Expert: D. Norkus - 12/25/2003

Question
I recently got interested in flying and thinking about a career in piloting.  However, I've been reading in pilot magazines that the airline is having some problems and that they have too many pilots.  Would that be a problem for me? I am thinking about just doing regional flying and have been taking lessons in St. Mary, GA.  My instructor says I am a natural and I learn very quickly. So, I am very excited and hope to go to a college and major in avaition.  Is there enough jobs for female pilots and would I be able to get enough money from it to support myself after college?  Hope you can help me and thanks for your time.

Answer
Breanna

Yes, at the present time there is a glut of pilots versus the positions available. However, as always, this industry is very cyclical. Things will rebound in time and lots of hiring will happen again. You can also count on downturns in the future creating another situation exactly like we have now. When the economy is good, airlines boom. When it's bad, airlines lay pilots off. If you want to get into this industry, know this ahead of time.

Even when times are good and a 'pilot shortage' is predicted (that many magazines tout), there really is no shortage. More realistically, there is a shortage of 'qualified' pilots. In 2000 & 2001 hiring was so intense many airlines lowered their minimum flight time requirements because they couldn't get enough higher time aviators to fill their needs. Since the industry is in/and or recovering from lousy shape, those minimums are now much higher because there are so many over qualified aviators looking for work. Again, this will change from year to year or decade to decade. As far as being a woman, if you were a qualified one, you would certainly get interviews. Minorities often get preferrential interviews once they meet the minimum requirements. Being a female certainly can't hurt in this job market. At some airlines, minorities will be compared to the other minorities in an applicant pool while the 'white guy' competes against other 'white guys'.

As far a supporting yourself....Well, that's a tough one there. If you were to get over 1,000 hours and managed to get a First Offocer job with a regional airline do NOT expect to make more than approx $20K your first year. Regional co-pilots are notoriously underpaid and it is the standard in the industry to work for next to nothing when you start out. It's what's called "paying your dues". After 2-3 yrs it gets much better. You will probably have around 4-5 yrs before you will see the $35K mark.

Since this flying career question is one I get often, I created a website to better anwser it in detail. Check out my site and it's related links then if you have further questions let me know.

www.geocities.com/av8trxx99/FAQ.html

It has all the info you need, plus much you probably have not considered. Also check out these sites for female pilots:

www.wia.org
www.ninety-nines.org

Dottie
Question4Av8trxx@aol.com