Not unreasonable in today's market. But if it were my kid, I might feel bad telling them to skip the undergrad campus experience.

Also 135 is not going to be quite as competitive for the better majors as regional time.

I used to think that.... but I can tell you that the undergrad experience is not what it used to be... things are pretty bad on campus now, mental disorders on parade. Unless they are in a hardcore science/engineering type of degree they will probably be dumber when they graduate. Sad reality these days. I've only been out of college 15 years.

That pretty much sums it up. My degree has done nothing but allow me to check a box on the application, but it is a box that they expected me to be able to check. The HR people selecting pilots to interview and those conducting the actual interviews all have degrees and think that they’re important. It’s also something that they use to thin out the stack of applications that they have to review. Some of the pilots involved in the interview process that I have flown with seem to think that not having a degree shows that you think that the rules don’t apply to you. We all know that a degree is highly recommended (practically required), yet some decide not to have one. Things may change in the future, but for right now, someone without a degree should expect to watch others get hired and start building seniority while they wait for the airlines to change their tune. At the rate that the legacies are hiring, that could be thousands of seniority numbers and a ton of money.

That's what I try to tell people, they seem to not understand, that college has become the very thing they were established to prevent. It's like people are plugged into the matrix, it's a shame really.

Get your ATP at 21, upgrade at 23.

Or go into the military at 18, get a pilot slot, go right into delta at 26 or whatever the shortest contract you can hold. (Wasn’t a military guy so I don’t know how feasible this would actually be)

You need a degree to be an officer, you need to be an officer to fly, then flight school, then serve your commitment. That would be a neat trick to get all of that done by 26.

The fastest route to a legacy right now is probably Propel, or Aviate.

Pretty sure Air Force is a 10 year commitment after a year of pilot training, after getting your degree. Best case is degree at 22, pilot training by 23, GTFO at 33. You could do better if you go straight into the guard and become a part timer after about 3 years. So maybe 26 that way, if you can get the PIC time. And then you’re working two jobs...
Plus there’s the whole war thing...
I definitely wouldn’t do it to become an airline pilot.

A sharp individual could do the Guard track along with being a civilian CFI and be at a Legacy by 25-26. Not many people are that driven or talented but it’s possible. Although it’s from a different place in time a friend of mine did 20years in the Guard and 35ish years at Delta then retired at 61 in the left seat of a 777 a couple years back. And yes he’s set for life...

Degree is mandatory for commissioned officers. Masters essentially mandatory for career progression.

So commission at age 21 is about the earliest practical, and that's if you're exceptional.

2 years flights school (maybe a bit less if lucky).

Then your commitment starts: 10 years.

So early 30's is the earliest for majors, unless you do reserve/guard. In the later case if you do mil and regionals in parallel, you could reasonably get on with a major by late 20's.

Lot of good things a about mil (if you're so inclined), but if you're aggressive and have the aptitude you can actually get there faster as a civilian in today's climate. Mil is more of a sure thing, as far as the top-tier majors.