Do guys who train 141 have an advantage?
So far I have followed what was preached to me by my flight instructor and many people here on these forums: Major in something other than aviation and get your ratings at the local FBO. Most common arguments for this seem to be that non-aviation majors present a better backup plan/side career opportunities and that flight training is much cheaper at the local fbo.
Recently, however, I have been talking to some aquaintances who are majoring in "Professional Flight" and who are training under 141. I realize that these guys are racking up student loans while I am remaining debt free, but I cant deny that they definitely seem very knowledgeable about aviation subjects because they take so many aviation-related classes everyday. They also cite their CRJ simulator time as an advantage over other airline applicants because they are better prepared for the sim tests/training.
My question is this--Yes, I might be doing it cheaper by training at the local FBO, but are these guys who train in 141 going to be quite a bit ahead of me by the time I am ready to go for my first airline job? My former instructor seems to be doing fine at SkyWest and even said that "CRJ Sim training" is pointless because they make you go through it after you get hired anyway. As airline pilots though, can you normally tell who trained 61 vs. 141 by the way they fly and do things? Thanks for any input!