What should I major in to become a pilot?
 

I want to become an airline pilot and I live in U.S. I've looked up that most major airline companies require you to have a bachelors degree. My question is, does it matter what I get my bachelors degree in? Because I'm majoring in physics right now to have that as a backup in case god for bid something doesnt work out with my pilot career. Does a degree in aviation or aeronautical science give me an advantage over other candidates in the hiring process is essentially what I am asking. I just dont want to put all of my eggs in one basket and have the opportunity to keep the door open for other careers just in case. Thank you!

An aviation degree is absolutely useless and my biggest regret. Looking back, I think an engineering degree of some sort would have been much better. Once locked into an aviation career, many degrees aren't too useful ten years down the road without current field experience. A physics major is a good field and quite applicable to a career in aviation.

Get a degree in Nursing that leads to an RN license. Fly on the side and get your ratings that way. If you ever lose your medical or get bored of flying, you will have a solid career in healthcare. Starting salaries for nurses in NYC or California are over $100k with extremely flexible schedules. You can also supplement your CFI income by working as a nurse one or two days a week while you are building hours to qualify for a regional airline job. There are so many things you can do with an RN license and again very flexible. Good luck to you.

It doesn't matter what your degree is in for an airline pilot.

If you want to end up being a Test Pilot, then you need some type of engineering background. Science/engineering with advanced degrees are also required by NASA, and probably help for some of the new commercial space ventures starting up.

Underwater basketweaving with a minor in ballet. You'll learn to multi-task.

I majored in Economics, worked my whole career in engineering and currently career changing to be a pilot..... Employers typically dont care about your major, just that you can check the box marked Bachelors Degree.

Thank you for the advice!

In today's climate, with the R-ATP option, you can make a case for an R-ATP eligible aviation degree in some situations.

You would want to plan on busting your hump, finishing your CFI ratings early so you can teach and graduate with 1000 hours or close to it, and be on your way to the regionals asap.

Might make sense for an older career changer who needs a degree but where money is not much of an issue (possibly retired mil, LEO, etc), or a very young person who is committed to landing at a top-tier airline... for that person, each year on the back end as a widebody CA might be worth $500K - ish. Of course it's hard to predict the industry that far ahead.

Don't overlook the underwater basket weaving. When was the last time you ever heard of a furloughed underwater basket weaver?

UCSF actually did have a basket weaving degree at one time. They called it Native American Textiles. I suppose you could get a graduate conjoint degree to do it underwater if you could come up with some sort of environmental tie-in. California university degrees are very permissive that way if you phrase the request properly. A natural fiber shelter for bleached coral, perhaps....