Is Air Force ROTC the best route in becoming a commercial pilot?

Question

I am pursuing a career as a commercial airline pilot. Ive heard that Air Force ROTC is a good choice in pursuing it, but, is it the best? Should i join the reserves and attend college? Should i do both? Is Pilot school the way to go instead of Military? Just a sidenote, i do not want to become an air force pilot.

Answer 1

No it isn't.  As stated above just because you join the military as an officer doesn't meant that your even going to get a chance to sit in the cockpit of an aircraft.  But if you are one of the lucky ones and do become a pilot all your training and flight hours will count for nothing on the civilian side.  You will still have to get your private pilots license and work you way up to your commercial pilot rating military experience or no.

Answer 2

Keep in mind the Air force has much higher standards for pilots and the wash out rate is high., of course it great having uncle Sam pay the bills

Answer 3

If you can meet the standards to be an air force pilot, why not do it for awhile? You can always leave when the airlines are profitable again...but who knows when that will be. They are not going to be hiring for quite some time, nor will you make money as an airline pilot.

Answer 4

No it is not.

There are a lot of officers in the Air Force that have never flown a plane and many of them joined to become pilots.

If you want to become a pilot, get the civilian training (it is less subject to operational priorities then any of the military methods).

Answer 5

There are many paths to becoming a commercial pilot. Each has pros and cons, and each is very challenging. It will require 100% commitment to become a pilot. You will need to do your homework and decide which path is best for you.

You have already said that you do not want to be an Air Force pilot, so why would you do Air Force ROTC? In any event, you should definitely get a four year degree either way to be competitive for jobs later. In addition, you will need to be an officer to be a pilot in the Air Force, so that requires a degree as well. Go to college.

If you don't think the military is for you, then you will have to attend civilian flight school. It's my opinion that the aviation universities don't give you enough benefit to justify their extra expense. Get a four year degree outside of aviation and then attend a flight school.

You can search for flight schools in your area on the following sites:

http://www.flightschoollist.com/

http://flighttraining.aopa.org/learntofl...

http://www.bestaviation.net/

http://www.aviationschoolsonline.com/sch...

You can learn more about becoming a pilot in general here:

http://flighttraining.aopa.org/learntofl...

http://www.beapilot.com/

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/

I strongly recommend that you talk to multiple pilots who have been down whichever path you choose. Don't exclude any possibilities until you are sure you have chosen the right one, and don't decide anything until you understand fully what you are getting into. You might spend some time browsing or participating in pilot forums like the ones below to get more feedback from different pilots. Each pilot has a different perspective, so try to learn from as many as possible.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/

Good luck!