By Leslie Caubble, CFI/IGI
You’re walking through the airport terminal and see the airline pilots strolling by with a Starbucks in hand and rollaboards in tow. You might think to yourself, “Wow, that’s the life!” We have mental images of pilots making loads of money, traveling the world, hopping to island getaways with on their travel benefits, showered by the admiration and respect of their passengers and crew, and returning home from a trip to a happy family.
As we know, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and the airline or freight pilot life isn’t for everyone. In fact, the lifestyle of living on the road, especially if you’re commuting to base, can be very difficult. There are benefits to being an airline pilot, but there are many pilots who love aviation and want to fly, but don’t want to risk missing important family events and holidays.
Being a pilot means you’re choosing a client-driven career. In most cases it’s not a traditional 9-5 job, and no matter what type of flying you do, there’s usually an on-call aspect, and you may have some nights and weekends when you need to work around you client’s schedule and good weather. Not every job in aviation is the same, but there are some careers you can pursue that are family-friendly and allow you to sleep at home most nights.
Flight Instructor
Flight instructing isn’t just for the young, time-building pilot. There are many men and women who choose to make flight instructing their career. CFIs typically won’t make the amount of money that an airline captain makes, but the tradeoff is being able to be home every night. Flight instruction also allows the flexibility to set your own schedule or availability in many cases, especially if you are an independent CFI, Chief CFI, or own your own flight school.
Flight instructors who work within a specific market or niche can charge a higher rate or daily fee and can make a very good living. There are some who specialize in multi-engine training, mountain or backcountry flying, seaplanes, or model-specific transition and proficiency training. These CFIs can not only make $100+/hr to $1,000/day or more, but they are at home with their families every night.
Experienced flight instructors can be asked to be Chief CFIs, perform stage checks, and advanced sim instructors. Also, Designated Pilot Examiners have thousands of hours of flight instruction experience and will offer checkrides as a part-time job. Many of these jobs look like regular weekday jobs with a traditional, family-friendly schedule.
Corporate and Charter Pilots
Corporate aviation jobs can have schedules very similar to airline pilots. Some of these pilots also work “on call” and can be called out to fly any day of the week, within just a few hours notice. Many corporate pilots have a more flexible or traditional schedule, shuttling businesspeople during the day to meetings, then back at home every night.
Charter pilots can have similar responsibilities, flying during the day into the early evenings then back home for the night. Some pilots may be gone for an overnight or two a month, but not regularly. It really depends on the company, the schedule, and your contract, but these opportunities do exist.
I have several friends who have a career with a both/and approach to flying. They work as experienced flight instructors part-time, but also make themselves available for part-time charter or corporate flying opportunities and can take on trips that last just a day or two. It works great for their families!
Aircraft Sales
Aircraft sales can be a fun and rewarding career. If you like working with people and working hard to get deals done, this might be the avenue for you. An aircraft salesperson will have a home base where they work from most of the time, with the possibility of light travel to trade shows, air shows, aircraft delivery or repositioning, and meeting clients to show the aircraft. The cool thing is, you get to fly a lot of cool planes, possibly brand-new ones.
Crop Dusting
Crop dusting is a job that will keep you close to home and only working during daylight hours, and usually in better weather. The schedule is very family-friendly, but the trade-off would be an increased accident rate due to low altitude flying. Crop dusting takes a high level of skill, precision, and risk management that you won’t find in many pilot careers. These pilots are vital to agriculture and our food industry. Crop dusting can be hard work, but you’re home with your family every night and the pay is good.
Crop dusting has changed and advanced in technology through the years. I grew up in east Arkansas, and I know many crop dusters, including ones who serviced my grandfather’s farm while I was growing up. My husband had a summer job as a flagger, and I have worked a few times flagging crop dusters as well! Now, these planes use newer technology and GPS-guided systems on their flights, and the aircraft themselves are much more comfortable with air conditioning and heat.
Other Careers
-
Aerial Photography or Cinematography: Use your creative skills to capture just the right photographs or video for real estate, advertising, television, or air-to-air photography. Part 107 commercial certificate holders can also use drones to serve their clients. As a pilot, you can partner with local photographers if you don’t want to do the shooting and editing yourself.
-
Scenic Tour pilot: Areas heavy in tourism offer scenic airplane or helicopter tours. Other companies offer tours and training in seaplanes, backcountry flying, war birds, or unique aircraft. This is a great part-time job as a pilot if you live in a tourism-heavy area.
-
Survey/Law Enforcement pilot: These companies hire pilots to patrol power lines and pipelines. Some survey jobs are on a contract where you must travel for months at a time, but others operate within a local region allowing you to be at home at night. You could also consider working in law enforcement patrolling traffic from the sky.
-
Bush/Wildlife pilot: Pilots are needed, especially in Alaska, to deliver freight, mail, and passengers to remote villages. These are typically tailwheel or seaplane pilots who can safely navigate through challenging and rapidly changing conditions. Wildlife pilots help survey movements of animals for fish & wildlife commissions. When I lived in Hawaii, I did part-time work as a fish spotter for a local fishing company.
Airline and cargo pilots have incredible careers, get to travel the world, and can make a lucrative salary. However, the tradeoff of being away from home days at a time is too much for some pilots. There are many options for pilots who prefer to sleep in their own beds at night and be with their families for special events and holidays. This is the path I’ve personally chosen as a commercial pilot working as a career CFI and taking part-time flying opportunities such as fish spotting, scenic tours, and charter operations. It’s been an exciting and rewarding career!
Do your research, hang out at your local airport and aviation events, and keep your options open for terrific local pilot opportunities.
By Leslie Caubble, CFI/IGI
Northstar Aviation References brings you the Pre-Tabbed ASA FAR/AIM, DIY tabs for your FAR/AIM and other pilot resources so that you can more easily study the regulations that form the foundation of your flying career or hobby. Have any questions? Check out our FAQs page or contact us. Check out other blog posts here.