F35LightningII wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2011 at 5:44am:



The CEO . I did research that for you and I found That someone else had already asked that question somewhere else. And it seems that a hight voltage cable inspector Really gets paid . But it takes allot of guts.

So non-flying jobs around commercials?

There is a wide range of possibilities...

Ground crew - Including engineers, air traffic control, airport security or fire service, cleaning assistants, etc.

Air crew - That is all your inflight stuff. Pilot is the major one, but less commonly now there is navigator/engineer too. However, cockpit crew jobs are usually very expensive to get the right training in; scholarships are rare. The other possibilities include flight attendant or bartender (the latter is uncommon and requires only a couple of staff per flight on very select airlines, in first class, on a few aircraft types).


As with all jobs, the better you are, you higher you get promoted and the more you get paid.

Flight attendants can be paid £20,000-£50,000 a year depending on airline and your own status (head attendant, etc). However, you will go when and where you are needed. It is not a 777 guaranteed career, and no jobs ever will be.

Ground engineers (aircraft, or engine) usually require a lot of further education, and many companies want a 2:1 or better at university in an appropriate degree. I cannot find specific wage details, but £30,000+ seems about right. Many airlines will run scholarship and apprenticeship schemes.


The lack of family time will probably strike you in any job where you're actually on the aircraft... So ground crew jobs where you'll usually be stationed at a single airport seems the best bet. However, if a job needs doing, you'll have to stay until it is done... And that doesn't mean shortcutting to get home!

You're young though, I'm only 18 myself and I remember the ambitions I had to become a pilot from age 13 and 14. After 5 years of waiting, I'm finally readying myself to begin pilot training and to start applying to the Royal Air Force. So I'll let you know what I did; I joined my local Air Training Corps (as far as I know, New Zealand has similar cadet forces) and I was able to build up a few flying hours as well as complete many useful for-life courses.


I would definately reccomend checking out your local cadet forces, and do a lot of research. Find a career area that you think you'd enjoy. Are you a problem solver? Do you like customer support? Are you nearby an airport or somewhere that may let you do work experience? You're at an age where you can't be qualified, but you can show a proactive attitude and show your commitment. If you can find a part time job, that would help a lot for the future. Jobs such as working in customer support (hotel reception, being a waiter, working in a local cafe, etc) just so you can build up your communication skills and all of that.



I hope this is of some use. You're at a good age to have ambitions, but just bear in mind that it will be a few years until you can make a mark and get trained in these areas. So have a think about what area of work you'd enjoy, as you'll be there for a while 

Jayhawk Jake wrote on Aug 24^th, 2011 at 10:29pm:



However if you want to work on aircraft then you will not be doing it for the money. I am an inspector on Boeing 737 NG and Dash 8 Q400, whilst the pay in not bad, when you look at a seven day shift, nights, weekends and holidays, then it could be a lot more. Would I do anything else apart from aircraft, no, but I could dump cigar tubes in a heart beat and be a civy back on military aircraft. Civilian aircraft are a step down the ladder

Matt

General Atomics pays outrageous money to be a UAV pilot in Afganistan.  All you need is PPL and Instrument Rating.  But I guess that interferes with your preference to not be away.  Although something you will learn is that if you want to make big bucks, you will need to make sacrifices somewhere.  My friend is an engineer with Boeing and makes plenty of money, but with all the work he is doing, he gives up a lot of his free time for O/T.

The Ruptured Duck wrote on Aug 28^th, 2011 at 10:59am:


Overtime varies depending on the company and your job.  I haven't had to do any yet, and I don't really anticipate it anytime soon