Radical career change (aviation industry)

cheese189

Yep. And because the job can be absolutely exhilariting, the airlines do (at the moment) have somewhat of a glut of suitably qualified pilots, the vast majority of whom have paid for their own training.

The big airlines might prefer younger pilots, but some of the smaller operators dealing with private clients may prefer crew who are older and slightly more mature as they garner a little more respect from their clients...

Compare all this though to the typical costs of doing a degree these days and they are comparable