Get your degree in anything that you enjoy or anything that you think you may want to use as an alternate career. Nobody in the airline business cares what degree you have. They just want to see that you have a degree. For your flight time. Nobody in the airline business cares where you get your flight hours. They only care that you have the right number of hours. Where ever you fly, first you have to get your private certificate. Next you have to build up the hours and cross country requirements to get your commercial certificate. While renting airplanes to build up those hours you can add your instrument rating and multi-engine rating. You can do this while studying anything you want. Nobody will care where you got your ratings. You can rent from FBOs and build up the hours just as fast as you can do it at an accelerated flight school if you have the money to pay for the rental time. Once you have the commercial certificate you do whatever you want to continue to build up your hours wheather it is instructing or towing banners or flying cargo or starting to work for a regional airline. I did time in the military after college and I'm glad I did. I would recommend either national guard time or active duty military to anyone and everyone. It pays the bills and provides a source of character building that businesses of all types like to see in applicants. It will also give you a feeling of pride of accomplishment and service to your country that you will enjoy later in life. Enjoy all of your flying. I now have over 15000 hours and I fly for a legacy airline but I enjoyed every step of the way and I still enjoy every hour I fly. I enjoyed renting from FBOs and flying clubs for those first couple of hundred hours. Later I enjoyed instructing others as they learned to fly for a few thousand hours. Then I enjoyed every hour I flew in turboprops for a regional airline. And I still enjoy every hour I fly at work but I still go out and rent Cessnas or gliders or single engine float planes or what ever I'm in the mood for at the time. Many people fly for a living and forget that it is or was something that they enjoy. Sure seniority is important but take the time to enjoy what you're doing and the seniority and pay will come in time.
I dont know how many more times I can take reading "get your degree in something else" or "don't work for Mesa".
I think we should make a new section or sticky that is named somwhere along the lines of...
WHAT NOT TO DO IN AVIATION!!!
or
This is what I did and look at me now. Learn from your elders mistakes.
Just a thought. It could be made into a book and sit on the shelf next to your old copy of Flying The Line.
__________________
The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness.
SkyHigh, gas station owners make VERY LITTLE money...money in gas goes to the large gas corporations. I know this from first hand experience, my family has owned a gas station.
I went to a regional, flew for 10 years, went to a Major, and got furloughed after 6 months. 10 years of seniority down the drain, and now no flying job(except for cfi). May lose the house, soon. Had hoped to be in the middle class in my 40's, but now its over.
Should I have stayed at the old job? Hard to say, the major was doing well and making money. Job security is a specious term in this business.
Just avoid bad luck, if you can...
A cautionary tale...
So here is what I suggest. If you really want to become a professional pilot one day and you have almost no cash and can not get financing you have to do what I did.
1.) Get yourself a job with fair pay and work hard at that job. Maybe get yourself two jobs.
2) Get rid of all excess expenses. No cable tv or expensive cell phones and tried to have a car that uses very little gas and is paid for with no payments to be made etc etc.. you get the point . LIVE LEAN!!!
3) Find a PART 141 approved flight school close to you where you can buy all the course books for the private license. Study your but off for a few months before you even pay for your first ground or flight lesson.
4) Take some money you have been saving and star training. I was told recently that a private license runs about 6000-8000 US dollars these days. I spent $3500 when I got my private.
5)It will be long and expensive but in 5 years after pluggin away little by little you will have all your training completed and will have ZERO loans to repay. It goes quick trust me. After you get your commercial certificate do not expect a job right away. The days of 300 hour pilots getting into regional jets is long gone. But try to get on with some companies that will let you ride for free and allow you to build time. Show them you are a hard worker and they may use you as a full time pilot once you build enough time.
6) Do not be afraid to get your hands dirty so to speak and show a willingness to learn. Again, it will be a long hard road, but you will get your break, and one always comes. Just stay focused on your goals and it will all pay off.
I got my first undergraduate in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle, and it did little for me. Good school but too specific and not useful to 99% of employers. A big disappointment. I later did some civil engineering but eventually went back and got an accounting degree (which is different but easier than engineering I believe) and eventually a CPA and it has been in much greater demand and more useful than engineering - from my experience. Get your tickets on the side from an FBO please!
I think the best route to be able to afford a career in aviation is to go into the military and make sure you get the GI bill and keep up on the new ones that are coming out. You will still end up with some student loans but at a much smaller and more affordable amount!
Many industries are doing bad but then many are doing great.
You have to look for opportunity.
I was furloughed after 9/11 but have been with SkyWest for over 6 years now and sit in the left seat on the CRJ-200, CRJ-700, and CRJ-900. It hasn't been easy but then it hasn't been as bad as other people in other industries either.
My wife was asked to leave her company, Sysco Foods, after 15 years. All her friends soon followed but have since found BETTER jobs. My brother-in-law works for GMC in Kansas as a plant manager. He sits on the edge all the time.
The ones that succeed are the ones that adjust and stay away from the "whoa is me" mentality.
About two years ago, when the economy started to slow, instead of crawling under a rock, I looked for other ways to make money that would increase my bank account and leverage me against the coming down turn.
+ I started a window cleaning business that did very well amazingly enough.
+ I started substitute teaching on my days off.
+ I write articles and blog which makes me extra money.
+ I re-enlisted in the Air Force Reserve.
To protect myself, I did the following:
+ I made sure my aviation resume and logbook were up-to-date.
+ I made sure my non-aviation resume was up-to-date.
+ I networked with former collegues just in case I needed their help.
+ I made sure that my life insurance was good and that my will was up-to-date.
+ I got out of debt and stayed there.
Long before I got into flying, I did the following:
+ I made sure that I had a bachelor's degree.
+ I earned a master's degree
You can make it in flying, just keep your options open!
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