If you're a young helicopter pilot hoping to make it in the rotary world, let me give you some advice.  Go to the airlines.  Run to the airlines.  Get your ATP, or if you can find it, let the airlines pay for an ATP for you.  There is an unprecedented opportunity for you young guns to make some serious cash and have a much better quality of life (in the long run, yes, you will have to suck it up for 5 years or so...it's called work for a reason)  Looking back now, I wish I had the opportunity that anyone under the age of 45 has.  You could literally jump to the airlines at 45, do your 20 years, retire at the mandatory 65, and still have much more in the bank than you would if you keep flying helicopters.  It's hard to see the end when you're 25-35 years old but I'm telling you now...retirement worries will hit you in the face very hard at some point in your carreer.  Why not stack the deck in your favor with HUGE paychecks instead of scraping by at $80k a year?  JUMP OVER NOW!!!

Make more than 2x what you make, plus benefits, working less than 6 months a year.  I personally wouldn't care for the airline lifestyle🤷🏻‍♂️

1. Airlines - You get to make your schedule (once you get a little serniority). You fly a lot more, but it's for the most part, pretty easy flying. Much safer than HEMS...as far as accidents go. Not sure about the other health consequences such as overnight, choice of meals, exposure to a lot more people

2. Corporate - You don't make your schedule, but you fly a lot less, but depending upon where you go to, you may spend a lot of time at remote locations - This is for some people, but not for others

3. 135 - Not my cup of tea. Fly your tail off, but at least you get a lot of FW experience in a lot of locations etc

I'd rather have the airline lifestyle then living in an RV

20 yr rotary wing guy here. Love helicopters but hate the helo industry. Making really good coin now but having serious doubts about the industry and my position in particular.

In JH's extreme credible opinion, is 44 too old to make the jump to airlines? 

I know a kid that got every rating on the day he was legal to get it. He's now a  airline Captain on a 737 at age 25. Another friend did 25 years of law enforcement (non flying). He retired, did some instruction on the side and is now flying for a regional based in Wisconsin at age 53. 

You can do it. The OP is correct. Go for the higher paid job, build a nest egg so you can live comfortably later. Things are going to get rough in the next few years. Prepare. 

Stupidity is a mental illness! if you want to fly helicopters fine, just have a job that affords the opportunity to fly helicopters for fun at your own leisure. 

Having the almighty buck makes life much easier. For years and years I made nothing flying helicopters. Some great jobs and fun flying. Now, I make 4 times the pay of when I started and the job is not so much fun. In fact I fly for fun on the side. 

I agree with the poster, get a job in the airlines. When you can get an airplane or buy into an airplane on the side and do your "fun" flying there. Make as much money as you can because your life will be easier. Plus, you can help others out with money if the almightly dollar makes you so miserable.

For real, you can go be an airline pilot for a short career if you're young and MAKE BANK to set you up for the rest of life.

THEN, use a small bit of money you made to get a helicopter license and fly all you want.  Either buy a helicopter because of the money you made or there will ALWAYS be helicopter jobs for low timers who don't pay crap and you'll have all the money in the world to make up for the crap pay.

Nobody ever shares considering doing that because the airlines weren't hiring like they are now.  You can be at a LCC or Major in WAY less than 5 years if you go in laser focused.  

OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME

I'm in my 40's and planning to do the jump myself.  It's TOTALLY worth the money for financial security when you don't have a government pension (which, if you're young: those are all going away... VERY few industries or government jobs will have them in 10-20 years). 

There are all new life perspectives when you're older that you have no idea about and if you don't have a wealthy family to help you out, some other great financial start in life, no family land to live on, or you just didn't do the absolute best with your money when you were younger you'd be crazy to not at least TRY to see if this opportunity will work for you.  Don't miss it.

And you get a whole whole whole whole lot more respect as an Airline Pilot!

Best part is the people in the back won't be getting in your business. Close and lock the door, program the FMS and away you go. No med pukes second guessing the weather, your decisions, or throwing you to the wolves if they don't like how you do something.

Yeah, wish I had that opportunity 20 years ago.

