BunkerF16

My son has decided he wants to be an airline pilot. As a military directly to JetBlue, one and only airline path, I have to admit my experience is lacking as to the best way to guide his path. I've done some research and I'm trying to figure out which is the best way to proceed. Seems to be a few paths out there but the two I'm contemplating recommending to him are as follows. Keep in mind, he doesn't have any desire to go the miltary route, so the pure civilian options are what I'm going back and forth.

1. ATP. He's a current junior. I was going to get him his PPL locally, to make sure his desire isn't because his old man does it. Also, I want to ensure he has the aptitude to do the flying, oral and written exams and handle the stress of checkrides. All the basic stuff that is ground level requirements to make this a career. After he completed his PPL, I believe ATP requires 78 hours not to have a 2 year degree in order to enroll in their program. After the ATP, I guess it's 2 years of instructing before applying for a regional airline then get in line like everyone else, while completing his online degree, to acquire the necessary experience to apply for the Majors.

2. We live near Western Michigan University. The other option would be send him to WMU to get his 4 year degree while also attending the local flight school associated with the college. After the 4 year degree, he's move on to instruct to get his hours before applying to the regionals, and ultimately the Majors.

3. ?? Any other options I'm missing that would be beneficial to investigate you could recommend.

If you're me, besides tell him not to become a pilot, what route would you recommend and help your son pursue if he really wants to become an airline pilot?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm going to repost this in the Majors section to get more views, so sorry for the duplicate posts if you see it there too.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Rick

BunkerF16

My son has decided he wants to be an airline pilot. As a military directly to JetBlue, one and only airline path, I have to admit my experience is lacking as to the best way to guide his path. I've done some research and I'm trying to figure out which is the best way to proceed. Seems to be a few paths out there but the two I'm contemplating recommending to him are as follows. Keep in mind, he doesn't have any desire to go the miltary route, so the pure civilian options are what I'm going back and forth.

1. ATP. He's a current junior in High School. I was going to get him his PPL locally, to make sure his desire isn't because his old man does it. Also, I want to ensure he has the aptitude to do the flying, oral and written exams and handle the stress of checkrides. All the basic stuff that is ground level requirements to make this a career. After he completed his PPL, I believe ATP requires 78 hours not to have a 2 year degree in order to enroll in their program. After the ATP, I guess it's 2 years of instructing before applying for a regional airline then get in line like everyone else, while completing his online degree, to acquire the necessary experience to apply for the Majors.

2. We live near Western Michigan University. The other option would be send him to WMU to get his 4 year degree while also attending the local flight school associated with the college. After the 4 year degree, he's move on to instruct to get his hours before applying to the regionals, and ultimately the Majors.

3. ?? Any other options I'm missing that would be beneficial to investigate you could recommend.

If you're me, besides tell him not to become a pilot, what route would you recommend and help your son pursue if he really wants to become an airline pilot?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm going to repost this in the Regional section to get more views, so sorry for the duplicate posts if you see it there too.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Rick

Myfingershurt

I believe he can get his cfi and start instructing well before he graduates. If he hussles he could be close to the restricted ATP mins by the time he would finish a qualifying collegiate program such as WMU, plus he would have a four year degree and not have to worry about online classes while he’s working at a regional. I did ATP but only because i didn’t decide to start flying until i was a senior in college and i wasn’t about to change majors. It fast and efficient but it’s very “self propelled,” meaning a lot of independent study and learning if you want to be successful there. I went from no certs to delta in ten years, and that’s counting the five year halt put on everyone’s careers with the age 65 rule.

Dixie320

Have your son get his private certificate. If he likes it, have him knock out a bunch of ratings over the summer and his free time. He doesn’t need to go to ATP for that.

He can start instructing and building time as soon as he’s 18. He can go to college and work as a CFI, and by the time he graduates he will have a class date waiting at a regional. He doesn’t even have to get a degree in aviation if he doesn’t want.

Jetlikespeed

I did the ATP no college route. Currently a CA at regional at 23. I’ll say there’s pros and cons. I went to the ATP in PHX and got my PPL in high school, recommended getting the PPL before going in. I was lucky to have a solid foundation before ATP which is needed as ATP is a pilot mil and will get your ratings but is up to the Studnet to study the ground material.

