A few days ago
John A

Should I become a Pilot?

so here is my story. I’m 20 years old and I work as a baggage clerk at Newark Liberty International Airport. Everyday I get to see airplanes take-off and land. I find myself staring at them from time to time. I always had love for aviation. I play flight simulator on my computer all the time. but now I’m thinking about becoming a pilot. But there are alot of things holding me back. If I want to fly for american airlines i need a 4 year college degree. I just got my ged, and I failed the college placement test for my community college. So now I’m taking remedial classes. I am planning to become a radiologic tech. It’s only a 2 year program, and I can expect to earn a pretty good salary. I told myself a thousdand times, forget about becoming a pilot! It’s expensive, long hours away from home, dangerous, and the pay sucks when you are just starting out! But I always seem to find myself searching for flight schools. so what should I do?

Top 4 Answers
A few days ago
Av8trxx

Favorite Answer

John

If you really want to fly, JUST DO IT. There really isn’t that much “holding you back” as you think there is. Your major obstacle will be funding flight training, not your education as long as you have finish that 2 year program you talked about. You can become a regional pilot with only an associates. True, to get on with a major, you will need your 4 year but you can finish that online while flying. (Give yourself something to do on crappy overnights!) That is what I did.

It’s really not a “dangerous” career (quite the opposite) and time away from home varies. I know some regional pilots who are home every night as they fly “day trips”. Even if you go on multi day trips, you still have 11 days off (or just 8 of you go to Mesa) and up to 18 days off per month on the better regional schedules.

Yes, they pay sucks when you start but it DOES get better! Depending on the airline, you could be making $35K your second year. You just have to be willing to suck it up to make your dreams come true. Don’t worry about the first few years at low pay, focus on the last years of your career when you will be making $150K+! The trade off isn’t so bad then, now is it?

Check out my site for some more career facts you should know here- http://www.pilotcareer.info as well as these sites for aspiring airline pilots:

http://www.jetcareers.com

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com

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A few days ago
Yeaiamhere
there is no pass and fail in placement tests. when I took, placement tests for community college, i was placed in lower English and lower Math class. I didn’t loose faith in education and in my capability of getting ahead in my life. Now 5 years after, i have bachelors degree and I am making $70,000 a year.

About going for being a pilot, go for it. Get your college degree and start making money. and then go apply for aviation. God has given you the same mind with capability of achieving anything. No one is born smart. Just focus on your studies and get help where you don’t understand something. There is no reason you should feel that you can’t do it or it’s difficult.

Money is not every thing either. I have seen people in BS jobs for years. They hate their jobs. You only get one life. Go get your dreams. Why should you let go off your dream? If pilots make less money…so what. It’s such a respectable job with great benefits. Plus ….leave other reasons behind…you really want to be a pilot…so go become one.

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5 years ago
Anonymous
Of course. Lots of airline pilots are female. You don’t have to have perfect eyesight to be a pilot. You don’t even need perfect vision to be a US air force pilot. To be a commercial pilot, your vision needs to be correctable to 20/20. There’s more to it than that but the 20/20 requirement is the one most people are concerned about.
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A few days ago
suisse shoggi
My cousin had the same dream. He joined the air force, did his tour of duty, learned how to fly jets, and now he is a pilot for Delta.
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