Every word is true.  Go to the airlines ASAP. I left helicopters less than 4 years ago, already a capt at 220% of what I made as an IFR RW capt.  should have done it way earlier. 

leave helicopters ASAP

I think that is good advice.  Plus, the mandatory retirement age may well go beyond 65 in future.

I know guys getting hired at a major with less than 3 years at a regional, and they have not even upgraded yet. Right seat to right seat and bringing down $15k a month as a first year right seater just pulling gear, by picking up extra trips at 200 to 300% pay.

If you live in domicile the job is really good. If you have a tough commute, it will wear you down. If I could of moved, I would still be in the airlines. 

Buddy went to the airlines when we were a couple of years into helicopters.  I said I love helicopters.  He just retired from united.  His paycheck was 46K a month.  He could make 60K a month if he worked overtime, but he had no need.

It was the biggest mistake of my career.  It's been ok, but man, did I screw the pooch.

If you can do it, do it!. 

They're hiring 7,000 pilots a year for the forseable future.  That doesn't even count if you want to work overseas, and man those guys pay even bigger!

Good luck.  You're crazy if you don't go for it, but you won't know that until you're 60 something and you'll remember you had a chance.

boat, almost.  1973, successful at Eastern and ecstatic to start, got shot down by Neil Eskolin (good guy) Supv.of Recruitment for a left eye at 20/25.  Said at 45 and peak productivity that eye would be 20/800 - he nailed it!!  So, no big iron for me.  

Still had a good career and family.  Highest comp was very slightly over 200k, big corporation, helicopters.

Go for the money if your family circumstance allows it.

Go run. Own your path. excuses are for, you know. Some of us a select few chose Rotory. I would do it again from the start. Go Stuck wing, hunt the money. Enjoy the rest of your day. 

Go run. Own your path. excuses are for, you know. Some of us a select few chose Rotory. I would do it again from the start. Go Stuck wing, hunt the money. Enjoy the rest of your day. 

dont take the $$ bait... do what you really love... become a master of that, and you will have a great life.

life is about life, that's what comes first, whatever it means to each person/pilot.

Its one of the many reasons why there is an airline pilot shortage.

Yes the money is better, but you are away from home for half your life and spend it all in airline terminals and hotels.  No thanks.

this isn't widely recognized. airline flying is a hell of a lot more like work than a lot of other kinds of flying. show  up and on the go with no breaks and little if any time for food for basically 12 to 14 hours. repeat for 3 to 5 days, sleeping if you can in hotels. get 3 to five days off, repeat.

everybody talks up the guy who makes 300K a year and flies 10 days a month to do it. what they don't tell you or don't know is that out of every guy who starts down the airline road, maybe 1 out of 10 gets those golden jobs and then only after a life like i've described above for maybe 10 or 15 years.

not saying the lure of the big iron isn't real. not saying the money isn't better at the end than with helicopters, because it is. but you will work like hell to earn it, and the majority of you won't get to it for one reason of the other. sh*t happens in life and it can happen to you. 

having said all that, my advice--? hell, give it a try. you will always wonder if you don't. just don't expect that you are going to the promised land, because you ain't. you're going to work. 

have you ever been an airline pilot? as far as not making it, same thing for helicopters. difference is, we are already pilots. we know the game.

Tried it, didn't like it, moved on. Only reason I said what I did is that a lotta folks think flyin a big shiny jet while wearing a necktie is gonna be big money Heaven. But there's more to it than that. Know before you go.

you sound more like somebody that just repeats stuff he heard on the internet am I close

Was I ever an airline pilot, no, but my father was.  I know what the lifestlye is.  I chose to fly helicopters.  To each his own.

I completely agree, but the airline life is pretty miserable for the first 10 years if not until you retire. Crappy schedules, crappy commutes, jump seating across the country just to get to your hub, over nights regularly in crappy hotels, 3 days on 4 off etc never really getting time off. Then the flying... completely pathetic... being an automated drone for the rest of your life... Then the long haul health issues from all the high altitude.

Still better than being 65 and waking up at 2 am to go land on a highway in crappy weather to "save" some drunk driver and get paid half the salary and no real retirement. 

if ur having fun ur probably not going to make much money.