Advice for son

[mooretitan]

Can any of you who are pilots or know someone who is help me talk my son out of becoming a pilot. He is 18 going into his senior year and is looking at North Dakota University aviation school or Wyomings Mechanical Engineering School. He has outstanding grades and a good SAT score and not worried about him academically in either field.
He is leaning heavily towards aviation because of the pay difference. His life revolves around hunting and the outdoors and he believes being a pilot and the income they earn will help him achieve his hunting goals.
I have talked to him many times about life in general, family, friends and being a man. But this decision will be his. I am just a little more worried about diving into the cost of pilot school and then changing his mind. I want him to have his eyes open with whatever he decides.
So pilots out there if there is anything he needs to know or reasons he should avoid the career. Let me know.
He knows he will be roughly 150,000-200,000 in debt if he chooses being a pilot. But he also believes that by his early 30s he will be making 250,000-300,000.

Thanks to

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I would tell him to look a bit closer at pilot salaries. I was in the aviation industry for 31 years and they don't make near that much with only a few years of experience.

 

[CorbLand]

I don’t know what he makes but my wife’s uncle is a pilot. I can tell that he gets paid well, been flying for about 20 years. He picks and chooses his own schedule and hunts more than anyone that I know.

Honestly, from the outside looking in, I would be talking your son into it.

 

[RockAndSage]

Can any of you who are pilots or know someone who is help me talk my son out of becoming a pilot. He is 18 going into his senior year and is looking at North Dakota University aviation school or Wyomings Mechanical Engineering School. He has outstanding grades and a good SAT score and not worried about him academically in either field.
He is leaning heavily towards aviation because of the pay difference. His life revolves around hunting and the outdoors and he believes being a pilot and the income they earn will help him achieve his hunting goals.
I have talked to him many times about life in general, family, friends and being a man. But this decision will be his. I am just a little more worried about diving into the cost of pilot school and then changing his mind. I want him to have his eyes open with whatever he decides.
So pilots out there if there is anything he needs to know or reasons he should avoid the career. Let me know.
He knows he will be roughly 150,000-200,000 in debt if he chooses being a pilot. But he also believes that by his early 30s he will be making 250,000-300,000.

Thanks to

Why is he not looking at having the government pay for all of his flight training by being a military pilot? There is some good hunting on military posts, as well.

 

[cnelk]

What does ‘dad’ want him to do?

 

[wildwilderness]

The drawback is time- takes seniority and some strategic jobs to get into the high paying salaries.

The work to get there is a lot of “grunt jobs” low pay and long hours.

Who knows how long FedEx and UPS will be paying those high salaries ($400k +) especially with Amazon Prime creating their own delivery system to cut costs.

The job also takes you away from family half the time (if marriage and kids are in his future) or gives you weeks to hunt! May have to move around to get better positions etc. there are a number of avenues including corporate pilot, bush pilot service, airlines, cargo, and of course Military (be careful the recruiter will lie to you! No guarantee to be a pilot unless that’s 100% in writing) or a number of other aviation sector businesses.

That said it is a viable career option and if he excels can have a great life in his 40s plus. He has to like flying though. At least with school loans he will have a job and be able to pay it back!

The other life choices if he really is smart is Med/Dental School and be able to afford nice hunts. (But now you’ll be looking at $500-$1M debt - unless you go military….)

 

[Bugger]

Why is he not looking at having the government pay for all of his flight training by being a military pilot? There is some good hunting on military posts, as well.

This.
If he flies anything starting with a C he’ll have a lot of TDY’s to different spots and can take advantage of down time. Per diem was my hunting/fishing license fund when on the road.

 

[colby12]

There are numerous ways for him to achieve his goal. All will require debt of some sort be it time, money, or both. Financial future for pilots can be lucrative but it will be at the mercy of who is hiring. If my children share this desire I will recommend the military. Army if they don’t want to go to college, any other branch if they do. Get a degree in something they have interest in that will provide outside of flying then go to ROTC or OTS. If they are smarter than me and can go to an academy great. After that, they give Uncle Sam some time and in turn get all the flight ratings for no money. Another option is to enlist do some time, get the GI bill and use that to pay for the pilot ratings(there are schools that you can do this with, someone will say it won’t pay the whole thing). If the military is out of question, help find ways for him to do it cheaper rather than massive debt. Those ways also exist but require a little more actual work. All that to be said, if it’s something he is truly interested in I wouldn’t try to talk him completely out of it,rather help him find ways to do it better. Unsolicited advice but I’ll share anyway. If you have questions about the details shoot me a message.

 

[mostlybirch]

Pilot pay is wide ranging, from regionals to cargo to bush. I know a couple cargo pilots (747) and they have a good life, as long as the family is into it. Bush pilots flying Caravans and CASAS and twotters and the like don't make great pay generally speaking but have fun jobs. There are way less interesting ways to make a buck, and sounds like he is a smart kid so I'm sure he would make it work to his benefit. I'm glad my dad didn't talk me out of some of the odd paths my life took because you never know where you'll end up. Again I'm not a paid pilot.

What kind of pilot does he want to be?

 

[2ski]

I'm not a pilot. And I'm not going to try to talk him out of it.

