Big Iron Career Outlook

The spring of 1993 is when I started flying.  I went to a flight training program in Colorado Springs, CO, that would take me from zero time through an MEI.  It was a full-time program spending 5 days a week over the course of a year in the cockpit or the classroom.  My intent was to move through the training as directly as possible, get a flight instructing gig to build time, then move into an airline slot and work up from there.

While I enjoyed the training process and loved flying, I hadn't done any research up front to determine what the demand for pilots might be when I completed my training.  This resulted in a lack of situational awareness on my part.  Knowing all there is to know about your flight when you're the PIC is vital.  Being fully aware of your industry and chosen craft is critical as well if you plan to fly big iron for a career.

When I finished my flight training with a CFII in 1994, the airlines were furloughing pilots left and right.  The commuters weren't hiring and nobody was moving up the food chain.  Getting a flight instructing position wasn't easy, but I managed to get on board with an FBO in Colorado Springs. The students and flight hours were few and far between and the pay thin.  What's more, there was little indication the industry would break loose to absorb all those furloughed pilots for years to come.

How times have changed since then.  An entire cadre of airline pilots will begin retiring this year opening up positions that need to be filled.  In addition, the industry is expanding, not only domestically, but internationally as well. The industry outlook is remarkably different than it was in 1994.  In fact, a recent industry forecast projects a need for 500,000 new pilots in the next 20 years. That's 25,000 new pilots each year.  That number doesn't sound daunting, but when you consider there were only 202,020 private pilots (initial step toward an airline career in many cases) in the U.S. in 2010, you begin to see how a large gap may develop.    

Because of this impending gap, the demand for pilots is considerably greater than it was when I first became a CFI.  The training requirements and price tag to acquire said training are still formidable, but the pay-off potential appears to be much higher than it was in 1994.  Wish I'd known then what I know now.  Better still, it would be nice if today's conditions were present 18 years ago.  Oh, well.

As they say, there's nothing more useless to a pilot than the air above or the runway behind which, in this case, is the industry outlook when I completed my training.  Fortunately, the "air above" or future hiring boom, is very promising for the new crop of private pilots.  If you're thinking about a career path to a seat flying heavy metal, now's as good a time as any to dig in, do your research and planning, then launch.  With the hiring projections being what they are, your career may have an early tailwind and an extended range.

Happy Landings