Picking this school? Pilot's Question?

Question

I decided not to go to an Aviation Bachelor's Degree program that includes flight training, and get my training at an airport that offers everything up to CPL, CFII, CFI ME. Is this a good option? I want to work my way up to the regionals and fly for an airline in the future. I only have an associates degree. The flight training I am going with at the airport doesn't offer Bachelor's Degrees. What do you pilot's suggest?

Thank you for your answers...

Answer 1

Jim's answer is great.  I'll just piggy-back on that answer.

The only downside to not having a degree is if the market swings the other direction by the time you finish your ratings, not having the 4 year degree will make it a little harder to get that first job.  As the market stands today, they can't hire people fast enough.  That degree won't be an issue.  I'd get the ratings as soon as possible and try to get in as early as you can in the hiring boom.  The more people who get hired after you, the better things will be for you.

Looking further into the future, most major airlines prefer a four year degree.  A few require one.  I don't know if they will change those requirements in the future, but just watch those trends as the years go on so you can play your options.

Answer 2

Everything said up above is great and true.  Just be very careful what you decide to do after you get your ratings.  Its true that Great Mistakes will hire you at Commercial/Multi- but in all reality, you are simply not going to be experienced enough at that point to actually fly a part 121 aircraft.

It sounds all well and good to go jump into a 1900 at low time, or into an RJ at 500 hours, but that puts a tremendous burden on the captain, and distracts him from doing his other jobs.  And also, if YOU are getting hired at such low minimums, that probably means your captain just recently reached his own ATP minimums and probably is not quite up to speed yet either.

As far as your situation goes, I'd suggest going ahead with your flying at whatever school you pick.  After that go instruct for a while, fly freight for 6 months or a year, and only then go to the airlines.  Get some real-world experience before you go out flying with baby captains who don't know what they are doing and 19 pax behind you.  Great Lakes flies into and out of Denver a lot.  Denver is notorious for things like extreme icing, low-level windshear, massive thunderstorms, and long delays.  Go out and get the knowledge and experience required to act like you are a captain, even if you are only applying to be a First Officer.  You'll appreciate that the first time your captain tells you to just go ahead and shoot that approach through the virga in front of you.

Answer 3

There's nothing wrong with that as long as it fits into your plans.  For example, are you going to be a full time aviation student now with the goal of getting all your ratings as soon as possible or are you still working/going to school and flying in your spare time.  If your #1 goal is to get through the ratings ASAP make sure your chosen flight school is up to the task (aircraft/instructor availability).  Some of the bigger flight academies (Pan Am International Flight Academy in Phoenix is where I went and I was quite happy with them) specialize in getting you through training ASAP but they cost a little bit more (they also have nice new, well maintained planes).

Before you select a school do some research.  If you want honest answers talk to students who attend the school.  Just spend a few minutes in the parking lot, waiting room, etc. and ask current students what they think of the school.  Ask things like:

- How knowledgeable the instructors were.

- How many times lessons were cancelled for maintenance reasons.

- The mechanical condition of their planes, etc.

As far as prices go the only thing you're concerned about is how much they charge per hour for the planes and how much they charge per hour for the instructors.  Any prices quoted as, "This rating for $X" are worthless.  (These quotes are based on getting your rating in the minimum required flight time mandated by the FAA which hardly ever happens).  The bottom line is that you're going to have to rent the plane and instructor by the hour until you complete your training so these are the prices you're concerned with.

Finally, get Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook and Sporty's Private Pilot video course and spend as much time with them as you can.  The money you will save by educating yourself in your "off" time will amaze you.  (You can either crack the books or pay an instructor $30/hour to spoon feed you - your choice).

Finally (bear with me here, I'm almost done) consider the fact that there are some regional airlines with EXTREMELY low hiring minimums.  For example, Great Lakes Airlines only requires a Commercial and Multi rating (I would sure hope they want an instrument rating too but they don't say that).  Their pay is atrocious ($1200/month) but at least you'll be building flight time.  Just be careful, the Beech 1900 is a great plane but can be a handful flying single engine for a rookie (been there, done that).

You can get info on regional airlines from the "airline pilot central" link below.  You can get information on Air Inc. hiring conferences from the "jet-jobs" link.  Good luck.

Answer 4

You are making a good choice.  Go to a FBO for flight training.  Not only will you learn much more by having a couple cfi's along the way, but you will experience much more in your training.  If you go to one of those overpriced pilot mills, ERAU, Pan Am, DCA, ATP, those are mostly located in fair weather locations, plus they never fly when the weather is bad.  When do you think you learn the most about flying, on good weather pattern days, or cross countries dodging storms, mild ifr.....?  In my newhire indoc class there were several people from the pilot mills that had exactly 0 hours of IFR time.  Those people struggled through sims because they had never been in IFR conditions, the stupid little hood does not count.  Also, do not listen to jason about flying freight before regionals.  If you are lucky enough to get into the regionals with 6-800 tt, go for it.  If you fly freight you will need 1200 or more and that is way more dangerous that regionals.  Get your ratings, instruct for a while, you will learn so much more that you think, and then go to a regional.  Good luck!!!!

Answer 5

I think you are taking a smart approach. However, after you get your ratings and have a flying job building time toward a major airline career (if that's your goal), think about doing some correspondence courses toward a BS degree. Many universities offer them, including ERAU which is quite pricey. While a 4-year degree isn't required, it may help you be a bit more competetive in the job market, and most airlines couldn't care less where you got it or what your major was. However, choose something that can employ you if for some reason you can't fly (medical reasons) or you get laid off (I've been furloughed 6 of the 22 years I've been flying professionally).  I would suggest a business or management degree, or perhaps something technical like computer programming or IT. Something like engineering, requiring lab work, cannot usually be done via correspondence courses.That's my two cents worth. Good luck.

Answer 6

I don't think I could say it any better than 'Jim'.

Nothing wrong with his answer at all.

Good luck - It's alot of fun flying...