Originally Posted by
theblueone
First post: I'm a lurker/newbie poster. Reading this forum brings up a couple questions:
1) How necessary is a degree for a career as a pilot? I know the statistics show that most pilots for majors have a four-year degree of some type, but there are those who don't have theirs. What got these pilots hired? Experience? Shortages at their times of hire? Do the majors presently hire or are they likely to hire pilots without degrees? Is an otherwise experienced pilot without a degree automatically disqualified from being hired at the majors?
2) Is an aviation degree as useless as is sometimes professed here? Admittedly, I don't know much about collegiate/university-level aviation degree programs, but from my experience in the work force, a degree is a degree is a degree. I can understand that an aviation degree could be most useful in an aviation profession, but isn't it generally true that for someone applying to an entry-level job in most professions, most bachelors degrees will be as competitive as most others?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll admit that I'm of the opinion that bachelors degrees in aviation aren't as useless as some people say they are. I'll also admit that I'm attempting to get my ATP and start my aviation career before I finish my degree. I'm mostly interested in whether or not this is a useless pursuit.
Thanks for everyone's help,
John
1) When considering college degrees, you need to keep in mind that major airlines are the preferred career destinations for the majority of pilots, especially airline types. The regional/commuter airlines have traditionally served as a stepping stone to get the experience needed to qualify for a major job. Historically regionals were very crappy places to work, with very poor pay, quality of life, and benefits... but people would put up with this for a few years just to get a major job. Unfortunately it has gotten much hader to move from regional to major since 9/11, so the competition is fierce and many folks are stuck at the regional level. Depending on the company, this can be anything from a blue-collar-style middle-class job to a living nightmare.
The majors basically require a degree (accredited 4 year, not AA or ITT tech). You will hear of a few guys/girls that got in without one, but that was in the good old days when it was harder to get into and finance college. Unless you know someone (blood relative) at the Chief Pilot or VP level, this is unlikely to ever happen again.
The current hiring climate at the regionals is such that you can get hired without a degree, but this depends on supply and demand and changes every couple of years...when I started in the regional world a few years ago (bad timing) the only guy from my flight school who could not get a regional job was...you guessed it...the poor SOB without the degree. He had started flying pre- 9/11 when the demand was so high that the degree was not an issue. But things change fast.
With no degree, you are doomed to spend your career at a regional, effectively paying dues while your degreed peers and FO's climb over your back on their way to better things. And you might have trouble even getting a regional job, depending. If you can get a degree, definately do so. If you absolutely can't, you might want to reconsider the airline business (you could still fly in general aviation corporate).
2) If you are going to spend the time and effort, get a non-aviation degree in something practical (and hopefully interesting to you). You might need to earn a living off that degree at some point. The aviation degrees are not really helpful (better than nothing!) because they are a dime-a-dozen in this industry and also because in many cases the graduate got a LOT of credit for his flight training towards the degree. Most flight training is not college-level material, and people who have done both know that and do not give that sort of thing their full respect. With that being said, an aviation degree won't hurt you, and will punch the degree ticket. If your life situation is such that you need to apply your flight training towards college credit, it is certainly better than nothing.