My brother has his private, commercial, and multiwing licenses. He let everyone "in the know" talk him out of going further. They dont make that much to begin. You have to start in little companies. So on and so forth. Same as people talked me out of being an attorney when I was younger. There's a whole lot of reasons to not do something always. But what are you teaching your son? To give up if someone tells him it might be hard? He has to make his own ..not mistakes...but learning opportunities. Make sure he has all the information but dont try to talk him out of something he wants to do.

And the military is a poor plan. If they decide they want him to do something else...he doesnt get trained to be a pilot then.

 

[mooretitan]

Not trying to talk him out of anything just want him to have his eyes open to everything. I actually think being a pilot is a smart plan and I am sure he is very goal oriented and will make it work to accomplish the lifestyle he wants. He wants to afford hunts that I currently can’t and have the time off to go anywhere wants.
Whatever job he takes he will make it work.
The military is probably a no go. We have talked about it. his thing is he is not sure he wants to give that much time up and his biggest issue is having to fight a war he does not agree with. He has a very strong ethical/moral compass and if he disagrees with something he won’t go along with it.
When he graduates high school he is an adult free to make his own choices and build the life he wants to live. If he ask for advice I can give him both sides but don’t plan to influence him either way. Not my life to life. But it will be fun watching him try to chase this big dream he has. Heck he might even take me on a hunt or twin if he plays his cards right

 

[colby12]

And the military is a poor plan. If they decide they want him to do something else...he doesnt get trained to be a pilot then.

This is a common sentiment from people who are not military pilots. The military in most cases, usually enlisted, will do with you what they want. To say that it is a poor plan for the reason above is uninformed. There are ways to join the military to only be a pilot. If there are questions on how to do this message me. Obviously you can not make it through the pipeline but that’s on you and at that point the military will do with you what they need.

 

[Whaledriver]

I am not going to throw any rocks. I will say this thread already has a lot of bad/inaccurate information. I have been in the aviation/airline industry for 25+ years. I am on my 6th airline. It has not been an easy road. I have been at a major airline for the last 18 years. I average 12 days of work a month. I am not going to talk specific dollar signs here. I will say not many people know exactly how much a captain at a major airline or cargo company make. Lots of people would call BS on it.

To me money is not the thing. I get more quality time at home than a normal 9-5 person. I have coached my son and daughter the last 10 years in various sports. I am now a middle school basketball and baseball coach at our local school. I rarely miss their sporting events. I go fishing and hunting almost whenever I want. I have not corporate ass to kiss. I advance by my seniority, not my ass kissing capability. I can honestly say without a doubt, I have NEVER ever dreaded going to work. I honestly love what I do and am very blessed to get the opportunity.

My Dad was the same way 30 years ago. I went against his wishes and chased my dream. As a father myself, I encourage you to help your kids chase their dreams wherever that might be. There will always be naysayers and doubters. Tell them not to listen to the noise and chase it!!

Good luck!

 

[def90]

What's wrong with being a pilot? I know a couple guys that fly for the big airlines and do very well. Like any job you work your way up. If you are concerned about accruing debt for pilot school and he has a pretty good gpa get him in to an rotc/officer track with the Air Force.

 

[D_Dubya]

My daughter is set on being a pilot, she graduates high school this week and has been accepted into a Commercial Aviation program at a State University here in Texas that has a program with Southwest Airlines as a somewhat fast-track to a career. She’s been flying since she was 16 and loves it, no way I would try to talk her out of it.

I’m not a pilot and don’t really know a ton about the industry, but it is a legitimate career path that could pan out well for your son.

Has he flown a plane before? Maybe get him some $250/hr lessons and see how much he really likes flying. In the grand scheme of things spending a couple thousand on exploratory lessons is nothing if it influences college and career path decisions.

 

[nick15]

Know very little about aviation but I did go to the U of North Dakota and it is known as a very good aviation school. Kids from all over the country attend.

 

[TheCougar]

PM sent

 

[Robobiss]

My daughter is set on being a pilot, she graduates high school this week and has been accepted into a Commercial Aviation program at a State University here in Texas that has a program with Southwest Airlines as a somewhat fast-track to a career. She’s been flying since she was 16 and loves it, no way I would try to talk her out of it.

I’m not a pilot and don’t really know a ton about the industry, but it is a legitimate career path that could pan out well for your son.

Has he flown a plane before? Maybe get him some $250/hr lessons and see how much he really likes flying. In the grand scheme of things spending a couple thousand on exploratory lessons is nothing if it influences college and career path decisions.

This is good advice. Make it a birthday or graduation present. Get him a couple hours of exposure if he doesn’t have it already. He might totally change his mind, or double down and be more strengthened in his resolve.

 

[Idaboy]

If it's his passion, and I viable career then it may be a good life path for him....if he has not actually spoken to pilots about lifestyle and salary expectations, then that's a different discussion

 

[mooretitan]

We visited an aviation school last week and got some general info. He will do a flight sometime soon just to see how he likes it.
It probably fits the lifestyle he wants the best if he progresses career wise the way he plans. Solid pay, large chunks of time off for hunts.
I really don’t care either way what he does. The way he is wired I am sure he will have some great adventures ahead.