Civilian or Military route?
Hello everyone,
I've been browsing this site all week and finding some good information. Like most people on here, I want to be a pilot someday. I'd love to fly commercially. Here is my issue, I'm 20 years, no flight experience, no degree. I'm only a few credits shy of an associates degree. Most of my credits are aviation related because I attended a cti school for air traffic control. I stopped pursuing that side of aviation due to the FAA's hiring procedures.
I've been looking to get my ratings and licenses both through either civilian or military. There are pro's and cons to each. Which I'll try to list below.
Civilian Route.(ATP, flight schools, FBO)
Pros:
Attain ratings quickly
Quickest route into the cockpit
Train 5-7 days a week.(ATP)
Quickly land some kind of flying job
Cons:
$$Expensive$$ (50-70k)
Pay sucks starting out
nothing is paid for
not being able to work during the ATP fast track course (180 days)
I'll be in debt at a young age
Have to work for awhile to attain 1500 hours
Overhyped
Military Route. (Air Force)
Pros:
Pursuing my bachelors degree and flight training is paid for.
Travel the world at no cost to me
Make some life long friends
Housing and life insurance is paid for.
Debt free
750 hour minimum
Serving our country
Cons:
Not guaranteed a pilot slot
Could take years before I actually start flying
Need a bachelors degree before I can even apply for pilot slots
Could end of doing something I don't enjoy doing (Not flying)
That's all I could think of for right now. I would appreciate anyone's input. I would have no problems serving in the military. I WILL NOT enlist just to get my ratings and hours and get out. I would no problem retiring from the military and then flying in the civilian world.The only reason I'm uneasy to go the military route is because I'm not guaranteed a pilot slot. At my age and in my situation what should I do?