ERAU1978grad

I am a 1978 Air Science graduate from ERAU. I spent $32,000 back then and have no idea what the cost is now with fuel prices included.

When I graduated from the DAB campus I had a CFI, 350 hours and was literally THROWN TO THE WOLVES. I spent 5 years as a CFI and night freight pilot accumulating 2000 hours. I added an ATP in a Citation, and CFI-single land and sea, multi land and sea, glider. I had to pay for the Citation training out of pocket.

I applied to all of the airlines and they wouldn't even look at me. An Air Science degree from Riddle meant nothing then and it still means nothing.

You have to realize that there are thousands of pilots out there who will do anything to fly, but there are only so many cockpit slots that need to be filled....and your competition will fly for a lot less than you can survive on.

My decision to 'become an airline pilot' was the worst decision I have ever made and was a financial catastrophe for me and my family. There is no guarantee you will ever make it and if you don't you will spend the rest of your life trying to pay of $thousands$ in school loans by flying airplanes in charter and corporate hell for the rest of your life. You will not have a family life, you will live in a small house in a crappy neighborhood and you will own one little crappy car.

I did an informal survey a few years ago. I pulled out my old Riddle yearbook from 1978 and wrote down the names of the guys who graduated with me in Air Science. I then went to the FAA Airman Database and searched to see how many still had an active pilot's license. Only 25% were still flying. In other words 75% OF THE CLASS FOUND OUT LIKE ME THAT FLYING AIRPLANES IS A LOUSY WAY TO MAKE A LIVING. Out of the guys I graduated with, only 8% had advanced type ratings which indicated they were flying for the airlines. In other words, 92% of the class did not make it. I have no idea what they are doing now, but they all left school with huge loans to pay off and no way to do it.

Proof that Riddle knows there is a problem here: it started the '0-to-250 hours to an ASA co-pilot job program'. That program has now been discontinued. You are still thrown to the wolves.

I was VERY lucky do be able to do a 'do over' as kids say. I started in a new career. I eventually went back to school in 1984 and got a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee, a regular university with an established reputation. Trust me, engineering pays a HECK of a lot more than piloting airplanes and it is truly a white collar job with a desk and a constant salary with a guaranteed annual increase and a retirement account. You work indoors with smart people who own nice homes and have a family life.

The truth is that airline pilots are blue collar workers who are paid hourly wages and stand on picket lines when things get bad, just like a coal miner or factory worker for General Motors. The majority of them do not have retirement accounts to look forward to supporting them when they retire. The sad fact is that they still will do anything to fly airplanes. Idiots.

I STRONGLY suggest that you take your $50,000 and go to law school. Anyone with half a brain can get a law dergree and you have a much better chance at being home with your family, living in a nice house and owning more than one car.

flyerNy

ERAU1978grad, you make good points.

ERAU1978grad

........... especially if your pilot job drys up and you have to do something else...oh, I guess it does qualify you to be a baggage handler.



Right on. I have so many friends on furlough righ now it isn't funny. Some have been on furlough for ten years !!!!!!!!! and are still waiting for that glorious airline pilot job. Idiots!

Uncle Bose

Posts like yours are my favorite! I'm an ERAU grad in the process of a do-over. Too bad those student loans can't be reset.

ERAU1978grad

I ended up consolidating all of them at a lower rate. Just the interest on it was killing me.

I put a similar post on the bulletin board of the ERAU web site about 6 years ago. You would not believe the hate mail I received. Dr. Stephen Sliwa, the president of the university, even emailed me and stated that the school knew it had a problem with Air Science graduate placement and was working out a deal with a carrier to provide jobs directly after graduation. I think that the 'Zero to 250 hours and an ASA job' was the result.

Here is the news release:
http://www.erau.edu/er/newsmedia/new.../1998/asa.html

The ERAU web site presently states that the program has been suspended.

The school very soon afterwards took that bulletin board down. All submissions are now reviewed prior to posting. I really appreciate boards like Airline Pilot Central for letting be vent. Maybe guys like you and me can turn bright eyed kids away from a career that will ruin them.

The eye-opener here is that they knew they had a problem back in 1978 when I graduated, and they STILL had that problem in 2006. Holeeee crap, how many young boys and girls graduated in that thirty-year time span and ended up horribly disappointed at their decision? How many had to make life-altering trade-offs later on because they were walking around with a huge debt to pay off and no real income? How many eventually threw in the towel and declared bankruptcy?

Golden Flyer

ERAU1978grad your hate for Embry Riddle is passionate Remind me of the Catholics and the Da Vinci Code situation. Anyways, I understand how you feel, can you belive I changed 100% over a period of two weeks ? I came online and got feedback from these lifesavers on here. its always good to talk to people with experience whatever the case might be. I wasnt too far away from taking a loan from NelNet to cove $140K for ERAU... Now I look back at it and I want to laugh, but i cant even crack a smile God KNOWS I WOULDNT PAY THAT SH*T BACK! I WOULD'VE BECOME A FUGITIVE ON THE RUN! Change my name, move to like Sicily or something, become the black DeNiro. Can't believe I was so damn naive, I figured i wouldve save and pay everything back and have a savings in the matter of 5 years. WEIRD!!! Just WEIRD!! When I called Embry-Riddle and spoke to one of the instructors about the NelNet and everything, he asked me if I know how much the regionals are paying and kinda schooled me. He hinted every bit not to come to the school!!!!!!!

Uncle Bose

It gives me some measure of satisfaction to think I could have been one of those lifesavers. Lord knows a good percentage of my posts are anti-ERAU. They're scumbags, pure and simple. Their propagandized recruiting schemes are nothing short of criminal. I will say one thing for them, however--the aero sci degree program is so embarrassingly easy, I was able to put forth minimal effort for a solid GPA; a GPA which looked quite good on my application to the University of Florida graduate program in CPA accounting.

rightseater

lol you can drink every night and go to class half the time and still get above a 3.5

727C47

ERAU1978 ,sorry it didn't work out for you,but some of us actually love this flying career thing,you are welcome to your office. By the way I agree with you about ERAU.

Uncle Bose

I know, I know....just don't tell the UF admissions board.