Get a degree in something that interests you. The only real requirement for most airlines that list a degree or to make you competitive is a four year degree. No airline requires it to be in a certain field which is why many (myself included) think aviation degrees are worthless. Aviation degrees put all your eggs in one basket and that can be dangerous if the airlines aren't hiring or worse, you get laid off as I found out recently. Thankfully I've already been recalled but I had no luck finding a job outside of entry level retail with high school kids (no offense) because the economy is bad and nobody wanted to believe that my aviation degree would apply to their business. If you desire to spend the extra time/money to get a second degree so be it. The most common route to the regionals would be:

Get your private, then instrument, then multi and commercial ratings. Follow that with your CFI. Start instructing. Do that until you have at least 1000 total hours, and at least 100 in a multi engine hours. Those are the traditional minimums for regional jobs. These can go up and down depending on how many people they need and more or less desirable companies as well.

Many were hiring people with as little as 300 hours last year. Right now, most aren't hiring and when they begin again you might need more than 1500 total hours to even get a look. After 9/11 this was the case.

The instructing part could easily be done during college if you have the ability to start working on your ratings while you're in high school. You have to be 17 to get your private and 18 to get the commercial but you could easily have the times I listed above if you are able to start instructing by your 3rd year of college.

Your ambition is admirable, and I hope it doesn't diminish. However, make sure you take the time to enjoy high school. Enjoy college. Don't make your life revolve around the airplane because you'll be no fun to fly with and you'll regret that you didn't get to do all the fun stuff the guy/gal sitting next to you talks about while you're BSing on a long leg. You have the rest of your life to work

You only need one four year degree. No for a double major or masters, as far as the airlines are concerned. What you major in isn't too important to the airlines but you should try to do something your interested in outside of aviation.

Ok that seems pretty easy. So i take it from what you're saying that I have to actually get the liscenses on my own correct?

Yeah. I'm not even sure if there is a flight school in Flag anymore. So, that could be a problem. It would be best if you went to a college that had a nearby flight school.

Oh ok. I take it ASU or UofA wouldn't be too bad then. How about community colleges? And do pilots need to have credit hours in anything?

Community college is fine, as long as you move on to the 4 year degree at some point. Pilots don't need any sort of credit hours. It's all about flight ratings and hours of experience flown.

What do you mean by "the" four year degree?

A Bachelors degree. Not a two year associates degree.

I might suggest you check out Jetcareers.com - Welcome They do a great job of explaining many of the questions you probably have.

OK I will. Thanks a lot for your help.

Vision can, and often does change in your late teens/early 20's. If you make it to age 23 with 20/20 vision you are probably going to keep it. If you parents both have 20/20 distant vision your odds are good.

Organizations such as CAP and High School ROTC often get a little carried away with that kind of stuff. In modern US military aviation you will be working with motivated professionals in a competitive environment. Don't rule it out lightly because of what hollywood tells you...they have never actually been in the military.


Aspiring pilots often talk about their flight simulator time...do yourself a favor and don't. Real pilots will think you are a dork.

Good idea, that's a great way to learn more about entry-level aviation.

EU citizenship would make you legal to work at Lufthansa, but the hiring realities may be much different...ie only the sons of senior Lufthansa captains need apply. Better reserach that, lots of euros on this web site pprune.org

There is no such thing as a fast route, but if you are going to work in the US the military would be the fastest and highest-paid route.

Any accredited college would be fine, get a 4-year degree in a non-aviation major (aero engineering would be OK).

$40K-$80K. There is lots of info on these forums about flight training, please read up on it.

All true. Under normal circumstances you can get a regional job within 2-4 years of starting your training.