CAREER ADVICE

Flying High 

To prepare this article we talked with Jan Walton, a pilot and Master Certified Flight Instructor and Director of Operations at the local P&N Flight Schools and the Marion Airport.  Ms. Walton has been flying since about 1986.  P&N Flight Schools also provide airplane charters to customers who want to fly anywhere in the United States.  When asked to provide information on a career that seemingly few women aspire to, Ms. Walton readily responded with information about her career as a pilot and flight instructor, a career that she finds rewarding and exciting. 

As background information, Ms. Walton explained there are eight aviation certificates and ratings that are available.  These are listed here, in the order in which a pilot should obtain them. 

1. Private Pilot Certificate – allows a pilot to fly in “good weather,” day and night, but not for hire.

2. Instrument Rating – allows a pilot to fly in good weather, day and night, plus in and above the clouds.

3. Commercial Certificate – allows a pilot to be paid for flying but only under certain circumstances and regulations.

4. Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) – a flight instructor who teaches private students how to fly and commercial applicants how to perform commercial maneuvers.

5. Certified Flight Instructor (CFII) – a CFI who now teaches instrument students.

6. Multiengine Instrument Commercial Certificate – includes the rating and certificate for Nos. 2 and 3 above but with the added twin-engine rating.

7. Multiengine instructor – CFI that can teach pilots how to fly a twin engine airplane.

8. Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) – a certification that is required by most airlines of their pilots.

Ms. Walton has all of the above certificates and ratings with the exception of ATP.  She is a commercial single and multiengine pilot with instrument ratings for airplanes, a commercial helicopter pilot and a certified flight instructor for single and multiengine airplanes and helicopters.  Ms. Walton has just earned the title of Master Certified Flight Instructor.  This designation is a national accreditation recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that is earned through a rigorous process of continuing education and peer review.  We asked Ms. Walton if she plans to become certified as an airline transport pilot.  She said she has no plans to acquire this because she simply enjoys what she is currently doing and finds it rewarding. 

When asked if she always wanted to be a pilot, Ms. Walton explained that unlike many pilots, she did not have the desire to become a pilot as a youngster.  Because her father was a corporate pilot for a company in Cedar Rapids, she assumed flying was just a part of everybody’s life and didn’t think much about it.  She became hooked on flying, however, when her husband took her for a ride in a helicopter.  She said, “It was awesome—I had to learn how to fly.”  Her career as a pilot and flight instructor took off from there. 

Because women are in the minority as pilots, we asked Ms. Walton if she ever thought she was in a non-traditional role for women.  She said she has never given this any thought and has never been discriminated against.  She knows she has accomplished something special and unusual and just wants to be very good at it.  She also feels that she is respected by her male peers, especially in her role as a helicopter pilot.  Ms. Walton said, “Pilots are special, female or male, and we all stick together; we are all in the same air space together.” 

Is it stressful being a pilot?  Ms. Walton said the stress a pilot experiences depends a lot on the weather.  Good weather and flying go together.  The more proficient the pilot becomes, the safer s/he becomes.  An experienced pilot is also more aware of limitations imposed by the weather and other flight restricting conditions.  Proficiency helps her deal with stress. 

Students who are thinking about becoming a pilot need to take math and science courses in high school.  A college education is a must in order to get a corporate or an airline job.  Ms. Walton said that most universities that offer flight training advise that students should get a degree in aviation.  She disagrees with that for these reasons.  First, an aviation degree does not qualify an individual to fly—the certifications must still be achieved in order to actually fly.  She explains that a medical degree qualifies an individual to be a doctor, an accounting degree qualifies an individual to be an accountant, but an aviation degree does not qualify a person to be a pilot.  The certifications and ratings are what prepare the pilot for the “what if” situations such as:  What if my gear does not go down and I cannot land?  What if the weather is too bad to allow a return?  What if the landing lights burn out?  More important, however, she feels a student should go to college and get a degree in his or her field of interest.  The graduate would then have additional marketable skills in situations where he or she might lose their FAA medical certification some day and no longer be able to fly.  She also feels that an individual who possesses a college degree in their field of interest, plus the flight certificates, will offer a future employer much more than a person with just an aviation degree.  Individuals with a college degree will find more doors open to them if they want to apply for corporate pilot positions.  

Salaries can range from a beginning compensation of $10 an hour on up for a flight instructor and beginning commercial pilot.  Airline pilots can receive a starting pay of about $20,000 to over $100,000 per year as an experienced pilot.  Perhaps more valuable than the pay for a flight instructor is that s/he is able to accumulate the flying hours that are needed to achieve desired certifications.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for employees in Iowa for the year 2000, the mean salary for commercial pilots was about $50,000 and about $59,000 for airline pilots. 

Ms. Walton finds the most rewarding part about being a pilot is being able to fly and to share the experience with others.  The most rewarding part about being an instructor is teaching and watching her students learn and enjoy flying.  The first solo flight of her students is just as exciting to her as it is to her students, and she is just as nervous. 

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