college?
 

is it worth going to college or just get everthing to fly for a regional?

College, if only for the college girls and to grow up.

Well it depends on what you want to do. If major airline flying is not what you want to do, then you won't need it. And fractionals and corp flying will have a better future than the airlines ever will. There are guys flying charter/fractionals/corp who have never stepped foot in a college class. HOWEVER, it's a good idea to learn other skills besides flying like business, real estate, etc. so that if something happens you have a backup.

Not required. . . but suggested and will help getting into the majors.

Have you searched this forum yet?

Let me throw out a few situations...

-You are 40 years old, flying for a living, making good $$$ with a wife, 2 kids, and a home. You go to the doctor to get your 1st class medical, but your blood pressure is too high! No medical certificate. Now what? Will you go and wait tables for minimum wage? Should have gone to college to get that degree.

-You are 40 years old. Been at a regional airline for 15 years, making 80k a year. Plenty of PIC turbine flight time. More than enough to go with a good airline that will soon pay you more than twice what you make at that regional. Southwest, FedEx, whatever major airline is doing good at the time. Oh well, majors are out of the question. Should have gone to college to get that degree.

-You are 25 years old. You are a FO at your regional. Suddenly, your airline goes out of business. The economy is in a recession, and therefore multiple airlines have pilots on the streets. Sure, there are 1 or 2 companies hiring, but those 10,000hr airline guys are taking those jobs. No good flying jobs anywhere. Aviation sucks. I want to get out, but how? Should have gone to college to get that degree.


If there is one thing I can tell you about the airline industry with absolute certainty, it's that there is NO CERTAINTY! The only stability is INSTABILITY. This industry is cyclical. One day Pan Am and TWA are ruling the sky. The next day they don't exist. One day your making 300k a year with a fat pension. The next day you take a 30% paycut with almost no pension. One day your on the top of the world flying a Boeing 737. The next day your unemployeed.

This is where the college degree comes in. You should be prepared. At the bare minimum, a college degree is a good backup in this unpredictable industry. If it gets so bad that you (or your family) cannot handle it, get out. But you will be hard pressed to find a good job without a college degree. Not to mention you are cutting your aviation career opportunities in half. WITHOUT a college degree, your career will likely end at a regional making a max of 90k a year. WITH a college degree, your career can end at a major airline, flying heavy jets, making 180k a year. By not getting a college degree, you are ultimately trading A LITTLE money now for A LOT of money later on. You will be kicking yourself later for that decision.

If for nothing else (backup, aviation career opportunities, etc...), getting a 4 year degree should be the best 4 years of your life. They were for me. They are for most people. And you will be a better, more educated person.
I know some smart people who didn't get college degrees. But I can tell you that ALL of them (yes, every single one) wishes they had got a college degree, and they highly recommend getting one to younger kids. Not that you can't be successful without a degree, just that it is a lot harder and a lot more unlikely.

I would recommend with all my might that you get a college degree.

946, I agree with you in principle but in real life a degree won't be worth much if all you've done is fly planes. A degree becomes worthless if you don't practice it after college. Some guys I know who got out of the business are doing jobs that don't really need college like business and such. A degree is only a ticket to getting a job at the airlines, nothing more. Also your examples may be good for airlines but there are other forms of flying that will have job security for a long long time, such as fractionals/corporate.

Here is my suggestion, if you want to fly planes for whoever, go online and do your entire degree online. If I could do it over again I would have done the BA through Phoenix Online and went to work for somebody.... If it wasn't for school holding me back I would have probably been hired and have had seniority somewhere by now. Do the classes every week but, do it when its convenient for you, online. I will finished with my BA end of Aug and I vow I will never set foot in a classroom again. I am begining my MBA immediatly and probably my PHD but, I will never see the inside of a classroom again. I am doing it all online probably with Phoenix Online.

Learn, live, drink, screw, get a degree. Never met someone later in life that said the wish they never went to college. Go to college kid.

Haha! Well said. VERY WELL SAID. I think your two sentences may do the same my 50 sentences did. Your post is very true.

goto a good state school. those loans wont be as tough on you when ur an FO, plus it beats the nerdsville of an ERAU or DWC type school.