Hidden Costs

There are a lotahidden costs you don't hear about when getting your first airline job. It's been steadily draining me since my interview. First came the interview, the company paid for the ticket to their headquarters, but they have the interview so early in the morning that you cannot take a flight in the day of the interview. So you must come a day early and spend cash on a hotel room. (I had a bunch of hotel points saved up, so it was a freebie for me, but others paid upwards of $90) Second comes training costs. Most companies are paying a salary or some sort of stipend for you to come to training nowadays, but it didn't used to be that way. Not too long ago guys had to pay for their own hotel and suffer the long lasting effects of not getting any pay during training. My hats off to you aviators, I would not and could not afford to make such a move. Third comes the all important, I wanna look like a real airline pilot flight bag. I'm cheap so I bought the $90 one, but if you want a good one, it'll cost you upwards of $300 for a nice leather one. Fourth comes the uniform. Nothing completes the "looks like an airline pilot" look better than a honest to God airline uniform. Most airlines are going to charge you $700 plus for a couple of shirts, pants a goofy hat, dorky trench coat and a blazer. Sorry if I seem a little jaded against the trench coat and hat, they are outdated and copied by too many other people. I just don't like wearing the same hat as the sky caps that check your baggage at the curbside check-in. Maybe just a stuck up prick, but I worked hard to be where I am and don't feel that just anyone should be wearing the hat and scrambled eggs. (Should have stayed a pilot tradition) But anyways, Fifth, the suitcase. You have to have a black one and just no ordinary bag will do. Ask Erin, she'll tell you. I've chewed up 3 suitcases in the past 18 months. I finally broke down and bought a good one, that cost an arm and a leg, but should last me many years. Sixth but most certainly not least is a new headset. Back in the good old days of flying freight, we didn't use headsets. We just threw in some ear plugs, blasted the speakers at full volume and shouted to each other across the cockpit. Now that I am flying planes that are younger than myself and have decent avionics, I can wear a headset again. Only thing is, David Clarks just don't cut it anymore. Not only do they look out of place in a jet, but they are uncomfortable to wear all day. I really need a decent pair of jet headsets such as the Telex 850's, only they are $420 plus and out of my budget at the moment. So with this short list of stuff you must have (uniform, flight kit/bag) and stuff you should have (nice suitcase and headset) you are looking at over $1,500 in crap that you'll need to become an airline pilot. Just a heads up.