Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Back in the day, it seemed like 80% made it to a regional. The ones who weren't going to make it were pretty obvious, usually blue-collar folks (or rich kids) who got sold a bill of goods and maybe a loan by a flight school. They either struggle with the material and IR training, or don't have any initiative and wander off.
Majors was a different story... probably around 30% got to the better majors, but that was starting from ad hoc part 61 training. I would expect 141 university grads to have more success because they were pretty goal oriented to attend a 141 university in the first place.
I would expect those entering today to have better odds, due to retirements.
Correction noted.
I am more risk averse than most when it comes to debt. Working in the financial industry I've seen a lot of the 'bad scenarios' out there. Currently 20% of the student loans in this country are in default. Flight time outside of the aviation industry is worthless on a resume, other than an ice breaker. I'd hate to see folks in 100k+ debt with nothing to show for it professionally.
Course adjusted.
With an 80%+ success rate and a 30%+ shot of hitting the majors, the risk appears to be clearly worth the financial payoff. I had no idea the numbers were so strong.