Why My Dad Was Against Of My Choice?: The Backup Plan For Pilots

Would you believe that when I finished high school and came up to my dad and told him about my decision, he said NO 🙂 WHY?

I was dreaming about this since 5 and always imagining that he would be so happy to know that I chose his profession, and now he is against? This was something unbelievable; I was trying to figure out why he wants to stop me. He was my inspiration: that uniform, that scheduling, that airplanes, that everything made me understand I WANT TO BE A PILOT. And instead of hearing “That’s a cool idea, you make me so proud” or something like that, I heard “Oh boy, listen you have to find another option.”

I guess there are so many pilots that advice their kids not to become a pilot and always people try to understand why? What are the reasons for being against? And of course, you are now asking yourself, ok, what happened, why he was not that happy about his son’s decision?

Well, all the parents want the best for their kids, when I asked my dad why he is against of my choice, I figured out that he didn’t want me to go through the tough times he had gone while becoming a pilot. Ok, now you are asking “finally what were that “tough” reasons that made him say NO”!

Limited Job opportunities, Medical Checkups, Trainings… – “You will not have that many options in finding a job because of the limited companies and limited opportunities to start your training in a jet, you have to go through medical checkups, and if you fail the checkup, you lose your license, which means lost job. You always study, you are always lifetime student and again if you fail, bye-bye flying”, and he was going on by convincing… And I was listening to that like “Doesn’t matter, it’s a destiny, dad.” He brought all his pilot friends who were already 50-60, and they also starting convincing me to go and find something else. But somehow, as his son I wanted to be in the middle, not to go against him as he was going to pay for my study and meanwhile not against of my dream to be a pilot.

And we agreed on this, I’d go for aviation, but after finishing my study, I would go to the university for another profession. And I did as I promised, and when I became a copilot, I started my university and graduated with holding a bachelor of Business Management degree. That became my BACKUP plan. Say, I fail my medical and say good-bye aviation, I would have another job option with my degree. I won’t be a person like:

“Hey, you lost your job, what else can you do”?

“I fly airplanes.” 🙂

“We don’t have airplanes, we are at the office and doing an office job, ok!”

So, all this story was about the backup plan. You have to go for your dream, fight for it, do your best to become a pilot, but also have that backup plan. If you lose your license but have a university degree, say in management, you can start working as an aviation manager, or any other occupation related to that field.

That was my dad talking about, and I believe most of your parents do now, so please take this advice positively and always make backup plans for your future.

Until next time and as always, “We Speak Aviation.”