About
I’m Austin Reed.
I talk with people who want to start flying and become a pilot. That’s the whole business. You send a note. We set a video or phone call. We talk. No school. No program. No hours for sale.
Photo: Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0
I started flying in 2009. I’m a CFI and an ATP, and I’m still a flight instructor.
I didn’t skip to the Airbus. I spent years instructing — first lessons, first checkrides, people who were told this would be either easy or impossible. Most of the time it is neither. After that I was Assistant/Chief Pilot at a major Part 141 school, then two regional airlines, and now I’m on the Airbus 320 at a legacy carrier.
If you want more detail, ask me on a call. The point of these talks isn’t to impress you. It’s to give you a clear picture so you can decide for yourself. I remember what it was like not to know how any of this worked. I also remember how many people had something to sell me before they had something useful to say.
What I can speak to
Getting started. What instructing actually is. What changes when you go to the airlines. How people usually move from a first lesson toward an airline job. The questions I wish someone had answered for me earlier, without a brochure in their hand.
I can also tell you what I don’t know. If your situation is outside my experience, I’ll say so. I’m not a lawyer, a loan officer, or a medical examiner. I’m a pilot who has done this work and is willing to talk about it plainly.
What I won’t do
I won’t sell you a school, push you toward a particular program, or pretend this career is cheap or simple. I won’t promise you a job. I won’t tell you you’re a natural if I haven’t flown with you — and I won’t be flying with you. This is a conversation, not dual instruction.
If after we talk you decide not to pursue it, that’s a successful conversation. Same if you decide to go, and you go in with your eyes open.