Twenty-year-old FO!

[Knightball]

He got what he wanted, good for him.

However, if you really want noteworthy stories of 20 year old "wonder pilots"
read "Flyboys." WWII, Pacific theater, good stuff.

 

[JTrain]

I remember in 1999, AOPA Pilot ran an article on the back page about a FedEx FE (retired line pilot) who had been a fighter pilot in WWII - this guy was in his low 80s. Anybody know if this guy is still active - this guy's career seemed an amazing story.

 

[Regul8r]

If that's what he wants to do, great. Let's hope he can keep a positive attitude and help contribute to the airline industry and make it a better place.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

I was a 20 year old corp. captain (BE-20/BE-90/BE-350/CJ2).... No pins for me...

 

[Longhorn]

Whats you address...I will send you a pin if it makes you feel better!!

 

[Green]

You know I feel a little sorry for the kid. Welcome to the Blue Collar grind....Miss out on college life and all the once in a lifetime fun/opportunities involved in order to sit on an overnight in FAY with some haggard old fa and some grouchy/bitter captain for a salary of about 25k/year. Then when you are about 26 you might make it out of the regionals and get your dream shot at the majors. When the exitement of landing something a little bigger wears off you'll realize that you are working just as hard as you did at the regionals for a few grand more a year. Thanks to the low cost revolution you will never get rich off this job and the glamour has long ago left the building.

Getting hired unusually young was the lottery ticket back when you could make 350k/year working ten days a month. Unfortunately those days are probably gone for good and now an average ability real estate agent makes as much as an airline captain. And to make as much as that real estate agent as an airline pilot you'll have to work your a## off to the point you rarely see your wife/girlfriend and when you do you're a walking zombie.

I know I sound all doom and gloom but unfortunately I don't think I'm far from the mark. The only good reason to be a pilot anymore is if you just can't imagine doing anything other than flying airplanes. Sounds like that's the case for this kid so best of luck to him.....cheers...

 

[Carl_Spackler]

The whole real estate thing is just like lawyers. I think the average pay for a RE agent is around 30-36K/year, about half of what a regional CA makes. Yes there are ones that make big bucks, but they are good at sales, marketing, and networking. The average new agent last about a year. If RE were such a great thing, everyone would be doing it. Getting a license is pretty easy, can be done on the internet.

 

[PCL_128]

You know I feel a little sorry for the kid. Welcome to the Blue Collar grind....Miss out on college life and all the once in a lifetime fun/opportunities involved in order to sit on an overnight in FAY with some haggard old fa and some grouchy/bitter captain for a salary of about 25k/year. Then when you are about 26 you might make it out of the regionals and get your dream shot at the majors. When the exitement of landing something a little bigger wears off you'll realize that you are working just as hard as you did at the regionals for a few grand more a year. Thanks to the low cost revolution you will never get rich off this job and the glamour has long ago left the building.

Getting hired unusually young was the lottery ticket back when you could make 350k/year working ten days a month. Unfortunately those days are probably gone for good and now an average ability real estate agent makes as much as an airline captain. And to make as much as that real estate agent as an airline pilot you'll have to work your a## off to the point you rarely see your wife/girlfriend and when you do you're a walking zombie.

I know I sound all doom and gloom but unfortunately I don't think I'm far from the mark. The only good reason to be a pilot anymore is if you just can't imagine doing anything other than flying airplanes. Sounds like that's the case for this kid so best of luck to him.....cheers...

I'm pretty "doom and gloom" myself, but that's a little bit over the top. The average Realtor in America makes about $32,000 a year. Realtors in the 75th percentile of earnings are only in the $45,000 range. Very few agents make more than that. Unless you work your ass off, Realtors make quite a bit less than the average regional Captain. I'm pretty dang lazy and I'll still break $65,000 this year at one of the crappiest RJ operators. The guys at Comair, XJT, and Eagle are doing much better than that. Not quite as bad as you make it sound, albeit nowhere near what it should be.

 

[DrProc]

I was a 20 year old corp. captain (BE-20/BE-90/BE-350/CJ2).... No pins for me...

I was a Cessna 172 Captain at 17....no pins for me either...

 

[Longhorn]

Ok Ok....Pins for all!!!