Pilot Pete (IG @pilotpete.fly) is 37. I'm 57. He's hoping his biceps age as well as mine. 💪
Wingmen,
Big week. The money questions you ask me most, two full-length interviews, and a hard workout in Manhattan. Let's go.
THE MONEY MISTAKES THAT KEEP PILOTS BROKE
Every week the most common questions I get are about money: Air Line income, taxes, and whether to borrow for flight training. Plenty of pilots earning top 10 percent incomes are still living paycheck to paycheck. I'm not a stock picker. I just love pointing you to great tools.
📚 The foundation: Pilot Math, Treasure Bath by Jason DePew, an Air Line Captain and Air Force combat veteran. The best financial foundation for pilots I know.
🎧 Early in the game: the Rich Habits Podcast. Start with Episode 159, "How To Invest Your First $1,000."
🎧 Further down the road: Passive Income Pilots. Hosted by two airline pilots. Start with #129, "Ego, Taxes, and the Paycheck Trap: Pilot Wealth Myths Exposed." Then try this week's #171, "From STRs to Roth IRAs: A Pilot's Wealth Playbook."
💵 Every tool I use: JamesReeman.com/money
TWO CONVERSATIONS, ONE WEEK
🎙️ Ben Freedland, The Human Intelligence Ledger, Ep. 7. Ben is truly gifted at drawing out a story, and I was lucky to share some insights with him: inside the F-16, the training, the split-second decisions, and what the Guard taught me about risk and leadership. Don't miss the full-length interview.
🎙️ Rambod Rezaie, "Face-to-face with the F-16 legend." At the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, I got to share some of my most valuable insights with Rambod, a Persian-Canadian aspiring pilot working toward the Royal Canadian Air Force. A truly compelling conversation.
THE FAST FOUR
✈️ My favorite legacy Air Line hiring update. Their newest class started October 13: 72 new pilots, the 30th class of 2026, and 1,680 hired so far this year. The average was 6,700 hours, with a range from 1,550 to 19,600. The average age was 39. The youngest was 25 and the oldest was 57. Twenty-seven came from Spirit, so this class leaned hard toward bringing those pilots home. It isn't a typical mix, and military hiring runs much stronger in a normal class. Seats went to the A320, 737, 757/767, 717 and A220, based in New York (28), Minneapolis (27), Atlanta (9) and LA (8). The takeaway: there is no single "right" résumé. 1,550 hours got hired. So did 57.
🎖️ The military pipeline is surging. The Air Force graduated about 1,550 pilots in FY26, its most in decades, and cut undergraduate pilot training to about nine months. Students now start at civilian flight schools before moving into military flying. The military path is wide open.
💪 Training with Pilot Pete. In Manhattan I got to train with @pilotpete.fly. Pete flies for a major freight carrier, and he's helping carry the torch for aviation creators who do significant things in the cockpit, in the gym, in inspiring others, and in their faith. It's a privilege to train with someone like that. More to come with The Squadron NYC. Stay tuned.
🎯 Hiring desk. F-35, 100th FS, Montgomery AL, closes Oct 31. F-15EX, 123rd FS, Portland OR, closes Nov 1. KC-135, 197th ARS, Phoenix AZ, closes Nov 6. KC-135, 126th ARS, Milwaukee WI, closes Nov 7. Getting ready for a board? BogiDope's Bootcamp runs Interview 101 on Nov 2 and Interview 201 on Nov 12. GetYourPilotSlot.com Code: WHACKER
💬 Hit reply. Guard, Reserve, active duty or civilian: which path are you on, and what's your biggest hurdle? I read every one.
P.S. Something new is coming. I'm building a career-paths cheat sheet with a legacy Air Line pilot who's also a C-17 Reservist and FAA examiner. Every route from first lesson to the cockpit, military and civilian. More to follow!
Forwarded this by a wingman? Unlock the Vault at fastjetfriday.com.
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