As a cross between an expensive four year school like Embry Riddle and a faster flight school, you might consider a community college such as Tarrant County College.

I have attached a brochure on them. Anyway, its a two year degree, so a good stepping stone for further education, but also earns all your licenses and ratings through CFII in a two year period.

(I'm not sure if the attachment is showing, but you can PM me if not)

Option number 1 is definitely your best option. There is no rush, the pilot hiring climate is going to be great for years to come (unless there is another 9/11 type event).

Option 1 gives you the best chance of getting all your ratings without going into massive debt. Keep the job you have right now and fly a couple nights a week after work and during the weekend. When you get all your ratings and want to go full time CFI to build hours, then quit your job.

You don't want a massive amount of debt when you start the low paying years working for the regionals. A significant amount of your pay will go to paying interest on your loans.

Would you rather start working for the regionals in 3 years with $50,000 - $100,000 in debt, or 5 years with no debt?

Thanks a ton for your response! The only thing I see when looking at the numbers is that it doesn't seem like training at a smaller local operation would save that much money. ATP, American Flyers, US Aviation, all of these guys seem to be in the $55-$75k range for roughly 300 hours + ratings through MEI.

It seems like you'll spend roughly the same at my local FBO if not more. At the very least it seems like one of those Part 141 schools will land a CFI job a little easier and perhaps provide a gateway to an interview. The other worry I have is that a college education will be pretty much standard by the time I'm at 1,500 hours. Should I be taking classes with one of the schools that offer a college program in conjunction with their training so I don't end up at 1,500 hours 2-3 years down the road and then need to pursue a degree!

As always, everyones insight is greatly appreciated.

Well, what I was trying to say is to get your ratings while you are making money at your job, and pay for them with any disposable income you may have. Do not quit your job and shell out $70,000 out of pocket to get them. That is what I meant by choosing option 1.

Others with more experience in here can tell you that the "pipeline" thing ATP and some other flight schools tout is very overrated. All you get is an interview, which you would have probably gotten any way just having the min credentials.

CFI Jobs are not hard to find these days, so that should be a minimal consideration.

Remember that the advertised prices are based on the minimum hour requirements. If you go to one of the pilot mills, what will you be paying per hour for overages? These overages can add significantly to your costs.

ATP is $450/hr for overages in the seminole. That's more than double the local rate here for a wet seminole + instructor.

It looks like you've evaluated your options and that's a good thing. Have you considered military?

When I was at Women in Aviation International conference in March each airline gave a brief and Delta told us who they consider to be the "most competitive" to be offered an interview. They listed 1. military and 2. a graduate from a well known flight academy. That doesn't mean that they don't hire folks from other paths because they definitely do that and plenty of Delta pilots have different backgrounds. Do you have a college degree? I'm pretty sure that most majors will require that you have one. That being said, if the military isn't an option and you can afford the time and money to go to ERAU or similar school I think that's a great option for you.

I don't see any bad options that you listed, I just put in my 2 cents since you asked. Good luck!

USAF, The Original American Flyers

GF

Military is a very big step and is not for everybody. If the only thing you want to join the military for is to get your ratings, please do not go this route. I don't want you in my military.

Thanks for the follow up! Military was always my dream route but I think I might be too old to get into the flight program with the AF, USN, etc.

Glad you brought up college because I actually didn't go to college out of highschool, started working right away instead. Looking back, I think that was a smart play since there are lot more options out there for education and I've also been able to save in order to pay for this dream!

Brings me to my next set of questions after researching for the past few weeks.

Most recently I've been thinking of going the Utah Valley online route to go with my local flight training.

Keeping that in mind, I've looked into some similar programs and have recently come across the Liberty University which works with some Cessna Pilot Centers.

Anyone have input on either of these?

Thanks!