Tradewinds47

Hello all, first time poster. We all know that traditionally (the last decade or so) a bachelors degree has been a requirement to get hired by one of the majors. With the forecasted hiring wave due to retirements, what are your opinions of a guy being competitive without a bachelors degree over the next 3-5 years?

I'm currently in a bit of a pickle deciding on my next move to make myself a more desirable and qualified applicant. Unfortunately when I started flying, I had enough saved to either finish my flight ratings or go to college.

My current situation allows for one of two options. Stay debt free, keep plugging away at my regional job flying 90 hours with 12 days off in month. Volunteer my time on days off to causes that could genuinely use a helping hand; be productive and offer some real help.

Option two- take out student loans to finish an online degree in my free time. Would wind up digging myself a $25,000 hole and take about 3 years to wrap up. I'm ok with that if it would put me in a position to be hired by a company that pays better than a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.

I talk with guys in the jumpseat that say 5 years from now, the big three will be hiring guys without a degree on a regular basis. I'm looking for your opinions because I don't want to look back and say 'I should have started the degree years ago because now I'm stuck here' or 'I should have never taken out the loans and done the degree because it wasn't even needed.'

Judge Smails

I would say get the degree....maybe the big 3 hire you without one in 3-5 years, assuming demand stays high and the economy doesn't take a major dump, but at least you know you're fully competitive if you have it.

The other option to get out of the regionals is to take a look at LCC's until you get the call at a legacy. Any of them will hire without a bachelors.

M20EPilot

My dad to me, expressing interest in aviation at a young age: "Go for it, but get a degree in something else as a backup". He had no knowledge of the profession, yet his words were so wise and I am eternally grateful for that guidance.

Furloughs happen. Loss of medicals can happen. Accidents happen. Divorces and other bad things that take people's money happen... No one can take away education.

And if my dad isn't good enough, check out what the US Census says ... page 11:

https://www.census.gov/people/wealth...0to%202011.pdf

Sliceback

What if the guys your jumpseating with are wrong? Which option has the greater risk?

And define 'regularly hire'? AA didn't require a four yr degree back in the mid 1980's. Ask yourself "self, how many guys without degrees got hired?" Not many. So do you want to compete in the single digit pool of compete from the 60-70%(civilian) pool?

Andy

Next time you're on the jumpseat, ask a legacy crew if they know ANYONE at their company who doesn't have a degree. They're extremely rare, in spite of multiple boom/bust hiring cycles.

Pre-911, the number of pilot applicants was way down, yet all of the legacies hired degreed pilots. There were a few nondegreed hires but it was very rare.

Simply put, get a four year degree or forget about working at a legacy. There were a very few rare exceptions that got hired without a degree but not many.

Ray Red

Start working on your degree this summer if it's not too late. Colleges like UVU are pretty straight forward and cost effective. The last thing you want to to wake up one day 3 years from now to find out the jumpseater was wrong and you would have finished your degree if you started this year.

galaxy flyer

As everyone says, get the degree. It has been a basic requirement for as long as I remember and that goes back to '66. Besides, it is nearly a basic requirement in most other parts of aviation--military, high grade corporate, etc. How many RJ pilots have a degree?

Don't believe this "everyone will get hired in 5 years baloney"; it hasn't happened in 50 years.

GF

Chuck D

If you're debt free right now and have modest cost of living, $25k is a seriously small hole to dig to get the degree if you can do it that way. I would do that in a heartbeat - that's a few months pay in your 2nd year at the majors.

I think it's worth your time to put some numbers down on paper with regard to forecast hiring, retirements and the future of regionals. I'll give you some off the cuff food for thought (worth what you're paying for it - zilch!) about the industry and the worth of the degree...

First, the hiring boom has already been going on for a few years now. By historic standards there's a pretty large number of pilots moving on - despite this successful transitions still represent a pretty small chunk of the overall regional pilot group. The next 3-5 years is still going to find more than a few pilots even with degrees not getting the call. "Piles of people" moving on doesn't mean everyone... just more than normal.

Second, without a degree, you're in the pool of regional pilots with no degree trying for the same job that your peers with a degree are trying for. You're at a disadvantage all other things being equal, and that degree pool is also probably trying to network and get hired by all means too. Perhaps you can overcome that with a great smile and the ability to engage in amazing conversations at hiring conferences... not all of us have that level of savviness - it does work for some.

Third, the regionals are shrinking and will continue to as majors up gauge 70 seat flying to 100+ seat mainline aircraft. A shrinking pool could mean less upgrade opportunity, more time on reserve, less QOL - I think it's worth the effort to use all available means to make the move.

Fourth as people get hired, you move up but people still filter in to regional jobs around you who have degrees... it's not a pool that's going to just dry up. Same concept with check airmen. If a bunch get hired from a regional, a bunch of new people fill those spots. If you're not one of them, you're always lacking that to them.

I suppose unless you're in a regional with a bulletproof flow through I'd get the degree without a second thought. At a minimum it will probably shave off a few years with can mean a ton for seniority and also means you'll pay that debt down pretty darn quickly.

Good luck!

LuckyNow

I don't think I've ever flown with anyone at AA that didn't have a bachelor's degree. While I agree that getting a degree can be expensive and will not make you a better pilot, only a better applicant, it's important to remember this: If having a degree got you hired even a few months earlier than without (and I think it would result in getting hired much earlier than that) those two months of pay at the end of your career would ostensibly pay for your entire degree. I have no idea how old you are, but I think that it's a safe assumption that you're young enough that getting on the pay scale sooner would pay big dividends at the end of your career. Good luck.

JamesNoBrakes

Although volunteering is good, HR departments and hiring officials look at the entire person, so if you managed to hunker down and get the degree finished while you were working full time, they'd probably see that as just as good as saving puppies. Get your general stuff out of the way at a community college, there are ways to keep costs down.