Hello guys, it's my first post in your site and I am very happy to view the great community you have

I was wondering if it is possible for someone to start from zero to Pilot at 32 years old.

I have an Engineer degree as background with work experience and the last 3 years I work for the military.

Will my background be of any advantage to the airliners in order to cover the disadvantages of my age??

Also, how many years do you think it will take me from zero to getting recruited from an Airliner? I don't mind working away from my country and
maybe I consider this a challenge to see new things, new places etc etc, and I am pretty flexible without family, kids, wife...

I am thinking of giving all of my savings to get ppl+buildup and atpl theory by my self and afterwards maybe get a loan to complete cpl,mmc
and be able to send some CVs. Do you think it is possible to find a job only with atpl frozen or should I accumulate some hundreds of hours as
Flight Instructor? I am ready to have type rating deducted from my salary and I accept the high probability of having to live with as low as 20000 euro yearly
in the first years of my careeer.

Also how many years do you think it would take me to become Captain?? Would it be the same as someone at early 20s, or because I have a mature background
will I reach my goal faster?

The reason I am thinking of this switch in my carreer is because I think my current job doesn't excite me as much as I would like and because I always had
the dream of becoming a Pilot.

Yes. You have 33+ years to retirement! I know of a doctor who started med school at 40!

I started flying at age 27. CPL at 28 and CFI at 29. I'm now 36 and have 5000+ hrs with over 1000 Jet PIC and almost 1000 hrs heavy international. It is the best investment I have ever done, and I am truly living the dream. If this is your dream, putting every cent and lots of hard work inn will be worth all of that and more in the end.

Time frame: In the US, From 0 to 1500 hrs and a regional job takes 2-3 years depending on the school and it's location. In the EU the time frame is about the same. You need less hours, but takes longer to get EASA certification. Cost $/€ 100,000 to 150,000

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your time WF2BNN. So i guess the standard road is getting atpl frozen and afterwards work as an instructor until you get 1000-1500 and have a chance to be recruited to an airliner.

Where in the world are you located?

32 is nothing, I would say it is just above average. The oldest I knew was in his 40s when he started.

TopoGr wrote:

I have an Engineer degree as background with work experience and the last 3 years I work for the military.

Will my background be of any advantage to the airliners in order to cover the disadvantages of my age??

Again, where in the world? Airlines in the US seem to value military service a lot, but it is practically worthless in Europe. Real life experience is always going to be a plus though.

TopoGr wrote:

Also, how many years do you think it will take me from zero to getting recruited from an Airliner? I don't mind working away from my country and
maybe I consider this a challenge to see new things, new places etc etc, and I am pretty flexible without family, kids, wife...

Again, depends on where.
I can't really speak for the US, but training takes longer and upgrading to a captain is based on seniority.
In the EU, you graduate as a First Officer with 150 hours after 18-24 months. Thats an ATPL Frozen. Upgrading to a Captain will require that you have 1500 hours (ATPL unfrozen), plus pass the training courses for it. If you are at a fast-growing LCC, that means potentially moving over to the left seat in as little as 2 or 3 years, if you have it in you.

TopoGr wrote:

I am thinking of giving all of my savings to get ppl+buildup and atpl theory by my self and afterwards maybe get a loan to complete cpl,mmc
and be able to send some CVs. Do you think it is possible to find a job only with atpl frozen or should I accumulate some hundreds of hours as
Flight Instructor? I am ready to have type rating deducted from my salary and I accept the high probability of having to live with as low as 20000 euro yearly
in the first years of my careeer.

99% of pilots in the EU start with an ATPL Frozen. Some do flight instructing, but most go straight to the airlines. Current industry standard is to have non-experienced pilots pay for the type-rating up-front.

TopoGr wrote:

Also how many years do you think it would take me to become Captain?? Would it be the same as someone at early 20s, or because I have a mature background
will I reach my goal faster?

Depends. I took 24 months to complete the training, but that was including a total of 6 months of doing absolutely nothing due to horrible weather that prevented flying. I then spent 18 months looking for a job and doing an ATR type rating, and now I have been flying commercially for over a year. Just getting the 1500 hours will take me another 3 years at my current outfit.
Potentially if weather conditions permit it and you get hired directly into Ryanair and have the skills, you could go from nothing to a captain in 4 years. That is of course assuming you are an EU citizen. If you are an American, then tough luck.

As an "older entry" myself (way older than 32 when I started), I would say that you're not even close to having an age issue. Furthermore, your life experience to date will stand you in good stead.