Pro: got my time quick by going to a location with good weather. There we’re good instructors down there which helped me immensely I credit them only busted 1 ride which was a fault of my own. Granted the quality of CFIs could have changed as its been 3 years. ATP has a tuition reimbursement which will pay 11000 back to your loan, just have to be with airline you sign with for 2 years otherwise you have to pay the loan back. I got done with the program at 19 and instructed for 2 years and then went to the airlines. Pro is you’ll get done quick a job lined up but I am still
working on my degree online. ATP also has the tuition reimbursement program with every airline. Doing lot CFII stuff at Atp helps in their life transition as you know airline Flying is all IFR So being fresh o procedures makes the transition easier.

Cons: no degree. A younger naïve me thought I would not need a college degree to get hired in major but alas I came to the realization I would and realize how important it is to have when we get hired at a major. If you you guys choose to go to ATP I recommend starting classes once there a CFIs. I waited till I was about a year and at my regional to start my degree, my regret was I wish I started sooner. If you guys choose to do the student housing Atp they have two and three-bedroom apartments in which you share a room with other student (I guess this could be a pro because you’ll get your college style experience of living in a dorm style and the friends I made there I’m still good friends with today). Atp doesn’t really provide much ground instruction it’s all up to the student to study so they’ll need to develop good study habits if they do not already have good study habits. It’s expensive when I went through I took out a 60 K loan but from what I hear from other people the prices of gone up quite a bit so you will be forking over and a good amount of money.

at the Atp in Phoenix we taught ASU‘s 141 program. Some students there really put their nose to the grind stone and graduate with their degree their ratings in three years. Me not doing the college route but seeing other people do it it’s can say it’s also not a bad route, I can’t speak much on it as I do I have a first-hand experience with it.

as a whole I was happy that he chose to go to Atp route so I was able to get in with the airlines young and had a good time and if you guys do choose to go to atp route my only regret was not starting college sooner to get that degree. If you do go to the Atp route I know it’s a little more convenient not going somewhere close to home but I would look into locations with better weather as that will cause less delays in training and expedite the instructing process to build hours.
Best of luck, let me know if you have any other questions on the ATP route.

Baradium

Send him up for a familiarization flight at a local airport and see what he thinks. If you are going to start having him train now, I recommend AGAINST getting anything more than private pilot before going to college because that's generally as far as you can already have and be part of the 141 training program. Send him to WMU, MTSU, or another college that has a robust flight training program to get his ratings. Going to one of these collegiate programs also gives him the chance of getting into the Delta propel program, which at least appears to be a big leg up on career progression.

Delta cares about where you went to school (not necessarily that it was an aviation school just that it was respectable), what degree you got (not basket weaving equivalent, although it's viewed in context of which school as well), and what kind of flight training you received. Not all majors care to that extent, but it can have an impact later in his career.

Start out by sending him up for an introductory flight or two. He can at least get a taste of it and make sure it's what he wants and you can decide how far to go with training beforehand. Do keep in mind that if he does initial training part 61 like that he might have to relearn things if they are not taught in the flight school's methods so it could make it more difficult if he goes the collegiate aviation route.

rswitz

ATP is very expensive but probably one of the quickest options to get everything done as fast as possible. There are other flight schools that are considerably cheaper, but less structured. Also, ATP is a pilot mill. There only goal is to get 1500 hours and go to a regional, which means the instructors there typically are not that enthusiastic or passionate about instructing. So the quality of the instruction varies greatly and it's a huge bummer to pay 75k for subpar training.

As for the 4 year degree - Personally, I'd just focus on the ratings and get a seniority number at a regional before worrying about the degree. Hiring is going to start ramping up in the next few years with the retirements and he's going to want to be in the action. Once happily sitting reserve at a prestigious regional carrier, he can bang out an online degree in whatever management on his laptop while waiting for crew support to call him for a Buffalo turn. This will be faster and cheaper because many online colleges will issue college credit for pilot ratings.

Best of luck in his endeavor. This is a great time to get in the industry.

Qotsaautopilot

Get started now on weekends and school breaks. Proceed with normal college path and get as many ratings as possible on school breaks. Hopefully have CFI by junior year in college and instruct as a part time job while finishing his degree. Make a couple bucks and build time instead of waiting tables. Get a degree in anything that’s not a joke and hit the regionals the day after graduation.

I feel like college teaches a person a lot about themselves and it’s an absolute blast if you don’t go to an all aviation school full of pilots. I wouldn’t skip it for ATP and an online degree.

TiredSoul

All if the above ^^^
Get a degree which is useful outside of aviation.

Hossharris

Look at the restricted atp minimums. I understand they change depending on where you get your instrument and commercial.

ie if you go through a university program, it’s 750 hrs but if you get it on your own, it’s 1000
hrs.

don’t know all the details.... just something I heard recently