My Road to the Airlines
There are so many routes you can take to get to the airlines. You can do a quick firehose type training or a slow quality training. You can do flight instructing, cargo, or even charter flying to build the needed flight hours. There is no right or wrong way to get there. Your road will depend solely on your own personal priorities and desires. With that being said, I constantly have people ask me the route I took and the experiences I gained from them. So, I thought it would be cool to share my story from the beginning until now. Maybe you will get some insight and see what options are out there for you too.
Before I Started Training
Initially, I was a flight attendant for a major airline. I loved my job and I loved the lifestyle, but every flight I found myself more and more intrigued by what went on up front. I began asking pilots questions and would hangout with them on layovers to pick their brains. Pilots LOVE to talk about themselves. Trust me. One female pilot I flew with told me, “Stop thinking about it, quit your job and just start tomorrow. You will figure it out.” I thought, “How irresponsible, I can’t afford that.” How was I supposed to support myself without a job, much less pay for all my flight training? My plan was to save around $10,000 and then bang out my private pilot certificate.
That way I didn’t have to stress over money while I was doing my training. This would also help me determine if I had what it took to be a pilot before doing something like quitting my job. Sometimes I wish I would have taken her advice, but hey, maybe it just wasn’t my time yet. I don’t regret my waiting. I may not have had the money for flight training, but I did decide that I would start reading and learning on my own. So, I went to the book store and bought the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. A lot of the things I was reading, I didn’t really understand, but I kept reading and eventually things started to make sense. I also found YouTube videos that helped explain things that just weren’t clicking when I was reading them. I figured it was my only way to gain some knowledge without spending an arm and a leg.
Let the Training Begin
One day, (a few years after I got the advice to quit my job) I had a conversation with my father and he told me to “Stop talking about it and just do it!” We discussed options for moving back in with them and getting a loan for flight training. I had zero debt (other than my car) and had a chunk of money saved up to help me live (very minimally) while I was in training. I found a flight school that would get me done as fast as possible. Within weeks I had quit my job and moved back in with my parents in Florida and started my new journey. There wasn’t much time for anything other than studying and I was ok with that because I was ready to hit the ground running. I spent around 10 months getting all my training done and did nothing but fly everyday and study until I fell asleep each night. I ended with my commercial single and multi instrument and a CFI, CFII, and MEI. I will say that the hardest training for me was the instrument training. For some reason I was having such a hard time fully understanding the knowledge and how to fly approaches. Yet, to this day, instrument flying is my all time favorite type of flying. There is something so satisfying about flying an approach down to minimums and calling runway in sight at around 200 feet above the ground, but I’ll save all that for another time. Going back on topic, this was a zero to hero program that had both positives and negatives.
PROS:
I was able to get all my training done in 10 months (which made all the cons worth it)
Ended with multiple instructor ratings, which made me competitive when finding a job at a flight school
The training was effective in knowing how many flight lessons you would have, how long each one would be, and what you would do in each lesson
I flew almost every day
Was able to transition into an instructor at the flight school once I completed all training
CONS:
The school was much more expensive than most other flight schools
The instructors were all newly minted instructors that had just completed the training I was going through, so not much experience
The school was pretty big on keeping you on your timeline and would sometimes rush you into a check ride when you didn’t feel ready
There wasn’t much actual ground training, so most ground knowledge was self learning
Most instructors and students were young in age and I didn’t really connect with many, so I mostly kept to myself which wasn’t as easy to study
There was a frat boy mentality, which was more about putting others down instead of lifting them up
Becoming an Instructor
First Job
Once I completed all my flight training, I went to a standardization training which was about a week or so long for the flight school to teach me things like policies and procedures of the company and doing a few flights to ensure I was teaching per their training requirements. Even though I was a fully qualified flight instructor in both single and multi engine aircrafts, I did not feel like I was going to be a good instructor. I started with a lack of confidence, mostly because I had JUST learned how to fly myself. I thought to myself, “Are these people insane? How am I going to teach someone how to fly?” For the first few flights I was a complete helicopter instructor. Always hovering my hands and feet over the controls, ready to step in at a moments notice. Ok, maybe I was a helicopter instructor for at least a few weeks or so. Eventually you begin to back off and trust in your abilities to step in when needed. As an instructor you know that in order for your students to learn, they must make some mistakes. The hard part is learning how far you let those mistakes go before you step in. At first you step in way too soon and fix things before the students even realize there was an error or mistake. Then you get to a point where you let your students have those hard, but safe landings. With each flight I began to grow more and more confidence. The flight school had some aircraft availability issues at the time. I had one or two students at the time and had trouble trying to schedule flights due to the availability. So with my down time I would help my students with ground knowledge and I began working on this website. I wanted to both help others better understand some of the hard concepts and I thought it would be a good project to keep my head in the books and keep my knowledge sharp. Due to many different personal and professional reasons, I decided it was time to move on to work at another flight school.
