Beyond the airline cockpit
4 careers that might work for you
Full-time flight instructor
Many pilots will use their flight instructor certificate as a steppingstone to an airline transport pilot certificate or different flying careers, but if you find teaching rewarding, you might want to consider pursing flight instruction as a full-time career.
Mike Roth is a flight instructor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who earned his ratings in flying clubs during his military service. When it was time for him to retire from the military, he purchased a Cessna 152 and flew it home to Michigan, where he started instructing on his own under FAR Part 61.
Things got off to a slow start. There were already instructors in that area, and there wasn’t a high demand for instruction at the time. While he kept instructing through introductory flights and flight reviews, it was hard to start up with full-time students. But he kept at it.
“All of a sudden, one year, I had three guys that wanted to learn how to fly,” Roth said. “All three of them got their licenses, and after that, it’s been busy ever since. I have a waiting list now and I’ve had a waiting list going for a while.”
Running his own Part 61 operation has also given Roth flexibility in and out of his flight instructing. With often unforgiving weather and winds coming off nearby Lake Superior, Roth appreciates the ability to tailor his lesson plans to the conditions, teaching landings earlier in training if the wind is calm, for example. Independent instructing also allowed Roth to move back to an area of Michigan where there are no Part 141 schools.
“I have the flexibility and freedom to make my own schedule. I can schedule my days with the weather and other things I’ve got going on,” Roth said. “It’s not a full-time job for me, but it could be. I have enough people interested that I could spend all day, every day, up there if the weather allowed. But after 22 years in the military, I’m enjoying the freedom of the schedule.”
Roth uses some of that freedom to fly contracts—fire detection and wildlife surveys, namely—and serve as a wildland firefighter, both with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). He’s also a mission pilot with the Civil Air Patrol.
Roth’s advice? While he was able to buy an airplane to instruct in, there are downsides—like the cost of maintenance or even ability to find a hangar— and it’s become harder to buy your own plane and start a business. He’s slowly transitioned to Part 61 instruction in a flying club and suggests that as a great pathway to get into full-time instruction.
Airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic
If the inner workings of aircraft interest you and you’re a natural problem and puzzle solver, you’d likely make a great A&P mechanic.
Collin McDonald is an assistant professor in the professional pilot concentration at Middle Tennessee State University’s Aerospace Department and a certificated A&P mechanic. Being an A&P mechanic is a great way to stay involved in aviation, McDonald said. You get some benefits over commercial pilots, like a more stable schedule and the ability to work in one place all the time but also to have travel opportunities if that interests you.
“It’s always fun for me to go out and recover a plane,” McDonald said. “Students would go out on a cross-country and [something wouldn’t be right on the runup], or they’d report a blown tire. It’s always fun to have to visualize what tools you’ll need, grab everything, load up, fly out, and then fix it there on the ramp”.
There are a variety of ways to become an A&P mechanic. McDonald chose to go to college to pursue his A&P certificate, a decision largely influenced by a scholarship he received. But McDonald said there’s no wrong pathway to becoming an aircraft mechanic.
If you want a managerial position, you may want to consider the college route to boost your career and because of the networking opportunities. But if you want to work a job and study at the same time to be an A&P mechanic, an aviation maintenance technician school might be a better choice. There are also apprenticeship pathways which are “unfortunately less and less common,” according to McDonald. Joing the military is another option.
“It’s worth it, but it does take time,” McDonald said about the process. “There’s a lot of either wrench-turning time or butt-in-seat time listening to people, but you need it.”
The biggest benefit, according to McDonald, is there’s so much stuff you can do with an A&P certificate. You can work on just about anything; there are no type-rating restrictions that you might run into as a pilot.
If you want to keep flying, it’s a possibility, too. Apart from holding his A&P certificate, McDonald is also a commercially rated pilot and flight instructor.
Corporate pilot
Despite initial appearances, corporate pilot jobs differ a lot from jobs with commercial passenger carriers. Namely, the kinds of aircraft that you get to fly, how often, and where you fly them will vary, as well as your career prospects.
Lorin Ponton is a Beechcraft King Air captain in California working for a major corporation. Ponton made aviation her second career after leaving an engineering role at a Fortune 500 company, eventually working through flight training to land a job flying primarily a King Air 250 in the corporate space.
Corporate flying offers some attractive incentives to Ponton. You spend less time in hotels away from home than airline pilots, Ponton said, and it also gives you an opportunity to fly aircraft you’d never get the opportunity to fly with major passenger carriers.
“I love the King Air,” Ponton said. “There’s the history behind the King Air; to say it came out many years ago and it’s still a key player in moving people in the private and commercial sectors, it shows just how cool the plane is. I really enjoy flying, I love general aviation, I like flying into smaller, private airports.”
Ponton also mentioned that the absence of seniority systems that exist at airlines make flying more enjoyable for her. If walking through an airline terminal and having to deal with hundreds of passengers doesn’t seem appealing to you, corporate careers are typically much better suited to the introverted pilot, Ponton said. That being said, Ponton emphasized the importance of getting out of your comfort zone for all flying careers, but especially when finding corporate jobs.
“Networking is very important. Aviation is still very much about who you know,” Ponton said. “Make sure you’re going to events and make sure you’re connecting with people.”
Time (and multiengine time) is a big factor in corporate careers, with jobs often going to retired airline pilots. But networking can help you get over that hurdle, according to Ponton, even if that just means hanging out at your local FBO and getting to know the corporate pilots who come by.
“If this [career] is something that makes your heart skip, or if you get in the air and feel at peace, it’s worth pursuing regardless of what it costs,” Ponton said. “And yes, it’s going to be a sacrifice. Most good things come with some sort of sacrifice. Once you take that initial leap of faith, the universe will rise to meet you.”
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers have one of the “best seats in the house” over any given airport, and if your spatial orientation and short-term memory come naturally to you, so might a job as an air traffic controller.
Kevin Plante is a controller at Boston’s terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACON). Plante was a CFI when the September 11 attacks happened, which made his initial plans of pursuing a career as an airline pilot shift to pursuing a career in air traffic control because of the hiring slowdown at the time.
Plante pursued his air traffic control training through military service. The FAA also conducts hiring of civilians without a prior aviation or aviation education background. The main requirements to apply are being under age 31, being a U.S. citizen, and having either one year of full-time work experience or one year of higher education, or a combination of both. After applying and qualifying, candidates take the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) and, should they pass, take background checks and medical checks—the latter of which being traditionally easier to obtain than a first class medical.
After being selected for the job, air traffic controllers will spend several months doing rigorous training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.
The job can be demanding, Plante admits, with hours as late as your facility is open. But there are benefits too, like job security and stability and unique advantages over other jobs.
“You don’t take your job home. When you leave work, other than complain to your friends and family about work—we all do it, I don’t care what job you’re in—there’s nothing to take home with you. You leave it at work, and you can forget about it,” Plante said. “When you go on vacation and you’re gone for a week or two, there’s no catching up to be had.”
Plante is also a pilot, which he said can give you a leg up in training to be a controller, especially if you’re instrument rated, but is far from required. The two skillsets also complement each other nicely, with understanding a pilot’s workload informing his decision while controlling.
Although some of the skillsets are very similar to those of pilots, Plante said you don’t need to master the fine motor skills that are involved with maneuvering an aircraft through space as a controller. If you have strong spatial orientation skills and working in a fast environment, it may be a career for you.
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