i seem to recall a 50 year old new hire who was hired about a year after me.

kind of odd seeing him in the crew room, the only First Officer a day over 30

Bear in mind that being near 40 already, with a pretty long way to go before you have enough flight time to be considered for an airline job, and a mandatory retirement age of 60, you won't have a lot of time to make the most of an airline career (rising through the ranks to the more desirable pay/equipment/routes).

A better option for a "late bloomer" might be the bizjet world (charters, fractional-ownership, corporate flight departments)... if I remember right, the chances of employment in that area are better for "newbies" over 40, and there is no mandatory retirement age, as far as I know. Maybe your dream is to fly jumbos, but hey, a Gulfstream is nothing to sneeze at, either!

And being multilingual, you could have an advantage there. Bizjet crews often have to deal themselves with maintenance, regulatory agencies, etc. when overseas, and they can wind up almost anywhere from day to day.

Also, that world of bizjet flying is often less brutal, starting out, than the airline world... although you probably still won't get top pay right away, nor will you get routes and schedules that are most convenient for you, you might find that to be a more agreeable path. I've heard that starting pay is often better, and there may be more job security there, as well- the bizjet world seems to be a little more stable than the airlines.

expat wrote on Jul 5^th, 2009 at 8:44am:

Didn't realize it was not a global thing... who knows why 65? It seems unfair, but no to a young F.O. still stuck with a regional airline.