Years to captain very much depends on the airline. If the airline is expanding a lot, 3-4 years is quite possible. At many more established carriers, it is more like 10-15.

I have no idea how airlines work in the EU ( I am assuming by the way you wrote your post, you live in and have the right to work in the EU) , but at least in the US, age, experience, educational background, military experience, etc nothing matters except for seniority when it comes to when someone gets an opportunity to upgrade to captain.

32 is definitely not too old, even in the US. I started flying at 21 strictly as a hobby. I didn't seriously consider a potential career as an airline pilot until I was 31 and was hired at a small regional airline at 32 with around 780 hours. I upgraded to captain at 32-1/2, 6 months after being hired at my first airline, when I reached 1500 hours. Granted I wasn't very experienced - I barely had 1500 hours, and there were lots of learning and oh crap moments, and lots of moments where I and my FO were just looking at each other. He definitely didn't know - he only had 200 hours and we just figured it out and survived the moment. I had a lot of moments when the FO (various different FOs) would remark, "Cool that was my first actual instrument approach." or "First time I can log actual instrument time." or "I'd never flown an ILS to 200 before." or "that was the first time I had to deal with ice."


I would have to correct VSMUT on the military matter. US major airlines tend to value military only if you were a military fighter or transport pilot or checked the astronaut box. Major airline will hire fighter pilots and transport pilots directly from the military as long as they are current. Otherwise, if you were military in a non-flight status billet, but had tons of civilian flight time or you were a rotary-wing or tilt-rotor military pilot, you were persona non grata as far as the US major airlines are concerned.

Even as a military fighter or transport pilot in a US airline, once hired by the airline, the only thing that matters in terms of when you get to upgrade is seniority. A civilian pilot one number senior to a military fighter pilot will get the opportunity to upgrade first over the military fighter pilot.

Starlionblue wrote:

As an "older entry" myself (way older than 32 when I started), I would say that you're not even close to having an age issue. Furthermore, your life experience to date will stand you in good stead.

Years to captain very much depends on the airline. If the airline is expanding a lot, 3-4 years is quite possible. At many more established carriers, it is more like 10-15.

Agreed - 32 isn't that old. Just get started. That is, the longest journey begins with the first step.

I started flying in my teens - it was all I ever wanted to do and I admit that I miss the line flying since I retired to take over the family business. But in the course of my fliying career, I flew with several pilots who started their flying careers after 32 - I remember a few attorneys and even one M.D. Again, 32 is not too old. Good luck.

Granted I wasn't very experienced - I barely had 1500 hours, and there were lots of learning and oh crap moments, and lots of moments where I and my FO were just looking at each other. He definitely didn't know - he only had 200 hours and we just figured it out and survived the moment. I had a lot of moments when the FO (various different FOs) would remark, "Cool that was my first actual instrument approach." or "First time I can log actual instrument time." or "I'd never flown an ILS to 200 before." or "that was the first time I had to deal with ice."

I’m a retired pilot, military fighters and heavies, 121 and corporate, and that’s a genuinely scary admission. We all have “firsts”, but mine were all alone hauling checks and no one else was at risk.

GF

My question is this: if you aren’t a good teacher (so no CFI) but are (or have the potential to be) a good pilot, how do people who have careers later on life (ie. it graduating from Embry Riddle) gain the hours to transition to being an ATP pilot?

Who says you have to be a good teacher to be a CFI? Survey, banner towing, jumpers, etc.

GF

SuseJ772 wrote:

My question is this: if you aren’t a good teacher (so no CFI) but are (or have the potential to be) a good pilot, how do people who have careers later on life (ie. it graduating from Embry Riddle) gain the hours to transition to being an ATP pilot?

The ATP 1500 hour requirement only applies to the US. In the rest of the world airline pilots starting with 300-500 hours are not uncommon. At my airline I would guess a third to half of the new hires don't have 300 hours when they start flying a widebody as a cruise pilot.

Starlionblue wrote:

SuseJ772 wrote:

My question is this: if you aren’t a good teacher (so no CFI) but are (or have the potential to be) a good pilot, how do people who have careers later on life (ie. it graduating from Embry Riddle) gain the hours to transition to being an ATP pilot?

The ATP 1500 hour requirement only applies to the US. In the rest of the world airline pilots starting with 300-500 hours are not uncommon. At my airline I would guess a third to half of the new hires don't have 300 hours when they start flying a widebody as a cruise pilot.

And as low as 150 hours in the EU if you do an integrated course.