Is it just me, or does anyone else find this thread diverging from her accomplishment (and good fortune).
It’s the internet. It’s a requirement!
I too learned to fly at age 15 in 1962. To me, all that demonstrates is that teenagers are too dumb to choose a good career over the "glamour" of flying airplanes. In no way does starting as a kid make you a star... some of the finest pilots I worked with over my career entered the airline in their mid 30's .... mostly due to the ridiculous costs of getting the necessary flying credentials.
Generally speaking the best guys I’ve flown with have come with 121 Regional or military experience—age was not an indicator (though the up and coming generation of today seems to have a sense of entitlement completely foreign to my peer group). The weakest are the pure 91. Standardization and CRM are the biggest variables between the two groups (I count 121 and military the same for this discussion).
Most of us who started as teens (I was flying with my dad before I could walk) have had the love of flying squeezed out of us by the industry. I still love it, and it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do since I was three but...a lot of good people have been run out by unethical weasels who backstab their way to the top. The seniority system in the airlines is both a blessing and a curse here, but in corporate/charter...there is a lot of political cutthroat (a game the good guys don’t play) and it has had some devastating effects.
I was glad I did the 121 thing. Some of the best training I ever got was commuting in the cockpit JS on SWA, TWA, etc. I also got to learn from some very good pilots while flying the line. It continues to be a help all these years later.
As far as a career goes, the kids coming in now have it made. Age 65 guys will be leaving in droves and seniority will be easy to get. No more being parked at a regional for a decade making peanuts.
