This reminds me of nearly every CSI episode where the investigators always caution each other to follow the evidence and not their hunches, otherwise they will inevitably only see the evidence that justifies their hunch.

You don't need to justify your decision to me or anyone else. But when I have a decision I'm facing I like to find someone older and more experienced, present them my options, ask the question(s), and then be quiet and LISTEN.

As far as getting to a major via an internship I believe your logic is flawed. Getting hired by a major requires meeting a number of different criteria not least of which are timing/luck, networking/recs, and strong qualfications. Meeting the mins and being a former intern won't overcome negative aspects of the others.

From your stated career goals and they way you want to learn let me be the second to recommend the military. It has all the positive aspects (and more) of ERAU as far as the training program structure. It is a much better VALUE and you'll get a ton of experience that will help you in and beyond your flying career. There are some cons but i don't doubt for a second that with your smarts and determination you couldn't make it through. You don't need to be a gung-ho type guy to succeed either.

Interesting fact: in 2010 when Delta hired last time, about 15 guys from my traning wing had applications in. ALL OF THEM got interview invites. A couple didn't go but of the ones who went, only 2 didn't make it. The rest are now flying for a major, have no training debt, and they ALL bypassed the regionals.

(I know there are great guys who didn't go the miltary route who got great training, please don't take this down the mil vs. civ road. Just pointing out the bennies to the mil side.)

 

FWIW the United internship does offer a guaranteed interview once minimums are met. And I also have a contact at Delta who says that interns, if qualified, are often offered interviews upon completion of the internship. Not important right now though.

Wow...I kind of dismissed the Air Force as an option that wouldn't fit me, but obviously I should look into it seriously. I really am not a fighting/guns type if you know what I mean; that's what made the Air Force option more unattractive to me.

So tell me - what should I read to learn more about this option? If you're saying that it's similar to ERAU in terms of structure, and it's cheaper (free?), then this is something I should consider strongly.

 

Excellent point Stitches and right on the money.

True about not needing to explain or defend a position to anybody; BUT, why then do SO MANY of these types of kids come on asking for guidance and then constantly turn a deaf ear because they are not being told how smart and special they are and how everything will turn out just the way they want and all players get a trophy at the end of the season? They are looking for that validation - not true insight.

Nope - don't need to be Rambo or even....yes I'm going to say it...Chuck Norris ; BUT you had darn well at least be dedicated if your on my wing going to do the job. People's lives could be on the line. Anyone who refers to our military as those "war-type person[s]" doesn't seem to have what it takes to make it.

USMCFLYR

 

Nope...not looking for validation or praise. I've listened to everybody's advice and opinions and I really do think about everything. In fact, I have a text file on my computer where I copy/paste every reply I get for future reference. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I have to follow every piece of advice I'm given. I've already said this so many times. Look at my previous posts in this thread if you'd like a reminder. If I automatically followed somebody's advice, I wouldn't even be here; I'd be on Engineer Central Forums rather than Airline Pilot Central Forums. And by the way, I believe it was you who began this entire discussion on education choices. I posted the variety of education options to the original OP (who obviously has been scared away by now ) That's it.

Additionally, as I've noted before, I have great respect for our armed forces and I have never referred to the military as a whole as "those war type guys."

 

Now I'm just a public school educated person from the south central skyover, but I usually scored in the 50+% in readin' comprehension through school and if I put the original post together with your response to that post it seems to me that you pretty well lumped the military into a type of "gun/fighter plane/bomber/WAR-TYPE PERSON."

You did a nice step backwards but at least have the moxy to own your words.

I hope that you truly have listened to some of the advice given to you on this thread. IN a couple of years - you might still be on the forum and we'll wonder if you will be posting thanks or be another disgruntled, bitter, and broke pilot. Speaking of education, except for Skyhigh (and he is a chess piece apart), can you point to a post, from the other users who have been most engaged with you during this conversation, that tries to dissuade you from flying? Most of us on here, as bcrosier has said, were just like you at one point (except I was like war-type person) and I sure do wish that I had had a resource such as APC to ask questions and get answers from knowledgable folks who have been where I want to be. I had to spend a long time in lines at the airshows to get a quick question in before being moved on along to the next line.

USMCFLYR

 

I was trying to get a point across, and I do hope that you can see that broader point.


I'm really not in the mood to argue over irrelevant, and quite frankly, petty issues, anymore. Splitting hairs over wording really isn't why we're here. So since usefulness of this thread is pretty much gone, I'd like to bid adieu to this thread. See you 'round the forums!

Edit: didn't see your additional edit. When I mentioned the engineer thing, it was advice from my parents that I was referencing. Sorry for the confusion.

If things do work out for me, it certainly would be a pleasure to fly with you sometime! And no, I'm not being sarcastic If you got to know me in person, you'd soon see that I'm not nearly as uptight and ------ as evidently I appear sometimes on the interweb!

 

1) I knew there was something suspicious about you!

2) Isn't that the truth. I don't know whether I would have done anything different if I'd had the input, but I'd like to think I would have done at least a few things differently. It keeps going back to the fact that we've had a map-shift in this industry since my peers and I graduated and now. Those who started out back in the 1990's or earlier are somewhat stuck (don't get started SkyHigh ). What amazes me is the number of people even today who don't see how radically the industry has changed in the last 10-15 years, and still plan as if it were the industry of 20+ years ago despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

I know about the retirement numbers; who knows, maybe this time there really will be that pilot shortage predicted in 2000, and the 1990's, and the 1980's, and the 1970's... and probably in 1903.

In the words of Wayne from Wayne's World: "Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt."

But maybe I'll be wrong...

Of course then there is the article in IEEE Journal about passenger UAV's eventually overcoming public resistance and technological issues... (but that's a WHOLE different topic)

 

Indeed there have been some radical changes to our industry over the last 20 plus years. A USair captain here said that in the 1980's a 737 captain earned the equivalent of 420K per year in 2010 dollars. Now it is around 120K. In addition pilots work longer each month and a have a considerably discounted retirement or none at all.

A young person who is considering the profession could have as much as 40 years ahead to think about. If one were to project the rate of change that has been happening into the future it is a grim prospect.

Skyhigh

 

(I know I said I was done with this thread, but oh well )

What is the future of the pilot profession in general? What I mean by that is, what happens if the typical aircraft cockpit has just one pilot rather than two because of automation? What happens if "flying cars" become more mainstream? (Sounds silly, but I just saw a piece about them on CNN a few days ago) If things "work out," I'll be flying for over 40 years. A lot can change during that period of time.

 

Honestly, questionable at best. It's certainly not going away overnight, but I fear a steady continual erosion (in pay and QOL initially, and later in numbers) is a likely scenario. But that's just my glass half empty take on things. The article in the IEEE Spectrum (December 2011) definitely gave me pause, as I've been a naysayer on that issue for a while now.