hire pilots who meet their minimums - CFIs, crop dusters, banner towers, survey pilots and the list goes on. Having someone pay you to fly is a good job. But it is tough. It is stressful. And there's a limited window to make the obscene bucks... |
| Delta has a program for employees who have an interest in flying and are not pilots to get into the cockpit. My friends daughter did it and is not a Delta copilot . They will help you get hours and flying at one of Deltas regionals until you get qualified. She got her PPL in HS and stopped flying while in college without money. |
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