Becoming a professional pilot is no harder than becoming a professional in any other industry. Yes, you will need to work hard and starting pay is less than stellar but that is common in most professions. Pilots love to complain about the starting pay and hours, but you never hear any of them quitting and getting a 40 hour a week desk job. That should tell you something!
Becoming a professional pilot is like most jobs that require skills, there is a type of apprenticeship you need to work threw. First you will need to get your pilot license, your commercial and instrument, that will allow you to fly for pay and in poor weather. From here most pilot become flight instructors teaching others to fly. After you have built up some flying time you can more up to small regional airlines or charter companies. Gereranaly you will spend several years at this level them more up to larger airlines.
Along the way you may find you really love what you are doing and decide to stay there. At every step of my professional life I have had at least one friend decide to make what we were doing a profession. As a flight instruction Wade dropped stayed and opened a flight school. 20 years later you is still there, loving life. It is what works best for him. I had friend stay in the charter industry, happy to be the big fish in the small pond. A great thing about aviation is it provides for many different paths to a great quality of life.
All this assumes you are not coming from the military. If you are you will often start out somewhere in the middle to top of the professional development, flying for regional airlines or larger. Depending on the type of flying you did in the service and the amount of time you have the majors may feel you need a bit more experience in the commercial side of the house.
Don’t let the typical grumbles of pilot discourage you from becoming a pilot. It is no harder than any other job, and the benefits can be amazing.
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