A few questions about pilot career... help please.?

Question

I always wanted to be a commercial pilot but I need some questions answered, mainly about the school...

1. I graduate high school May 31st with pretty good grades. Is any college degree required to be a pilot or straight to flight school?

2. How long is flying school? I understand that you need flying hours to be a commercial pilot. How many? But then again, how long is flying school including training and flying hours? (In years please)

3. I don't have any medical conditions. Do pilots have to pass physical training like timed mile-running for example? Or is that stuff about pilots having to do intense physical training also a myth?

4. Is color vision deficiency a problem? I heard they accept you even if you are "color blind" but might have night-flying restrictions?

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

1)  You'll get a lot of opinions on this.  My take on it is that you're severely limiting your career if you don't get a college degree.  While many jobs don't require a degree, many others do.  You can get a bachelor's degree in conjunction with your flight training at many places.  Some people will say not to do that because a flight degree is pretty specialized and you may be better off getting something like a business degree to fall back on if flying doesn't work out.  That's not a bad idea, but I also don't see anything wrong with getting a flight degree.  Why not learn as much as you possibly can about your chosen career field?

2) Depends on which approach you take.  A collegiate program will take either two years or four years.  If you go to college, go for the four year degree.  Four year degrees take many people five years anymore.  If you don't take the college approach and just do intensive flight training, it will take 1-2 years to get your ratings that will allow you to work as a pilot.

3) Myth.  While it's not a bad idea to keep physically fit for both longevity in your career and for overall health, there will be no gym teacher with a stopwatch yelling at you as you round the track.  When you get older, you will be subject to yearly EKG exams, but no physical fitness benchmarks.

4) Depending on the severity of your color vision deficiency, it might be a problem.  Before you spend any money on flight training toward a career, go to an Aviation Medical Examiner and go for a First Class medical certificate.  You don't need a first class right away, but it's good to know you can get one.  You may indeed have a night flying restriction placed on your medical certificate initially.  If you can differentiate red and green lights, you'll just have do demonstrate that ability to an FAA inspector.  No big deal, it's a common problem and easily resolved, but you'll want to know that you can get that restriction removed.  If you can't, it's not really worth going into career training.

Answer 2

Hey becks,

I graduate from high school on the 25th.  Whoop! :D

And I've always wanted to be an airline pilot...so I'm gonna attend Liberty University this fall and major in aviation.

Now you don't have to have a college degree to fly but if you wanna get a job at a major airline with big pay it would be helpful to get a degree.

And no, I don't think pilots are "intensively" trained like astronauts. Haha.  And I'm not sure about the color vision thing

But what I suggest is that you look for a college or university near you that has an aviation program and start from there.  You don't have to worry about the hours and classes because you'll complete everything by the time you graduate and be ready to get a job.

If you want some more information check out this website...it has hours and age requirements and everything else about a career as a pilot.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos107.htm

Good luck

Answer 3

Congratulations on graduation, and committing some serious thought into your future career.  

My background is more military aviation, but I'll engage; take this for what it's worth:

1- As others have stated, due to the turbulent (to say the least) job market in commercial aviation, it behooves one to get a Bachelor's in something.  Business Mgm't would be good.   Also something like "Commercial Aviation Mgm't/Finance" would work too.  You are marketable, and (this is just me spitballing but is based on working with defense aviation contractors) if the company you work for is downsizing-you've got some ammunition to convince them to keep you.  Embry-Riddle, UND, OU, are three universities that have aviation programs.  

2- Depends on you and the program.  But you are looking at least 2-3 years of training to get your tickets.

3- Not for civilians, a Class III medical (no serious conditions like diabetes, cardiac issues etc) is all you need to start. Later I believe you'll need a Class II to fly commercially.

4- Could be; depends on your deficiency.  Red-green deficiency is a disqualifier in my world, and I would suspect from flying passengers.  A night-flying restriction is going to practically kill you from working as a commercial pilot: why hire you when I can hire another body with the same hours I can schedule for both day and night sorties?

Answer 4

A college degree is required by many airlines.  You can go straight into flight training, whether it is at a flight school or not.

The time needed for flight training depends much you prepare beforehand, and how frequent your flight lessons are.

Physical training is required of military pilots--not civilian pilots.

Get an aeromedical examination and Medical Certificate.  You'll need it for solo flights, which should be soon.