21.FIVE - Professional Pilots Podcast

21.FIVE is named after the altitude where most professional pilots spend their working lives, and the show is aimed squarely at people trying to build a career in the cockpit. Hosts Max, Dan, and Eric are all airline pilots with different backgrounds, including military, regional, and corporate paths, which gives the conversations a useful range of perspective. Episodes typically run an hour and cover everything from interview prep for a major carrier to the tax implications of commuting from one coast to a base on the other. If you are a CFI wondering whether to jump to a regional at 1,500 hours or hold out for a corporate gig, the show has probably covered that exact question with specifics about pay, quality of life, and upgrade timelines. What sets it apart from career-focused aviation content is the honesty about tradeoffs. The hosts will tell you that the regional airline experience in 2026 is genuinely hard on families, that seniority numbers at legacy carriers are frozen in ways nobody expected, and that the path they each took would not necessarily work today. That kind of candid, current information is rare. Guests include hiring managers, union reps, training captains, and pilots who recently washed out of a program and are willing to explain why. If you are working toward an airline career or are already in one and trying to figure out your next move, this show consistently delivers practical, unvarnished advice.