Flight Training - March 2015 - 59

CAREER ADVISOR

Follow the money?
Or follow your dream

» Q: I am in management for a Fortune
100 company, and I'm currently in line for
a promotion that would likely guarantee
me to make more than $100,000 per year.
I like what I do, but I've always said that
flying is the only job I could have that
doesn't feel like work. I am approaching
1,500 hours, passed the ATP knowledge
test, and I'm 32 years old. I have a friend
who is a check airman at a regional and
can get me a job there. But is there any job
that starts something closer to $50,000 to
$60,000 instead of $25,000?-J.D.
» A: Welcome to the aviation career

conundrum: a desire to trade a corporate
career for flying while facing the prospect
of a seismic change in lifestyle. There
actually are a few ways to make it work.
The first possibility for the transition
is to understand that the meager wages
are for a finite period. If you can upgrade
to captain within three to five years and
a reasonable salary approaching $50,000,
you will need to accumulate a nest egg
of $100,000 to augment the entry-level
salary. You would need to take $20,000
out of the bank annually to supplement
the $25,000 or so that you would earn as
a regional first officer. However, you may
need to be a regional captain for a decade
before you can see that $100,000 again.

The other option is to have a sideline
business. Many professional pilots have
outside businesses. At a recent AOPA
ASI Flight Instructor Refresher Course, I
met a major airline chief pilot who owns
a brew pub in Colorado. The former
manager of flight training at United was a
physician. Developing an income stream
outside of the airlines is a good plan B.
The view outside the front window
is pretty much the same from a Baron,
King Air, CRJ, or Boeing 777. With your
management expertise, why not investigate starting your own business? You
might consider developing an aircraft
leasing firm; airplane management
enterprise; Part 135 charter business;
or aircraft brokerage. There are many
ways to get a slice of the sky without
the airline career route. Remember that
those airlines can keep you in a uniform
for 16 hours a day and stick you in hotels
night after night after night. Once your
seniority improves, airline life can be
quite enjoyable, but the price of admission is daunting for some.
I cannot however envision any entrylevel airline position that will earn you
that $50,000 to $60,000 annual pay.
Send your career questions to careers@aopa.
org and we'll publish the best ones here.

CHOOSE TO
RENEW WITH
THE BEST
AOPA's AIr
sAFety InstItute
re-CertIFIes mOre
FlIght InstruCtOrs
thAn Any Other
COurse PrOVIder
Here's wHy:
COnVenIenCe
Take the course where you
want, when you want
CustOmIzAble
Choose electives that
interest you most

WingX Pro7 now free for CFIs
HILTON SOFTWARE, MAKERS of the WingX
Pro7 electronic flight bag app, are offering the product available free of charge to
certificated flight instructors. The company
hopes CFIs will use the software to analyze
and debrief flights, and more. Pro7 is sold on
a subscription basis for $74.99 per year. By
submitting a scan of a CFI certificate to Hilton, qualified individuals will receive WingX
Pro7 with synthetic vision, airport diagram
georeferencing, terrain, obstacles, and other
features. For more information, see the website (http://hiltonsoftware.com/cfi).

sImPlICIty
Paperless, submit FAA
forms electronically

Visit www.aopa.org/
renewCFI to sign up!

MARCH 2015 FLIGHT TRAINING

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Flight Training - March 2015

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