Hi. So my question is wheather I can build a career starting with regionals and climb my way to major carriers like United or American? Some information about me is that I'm 19. I have an associates degree from a university because I didn't finish 4 years there. I wanted to become an airline pilot since I first flew at the age of 9 but my family was always against it. I day trade as a full time job and make a decent amount of money so any flight training would be easily covered out of pocket. Many people question why I would even want another job when I day trade but flying has always been in my heart. I go on vacations with friends and family quite often (every two months or so) and my favorite my part is the flying to be honest. I live in the suburbs of Chicago so it's close to O'hare which is a hub/focus city for many many airlines. Would I be able to even get hired by Air Wisconsin or Republic Airlines with just an associates degree? And would I be able to climb my way to major carriers such as United or American Airlines?

 

Without being a smartass, I'll simply say spend some time reading through these forums. All of your questions have been answered many, many times over.

As far as a career, make sure you enjoy whatever it is you're going to do.

 

Get your 4-year degree, then your PPL, then come back.

GF

 

Hmm, while does that sound like a wonderful idea, I think I'll take a pass on that. But thank you!

 

If you don't want to do the research, you might have to suffer the consequences of being ill-prepared. You can get on at pretty much any regional airline without any sort of degree, but you will almost certainly not get on at a major like American or United without a 4-year degree. That being said, the current problem you will face is getting hired anywhere with that type of attitude.

 

If you want to get on with a major one day, get your 4 year degree. Either that or go sweat it out at Envoy for 9 years and flow to AA.

 

Come back when you have grown up

 

..or PDT for 5-6...

 

You might want to do better research. AA is the only major with a guaranteed path that doesn't require a four year degree.

 

The kid’s 19, cut him some slack. I’m sure you were all models of professionalism at 19.

OP: If you have a lot of money and flying is your dream, sure you can make it happen. You’ll need to get 250 hours, private, commercial, and flight instructor certificates, and a multi-engine rating with 25 hours of multi time on your own dime. Then, you can instruct to 1475 hours and get picked up by almost any regional so long as you haven’t done anything really stupid.

You’ll likely need a 4 year degree eventually to get on with a major, but you can revisit that down the line.

Aviation is a serious business though with a lot of lives at stake, and you owe it to the people who will be riding in your airplanes to really hit the books and put a lot of effort into your training. If it’s a labor of love then you won’t mind. If it’s hard labor then that’s a good sign you’d be happier in the long run doing what you do now.

Also, much like the stock market, aviation is an up and down business. Right now it’s up, but no one knows for sure when it will start back down, but it will probably fall very rapidly when it does.