Perhaps today, but in the past, they most definitely were not all graduates. Chuck Yeager was not, for instance.

When I was in the USMC, there were "limited duty officers" flying, who were restricted to a maximum rank of LtCol. They had no degree requirement.

 

Hi all, I don't have a degree,,, but I have some other experience that might help... of course I do know that without the degree, I'm not getting hired at Compass or Delta... A few things I have been privelaged to do: trim a JT8 at 80% thrust, hang an APU in a snowstorm (737), Teach how to dynamically rig a CFM56, Install a TCAS system, build an aircraft from plans-fly it, install the first HUD system in a 737 (see SWA aircraft), R&R a CFM56 on an R.O.N., R&R all the flaps on a 737 after a mssive birdstrike, R&R the R/T, antenna and radomes on 72, 73, 74, 75 aircraft, remove and re-install-rig entire throttle quadrant on Boeing 737,757.... I could go on but you get the point. I don't have degree and am not qualified to interview for the big boys. I am working on a degree at the moment... it's a good thing to finally accomplish during this furlough.

 

The main reason for the 31 year old cut off is the 25 year retirement and 56 year old mandatory retirement age

31+25=56

 

Does anyone else think that requiring a 4 year degree to be a bus driver at a regional is the ultimate insult? I don't care about the educational aspect of the 4 year degree, I care about the principle of it. It's pretty sad really. And yes Compass is just another regional, even if you might have a flow through down the road. I can just imagine the fat yokels in the HR that probably have never even been to community college going through college grad resumes to pick who gets 19000 per year.

 

I don't think that requiring a 4 year degree at Compass is an insult, because they have a flow-through to Delta which DOES require a 4 year degree. If Colgan required a 4 year college degree, it would be a different thing.

But times have changed... with hundreds, if not thousands of qualified pilots looking for a job now, a 4 year degree is probably just another way to filter out pilots that Compass (and/OR Delta/NW) doesn't want.

 

There need to be a few things that allow a corporation to separate people out of a pack. A four year degree does that. Does it eliminate some great candidates? Yes, but it also gets rid of a bunch of people that would be trying very hard to prove their smarts.
I saw this first hand many many times at my former regional carrier. At DAL you know that 99,99999% of the guys have a degree, so there is absolutely no one upmanship going on. Yes, I mean it. A Captain knows that you have X qualifications and one of them is that you are able to complete an accredited (for????) year degree. It tells them that at a min you can complete a college approved curriculum. Does it make you smart? No, but it also means that you are not a dolt.

DAL likes advanced degree work. Most of the guys I fly with have post graduate degrees if not PHD's. It is not often that I fly with a pilot that does not have an advanced degree and or a business on the side. Most of the guys here are too smart for their own good.

Why we do it? Just another box to check and we have been doing it this way forever. Will it change? Probably not as we promote from within!

 

Let me throw out a hypothetical... Let's say someone with an ATP, 727 type, FE rating (jet) and 8000 TT, 1000 FE and age 30 applies for a job. Should a college degree be "controlling" on an applicant like that?

 

Yes. DAL requires one. It is a standard to start. It is their requirement and helps them to a certain degree hire the folks they want in their pilot ranks. Can't blame them, can't fault them. Don't have to like it either. It is just a requirement.

 

The bachelors degree is the new high school diploma. Not that it is easy to get, or that the people that have them didn't work hard to get them, but in the US today you pretty much need it to even enter the ring.

I don't think these companies are saying that you aren't qualified, by not having the degree. However, I think they would rather employ the type of people and personalities that they find in people that possess the education. The reason they don't care what your degree is in is because they want the lessons that you learned while obtaining your degree. They want the dedication, work ethic, maturity, time management and so on.

As someone else mentioned, there should absolutely be a more in depth training program to be an 121, or even a 135 pilot. Washington should take a really good look that the ATPL and consider it here.

 

There's no requirement to retire, but yes, you must be done doing "front line" operations on the month you become 56. Besides, not everybody, even with the current rules, will have 20 years "good time" at age 56.