PROS:
There was no interview
It was an easy transition from finishing my training to go into instructing
I knew the planes and were comfortable in them
I was familiar with the expectations of an instructor and how the training lessons were set up
I knew the home airport and surrounding airports well
Flew about 40-60 hours a month
CONS:
It’s hard to get respect as an instructor when everyone saw you as a student before you knew the things you learned
The pay was extremely low and not close to something you could live on
There were too many students and not enough planes
I was too comfortable and sometimes comfort doesn’t allow for growth
I was a “contracted” worker, not an employee
Second Job
I found a job at a flight school in another state that provided a place to live while I instructed. Which worked out pretty well since flight instructing isn’t a very high paying job. It was like a fresh start. I was now working with people who didn’t know me and I was treated with respect as a fellow instructor. I wasn’t looked at like a student who JUST became an instructor. I was an instructor, that was it. At this flight school I got to create my own lessons and continue to grow my knowledge. I also got to experience much more as a pilot. For example, I did all of my flight training in Florida at a Class D airport under a B shelf. I got very comfortable with flying in and out of towered airports, but not as much at non toward airports. I could also easily determine my flight direction based off where the coastline was. I never dealt with real density altitude or airports above a max of about 100ft. Now, being in a new state that didn’t have a coastline I had to really start to trust my magnetic compass. I got a little turned around a couple of times, but with more experience, it got better. I also had to start thinking more about the difference between AGL and MSL because now I was flying to airports that had a field elevations above 100ft. One of the problems with this flight school was that I started to notice things that I became uncomfortable with. I started to see faulty maintenance work. Even when I would write things up, I would be pressured into not writing them up because they were “normal” things. The last straw for me is when I almost had an engine failure after takeoff. Luckily I was able to get the engine running again and just came back and landed. I began looking for a new job that day.
PROS:
Gained more experiences that made me a better pilot/instructor
Was able to build real confidence as a flight instructor
I was an actual employee of the school
Flew about 50-80 hours a month
CONS:
I was a bit far from home, so it was a bit lonely at times
There were a few maintenance gabs that I wasn’t willing to overlook
I was paid by the hour and I’d have students cancel day of without enough time to fill that slot with someone else (bad weather also meant I would not fly and therefor make less money that day)
Third Job
After searching for a bit, I was able to find a really good flight school. The interview process was by for the most involved. I had to do an HR portion, a technical portion, and I had to hop in the simulator and fly. After the intense interview, I ended up getting the job and moved to Arizona. This was my first salary job as a flight instructor which meant I would get paid regardless if I flew or not. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to fly. The whole point was to build flight hours to get my ATP minimums, but it was a peace of mind to know I could still pay my bills if we had a few days of crappy weather. flying around in Arizona gave me even more experience. I know was flying from an airport around 1,000ft elevation. Some airports, such as Flagstaff and Sedona helped really enforce my knowledge and I gained valuable experience with density altitude. I used to love taking my students to Flagstaff and show them all the effects of an airport with a high density altitude. Another tool I got to add to my tool bag was flying in a mountainous region. I tell you what, flying around mountains at night was such an eerie feeling at first. The standards training at this flight school was way more intense than the previous places I taught at. It was about 2 months long because we had to learn all the standard operating procedures and call-outs. The students we trained were for an international airline and they were going back to Europe and hopping into a jet. So, we taught the students to fly a single engine aircraft the same way they would a multi crew airliner. After working here for a little over a year or so, the pandemic hit. All of our students were from Europe and they were all sent back home. For obvious reasons, all the flight instructors were let go.
PROS:
The students were some of the brightest I’ve ever taught
The airplanes we very new and technologically advanced
The school had excellent maintenance department
Salary job with benefits
Gain yet another set of experiences
Weekends off
Flew about 50-70 hours a month
CONS:
I wasn’t training students toward an FAA pilot certificate
We weren’t allowed to fly in actual IMC
The flight school would not give me a leave of absence for an internship, so I had to quit and re-apply after the 4 months
School and An Internship
Once I finished all my flight training and began as an instructor, I decided it was time to finish school. I did some research and found a school that offered an aeronautical degree online, which gave me a lot of flexibility in getting my school work done around my full time job. I already had an associates degree, so I was able to transfer over those credits; as well as get credits for my FAA pilot certificates, since it was an aviation degree. Through networking and contacts I’ve made, I learned that due to being enrolled in a qualified aviation program, I qualified for an internship. I immediately applied and eventually was offered the opportunity to do a 4 month internship in the chief pilots office at one of the airlines busiest hubs. I was able to see the operation from a different perspective. A little bit more of a behind the scenes. Part of the internship program was a tour of the training facility, a tour of the Boeing Factory in Seattle, and I got two jumpsuit rides. Since I knew my Dad would retire before I got to fly with him, I decided to do one of my mom-seat rides with him. What an incredible experience. My second jumpsuit ride was with a mentor on the 777, which is my favorite plane. We went to Paris and had an awesome time exploring. I got to work on special projects and be a part of regular meetings about day to day operational discussions. I was also in charge of all the EFB (electronic flight bag - iPad) inventory and troubleshooting. Whenever there was an iOS or app updates, I had to go into all the iPads we had in our inventory and complete the updates so that they were ready to go when a pilot came in for a loaner or replacement. I also was the go to girl when any pilots needed troubleshooting with their iPad or any specific apps. Made me pretty well versed in the airlines EFB operations. All in all I would not have traded this experience for anything else.
