Where to start?
 

Im 20 years old finishing up my first year in college for a career that has been un decided. Recently the idea of pursuing a career in aviation has been strongly pounding my thoughts and I would like to get some suggestions on the best way to go about starting with the goal of flying with the majors. I live in F.L and would like to know any resources, schools, programs, and any additional things that you could suggest to me to start researching and looking into. I dont want to take the military path and am willing to grind the hours any other way. So please let me know in your opinion what would be the wisest way to go about starting with knowing little to nothing about where to begin.

Thanks
-Synergy

Welcome to the forums and good luck with your career.

I hope I don't come across as rude, but the best suggestion I can offer on this board is to use the search feature. Your questions have been asked (and answered) many many time on this board. Do a little reading, the information IS here

ADMIN: Can we add this question to the FAQ section? This has got to be a once a day question (or so it seems).

CHoices
 

To someone who is in college and trying to decide between Business School and Engineering Aviation can seem like more fun and it is. However, The odds of getting a good job doing it after college is very slim. The other paths might seem like a lot of work, and they are, but you get what you pay for. I would stay away from aviation if this is a casual interest.

SkyHigh

Go to the local small airport flight school and ask to take an "Intro" flight. It will cost about $50 and include about .5 hours of flying. You may get to take off and/or land. If you love it, you are on your way. If you can, take or leave it, you may consider other careers.

Thanks
 

Thanks. Im thinking of taking a accelerated private pilot course see how i feel after this and if i am still driven to take this path as a career i will take the Airline Career Pilot Training Course and do my best to build a background and hours to make it the "big leagues". If anything it can become a expensive hobby :). Though, i am very fortunate because i have a local airport a couple miles from me as well as the Orlando International airport which is only about 20min away. SunState Aviation Flight School is also located in my area and offer everything I would need to persue a career in aviation.
I figure if it is something in the end that i still feel passionate about then i have a good chance at making a succesful career. Im still very young and have time on my side to build seniority : P

quick question
 

What is the demand for pilots in the major airlines? Is there a hi demand or hi competition?
thx

Don't know if you've ever been exposed to any type of economics class but in the aviation industry right now there is a SUPER high supply of pilots that outweighs the demand by a large margin, hence the low pay when starting out. Don't mean to discourage but those are the facts.

Your plan to start with a PPL is excellent. Hang out at the clubs, meet some people, ask about what's going on. If you really enjoy flying after you finish the PPL, then consider your career options. Do your homework before you sign up for advanced flight training. The flight school industry has the most dishonest and unscrupulous salesmen I have ever encountered in any industry.