Does it take a four year degree to become a pilot?

Question

I really want to become an airline pilot but know so little about it. What does it take to become a pilot? About how much time does it take, once you get your lisence, to actually become a commercial airline pilot?

Answer 1

More than you probably wanted to know (or not).

http://science.howstuffworks.com/pilot.h...

Good Luck...

Answer 2

Not that I know of.

I do know that you need to go to flight school to get your license, but that's more like driver's ed. You need something like 1500 hours logged before you can apply for a commercial airline license.

Answer 3

It depends what you want to do as a pilot. Different airlines have different requirements. Regional airlines usually only require a two year degree. Almost all the major airlines require a four year degree. The airlines also have different requirements on how many flight hours you must have.

Answer 4

You need more than the 4-year college degree.  It also helps to be non-smoking, non-drinking (pilots go to jail if they're caught drinking on the job), and physically fit.  There's very few 400-pounders in the left seat!  Christian pilots are welcome since Chrtistians have this urge to help their passengers arrive at their destination in good condition.  Some other types are not as inclined to do the same.  The airlines are aware of this, but nobody wants to talk about it.  It's one of the reasons that foreign airlines like American pilots. No use complaining - that's just the way it is since 9-11.

Answer 5

yeah,........but it depends,.....if you've exceeded someflying hour thingy,.....and if your at the top,....you'll probably spend like 2 to 3 years..

Answer 6

Because of the increasing complexity of aircraft systems and procedures, the airlines are now hiring only college graduates as pilots.  They want to know that you have good study skills and can easily learn new subject matter.  It is a very competitive field, and only the people with the highest qualifications can expect to be hired these days.

The degree does not need to be in science, math, or engineering, though those are the best fields.  Business, accounting, and law enforcement are also popular with the hiring executives now.

I get some argument about this on Y!A, but I am telling you the truth, and believe me, I know.  You MUST have that 4-year degree.

You can be a private pilot or a commercial pilot without a degree.  It's just that the airlines are hiring only 4-year graduates.

Answer 7

You don't need a college degree to become a pilot. All you need is to pass the medical evaluation

Answer 8

No you do not need to have a 4 year degree to be hired by airlines major, minor, regional, etc. I know there are others here that will tell you otherwise, maybe they have been retired too long, but pilots are hired without degrees and always have been.

20 years ago, if you were not ex-military you had less than 10% chance of being hired by a Major carrier in the USA (Less than 1% chance at Delta)  I just watched a friend of mine without a degree get hired at GOJET  flying the CRJ700.... LAST WEEK... is that recent enough??? They are the regional for UAL.  He was a former ATA pilot that was shot out of the saddle when they went Tango Uniform in April.  

Is it BETTER to have a 4 year degree? Of course it is...  he earned his shot, 3 years flying freight, 7 years in the Regionals (AMR Eagle) and then 10 years with ATA in the 757 and 737NG.   Is it better to have a 2 year associates degree in aviation? SURE!...  do everything you can to make yourself the best candidate to get hired. Now.. is it better to take a flying job instead of college???  NOW you have a real question.  Experience will get you hired faster than education.

The other side of the coin is, the Regionals are hiring pilots with incredibly few hours... so which is better??  If you have a crystal ball that will tell you... you have it made. You won't quit your job at America West to go to United, to get laid off... to go to NetJet and be 2 months away from upgrade...and get recalled by United... and after telling all your friends that you will NEVER go back.. you quit your job at NetJet and go back to United... so you can get laid off again1 year later... and now, NetJet has 4,000 applications on file, and you can't even get in the door.

THAT is what they are NOT going to teach you in college, or in flight school.. or at the Academy in Colorado...  You want to be a pilot.. I suggest you be prepared to:

Learn how to study 30 hours in 20

Forget getting married/family/pets

Spend holidays in hotels you never really wanted to visit

listen to ceaseless whining from your crewmembers

enjoy eating Christmas dinner at WAFFLEHOUSE

Be tethered electronically to crew scheduling

Able to report in Ops within 1 hour of being called

sleep in hard plastic chairs (terminals)

and if you are flying for a regional, answer questions such as:

Are we going to crash?

Do you know how to fly?

Do you think someday you will move up to a REAL airline?

Is this little puddle jumper safe?

How long does it take? You can get the licenses in a fairly short period of time, the requirements are not that high. The problem for most candidates is that you need the experience. You can't be hired, if you can't be insured... and you can't be insured if you don't meet the experience requirements. The path these days for a civilian pilot is typically through either an aviation related college, or specific aviation school and achieve a 2 year or 4 year degree and a commerical/instrument/CFIA  Get the multiengine endorsement as soon as possible.  Then you go to either a flight school and instruct and live on starvation wages (a waiter at Pizza Hut will make more than you do) so be prepared to have a 2nd job. If you can get on with freight outfit, you can build time there, and it will make you a good pilot (if you survive) because you will have a lot of weather experience, and dealing with missing/broken/unreliable systems on engines, landing gear, radios,  etc.

Then get on with a regional carrier as soon as you have 1,200 hours or whatever their minimum is. I have seen guys hired with as little as 500 hours in the regionals.. and 250 hours in freight companies. Technically... they were "freight handlers" on Sa-226 Metroliners (single pilot)  and not pilots... but they sat in the seat and logged the time turbine/multi-engine and got hired at the regionals about a year later.  One is now a DC-8 Captain for UPS, 2 are MD-80 Captains for AA, and one is a Fed.

So.. bottom line is...  it's all out there. Get yourself out to the airport, start shaking hands, meeting pilots, talking with them.. and they will help you. The one thing no one can teach you.. is what to do when you start looking at jobs.. which one to take, which one to pass... that is the hardest thing about aviation. Some guys fall into it... money piles up, women go crazy for them, they buy sports cars and sailboats and think how easy it was.. other guys can't catch a break their whole career, fly their *** off... and think everytime they take off... I would MUCH rather be up here making no money, than down there with a pile of the stuff.  

Good luck with your career.