PROS:
The internship paid pretty good
Met tons of inspiring people I now look up to
Got to get an inside look into flight operations
Great to put on my resume
Top notch experiences gained
CONS:
Didn’t get to fly for those 4 months (this is sad for a pilot)
Had to find my own short term housing for those 4 months in a big city
First Jet Job
After being let go from my flight instructor job, I felt like my entire world was flipped upside-down. Air traffic came to a halt, except for cargo companies. I spent a few months on unemployment looking for anything that would pay the bills. In June/July I began applying like crazy at a lot of places. I knew I needed to find something before the airlines were expecting to furlough their pilots. I would fill out and send in several applications a day. Once people started traveling again, they were traveling via private jet instead of their usual airline first class seat. So eventually, part 135 charter started booming as well. I got lucky and finally landed a part 135 charter job in the city I lived flying Citations. I was now going from a job teaching people how to fly small piston planes to flying a jet aircraft. Not only did I have to learn how to fly the new plane, but also things like high altitude flying, how a jet engine worked, Part 135 regulations, multi-crew operations, busy airport operations, cold weather operations, use of an FMS. I got to do everything from start to finish which included the flight planning, weight and balance, performance calculations, pre-flighting the aircraft, setting up the FMS for the flight, giving the passengers a safety briefing, loading and unloading baggage, and cleaning the aircraft after the flight. Some see this as too much work and just want to show up and fly. I on the other hand was enjoying all these extra duties because they made me expand my realm of knowledge and constantly be keeping up with it. The pre-flight planning was my favorite. I flew with some not so great Captains and some really amazing Captains that really taught me a lot. One of the biggest challenges was gaining good CRM skills. I had to learn how to communicate in a manner that was authoritative but not overstepping and over powering the Captain.
PROS:
Salary Job
Awesome chief pilot that trained me
Citations are really fun planes to fly
Gained experience in things like high altitude flying, jet aircrafts, Part 135 regulations, and multi-crew operations
Got to fly into some really cool and challenging airports like Aspen and Telluride
Fine tuned my radio calls to sound more professional
Flew about 50-60 hours a month
CONS:
There wasn’t much standardization, like I started to get used to at this point
The flight schedule was always changing from day to day, so I had to be flexible with flight planning
Non-Pilot Airline Job
When the pandemic was slowly starting to turn a corner, airlines still weren’t hiring pilots but I heard about an airline job as a ground instructor with the company I want to work for. The airline has sort of a pipeline for pilots to go through that gives them a conditional job offer as a First Officer. Without going into too much details, after criteria are met, you transition over to a mainline pilot with the company. When I heard about this job, at first I wasn’t too sure about it because I would be giving up my awesome job flying the Citation for a good company and be spending years on the ground as an instructor. I also would have to figure out how to get my remaining 100 hrs to qualify for my ATP certificate and then I’d have to pay for my own training and Checkride. However, I would be a part of the airlines pipeline and after my required time with them (and all the other criteria are met), I would transition over into a new hire pilot. I was assigned the Boeing 737 as my aircraft. My job is to teach the systems of the aircraft to all new hire pilots, pilots transitioning to the fleet, and upgrading Captains. I have 2 years at this position to continue to gain a deep knowledge of the systems and read training materials to teach myself proper procedures to best set myself up for success when I transition.
PROS:
Salary Job
Back at the airline I started with and plan to end with as a pilot (getting my flight benefits back)
Everything is very standardized
Teaching aircraft systems on the aircraft I hope to fly for the company
CONS:
I miss getting paid to fly someone else’s plane
The training consisted of only systems knowledge so there are some areas hard to teach when you’ve never flown the plane
To Be Continued…
I quit my job as a flight attendant and started my flight training in March of 2017 and it is now towards the end of 2021. The first 10 months or so consisted of my actual flight training. I became a flight instructor in Jan 2018 and spent about 2 years instructing, with a small break to complete an airline internship. I was lucky enough to then spend about a year flying a Citation for a charter company in 2020/2021. As of 2021, I am now an airline ground instructor teaching Boeing 737 systems knowledge. I plan (and hope) to be flying for a major airline in the next 2 years. I know plenty of people that hit the ground running and made it to a regional airline within 1 1/2-2 years after becoming an instructor. I however, decided to take it a little slower and build a quality resume and try to have a large array of quality experiences. I’m not speaking poorly about those who chose a faster path, I am simply saying I chose a different one. No path will be better than the other. It is all about what you want out of it and what your priorities are. I hope this has helped you in some way or another. Feel free to comment below with any questions or to share your story.