How should I pursue a career as an airline pilot?

Question

I am a senior in high school and I am beginning to prepare for college. I want to be an airline pilot but am not sure how to do that. Do I need to go to college then on to flight school or is it better to wrap it up in one at a place like Embry Riddle? One last thing, has anyone heard of Spartan College of Aeronautics?

Answer 1

With the horrible state of the airline industry, I wouldn't bother with commercial airlines. I would go for corporate.

Answer 2

Sorry for the copy and past from my earlier answer, but here you go

There are generally 3 ways to become a commercial airline pilot.

1) Military - this is by far the cheapest route, but comes with the deepest commitment. I didnt take this route, so I'm not as familiar, but from my understanding you need to be an officer in order to be a military pilot. In order to become an officer you need a college degree, but you can get your certificates as part of a college degree. In the end, the benifit to military is cost and when you are complete you will have all the hours you need to fly those big international routes you want (be prepared to spend 10+ years at an airline to get the seniority you need for those routes)

2) College - as mentioned above you can get all your ratings as part of a college program. There are many around the country (Purdue, Emery Riddle, Univ North Dakota, Arizona State, Utah Valley State). The benefit to this is that you get all your certificates and ratings as a commercial pilot, you get a degree (big plus to have as the average pilot gets furloughed 4 times in their career), most of the time you get a Instructor Certificate "CFI" (Another big plus), AND most colleges have bridge programs. The bridge programs generally guarantee an interview with a regional airline upon graduation. This is great because assuming all goes well you will be building your time in a jet instead of a puddle jumper. Down side is COST!! Your government student aid will cover your tuition, but you have to get private loans (or mom and dad) to cover you flying costs. Only doctors and lawyers get government help with expensive education. I have a student loan payment that is larger than some peoples mortgage! And that fancy regional airline job where you build your time in a jet, first year pay is $17,000 before taxes!!! All in all, expect to be poor for a while, but you will be poor with a lot of options!

3) FBO (Fixed Base Operation- a place at an airport that generally offers fuel and instruction services). If neither of the above options work for you, you can got get your ratings and certificates at an FBO. It will cost you money, but not near as much as a fancy college. You wont have a degree, or the government backing your education, but there still are benefits. This option is much cheaper than colleges, even plane rental is cheaper. Also you progress at your own pace so there is no structured time line you have to meet. (Trust me this is a pain to meet when you are waiting for your next student loan distribution) Down side is its harder to get approved for loan assistance when you are not enrolled in "school", so most people pay as they go. Also you may not have an automatic in at an airline so you will most likely have to build your time in small planes. There are lots of options to do this, you can instruct (this is most popular), fly traffic watch, drop parachuters, etc. You may actually make more at first flying small planes than regional jets. There is a desperate need for instructors and some places pay as much as 45K a year. To get to an international pilot from here, most pilots do the following: get training at an FBO -> intruct to build time -> fly for a regional carrier -> fly for a major carrier (bada big, ten years on the seniority list and then you are staring at the pacific for 14 hour days!) The best way to find an FBO is to go your local airport (generally not the big commercial airport, but the smaller general aviation airports) and drive around. Every airport has at least 1 FBO, and generally all FBOs offer flight instruction. There may also be a few places that just offer flight instruction (IE aren't full service FBOs). The general aviation world doesnt always have an online presence hence why I suggest physically going to the airport. If all else fails nearly every general aviation airport has a bulletin board where hundreds of instructors have pinned up their business cards. Find that board!

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Your going to want to go to a flight colledge like embry riddle, im a sophmor in high school and planning on doing the same thing your doing, I will probably go to embry riddle.