What does it take to become an airline pilot?

Joe: What does it take to become an airline pilot?
I’ve heard that commercial airline pilots get payed pretty well, and flying has always been an interest of mine. What kind of commitment should a prospective pilot expect in order to get to a high level? Also, how much money and time does proper training take? In general, how long and what does it take to become a successful commercial airline pilot?

Answers and Views:

Answer by JOy D
if yo motivated become to a pilot, you must follow university airplane. and get your skill and knowledge with your profession.. never give up for take your dreams..

Answer by ken k
at this point in time its all coming apart/layoffs and cancelled flights

Answer by Flying High
They do get payed pretty well – $ 100,000 – $ 200,000 a year once you’ve flown with a certain company (i.e – Delta).
You should make a pretty deep commitment, since the actually career of a pilot isn’t that good. You have to really love it for it to be worth it. You’d have to be very serious about becoming a pilot and never second-guess your decision.
To become a Private Pilot, it’ll cost about $ 5,000, and maybe $ 7,000-$ 10,000 for Commercial Pilot training, to says nothing of the other various ratings you’ll have to get. (i.e – Instrument Rating)
As far as time goes, it will take a while. Large corporations like Delta only hire very experienced pilots. You’ll have to log many hours of flight time under various conditions before you even think of extra ways to impress them.
For what it takes, it takes obviously a lot of time and money, but also an extreme dedication and commitment to your work.

Answer by pilot T
The commercial airline pilots your source must be referring to must be the major airline pilots who have been flying them for 15-20 years or more.
This certainly does not apply to the newly hired regional airline pilots or the low time major airline pilots either. The regionals starts at $ 17K-$ 25K/year and the pay remains low until many, many years with the majors WAY down the road.

Answer by Mike Beech
None of the above are pilots. I am a Delta 777 pilot and earn $ 450 000 per year.

Answer by Ihave6characterstoworkwith
Just want to say that most of the answers are VERY far from the truth. At this time, with the economy, good luck just getting a job! Sure most pilots are well paid by they time they are 55, but that applies to so many industries. Now though, even experienced pilots lose their pension and receive pay cuts of as much as 40%!! And that’s for experienced ones.

There are so many experienced pilots laid off now, that for any new pilots in the industry it’s impossible to get a job. When the economy gets better, obviously employment conditions will be better but still I just want you to know that you won’t be getting near a 6 digit salary for as many as 10 years after finishing your flight training which will cost as much as 80k to get a CPL (which will allow you to work at small airlines) with enough hours.

I’m just telling this to you because it seems like you want the job for the money, which simply won’t happen. If you truly love flying that’s a different thing, but still except to spend a lot of money on training without getting a good salary for a long time.

Answer by Falcon 2000 Pilot
a brain