Helicopter Pilot job outlook/availability?
Currently an EMT. Was going to goto fire school but I had a major injury (torn achillis) so thats out of the question. I’m checking out going to chopper school. I’ve seen some jobs here and there but really not too many.
Are there lots of helicopter jobs out there, entry and professional levels?
I know you can become a flight instructor, how much a year would you make doing that?
I live in Florida and the oil rigs in the gulf I know hire pilots to go back and forth. Is that lucrative? Do they hire entry level pilots?
The school I’m looking at has an FAA/JAA course for only about 1/4 more. I’ve been also thinking about moving out to the UK… does anyone know if they have lots of jobs out there and do you make good money?
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there aren’t a lot of helo jobs, but they’re out there. Its costs a lot to get the training, around 70K. If you can come up with the money, you’ll teach for a while to build hours and make little money, around 20K depending on what kind of school you’re teaching at. Once you get the hours you can fly to the oil rigs and they do make pretty good money, i don’t know if they hire entry level, i’d get to know people if I were you to make connections. If you’re going overseas I’d try the middle east where the oil is. You can fly law enforcement, almost every city department and county sheriff has them. They make good money but you have to be a beat cop for about 2 years first. You have search and rescue jobs too.
The answer to this question is that the job outlook and availability are great for experienced pilots. Getting your foot in the door is the hard part, and the training is expensive ($70,000+ is about right) and difficult. You might hear things like “There has never been a better time to be a helicopter pilot” and people who tout pilot shortages. Just remember that the people saying those things are the flight schools that want your business. You can definitely make a career as a pilot, but you are going to have to want it to make it happen.
Entry Level
We might define entry level experience as having a commercial certificate, instructor rating, instrument rating, and about 200 hours of flight experience. Offshore operators cannot hire these pilots because they do not even meet regulatory requirements for part 135 (135 just refers to the section of the regulations that apply to those types of operations). Almost everyone will do flight instruction for their first 1000-1500 hours of flight experience. Again, Alloy is about right with $20,000 or so per year for flight instruction. You might make a little more if you work at a really busy school.
Instructor jobs can be tough to find. There is certainly a turnaround of instructors as they get their hours and move to the next level of work, but you have to catch a school when they need a new instructor. Working for the school where you train is ideal, but there are never any guarantees, and many schools graduate more students than they can hire. You may have to move to get your first job.
Once you get 1000+ hours, you can then apply for those jobs offshore, or doing tours in Alaska/Grand Canyon/Hawaii. Here again, you may have to move. I wouldn’t describe it as lucrative, but it’s not terrible. The more experience you have the better. You might start at $40,000-$50,000.
I really can’t tell you anything about the UK. Make sure you find someone who can before starting. Getting information from as many sources as possible is really important to make a decision and plan for this career.
I will tell you that Bristow Academy is an excellent school, if that’s the one you are considering. All of my instructors went there and had nothing but positive things to say about it. It has a good reputation as well.
You can read more here:
Good luck!