Hi guys,

I'm British but I fly for a US regional. I have a Masters in Air Transport Management from City University London in the UK, however I do not have a Bachelors degree. The foundation for my Masters was my JAA ATPL studies which are considered to be the equivalent of a Bachelors in the UK.

Will only having a Masters and no Bachelors be a barrier to entry with a major in the US? My college is a well regarded and fully accredited UK university, so there is no question regarding the quality of my MSc.

Is a Masters there like an Associates in the US? If so, then yes it will be a barrier.

No, a Masters is exactly the same in the UK as it is in the US. It's a postgraduate degree. An Associates in the UK is called a Foundation degree. A Masters is generally taken after completing a four year Bachelors.

I would consider it a barrier. I put your Master's degree on par with an Associate's degree here. You cannot even get a Master's here without a Bachelor's first. Having your pilot's licenses is just that. It's not the equivalent to a degree here. Why don't you fly over in Britain if you are from there? You would make a lot more money there than you are flying for a U.S. regional.

3 Stripes,

This is an interesting programme. As you state, you REALLY don't have a undergraduate degree.Some airline recruiting departments are very specific about the accreditation of the schools attended by applicants. Delta and FedEx are examples of those airlines. Other airlines are not nearly as discriminating about educational backgrounds. Southwest is arguably one of the best jobs in the business and they do not require a degree at all.

Your situation is remarkably unique. Your first hurdle will be to argue in favor of consideration of your school. Then prove your programme is at least equivalent to a commonly accredited Bachelor in the US. (which without core 100 level English, History, Math, etc might be hard ... I'm also a product of a British school system and yes, I know the first year of college is pretty basic, but that's just the way it is)

You will discover (if you have not already) that accreditation in the United States is a non standard mess of inconsistent private agencies, often created at the behest of State regulation. There is not a single standard and schools form pseudo trade organizations which essentially self certify. Employers usually pick what they believe is the best certification standard for them and apply it like a filter. Name recognition and exclusivity mean more than they probably should in this game.

I think you are correct. Some US Majors will filter your application out before a human even looks at it. You will need an advocate on the inside to get a human to look at your paperwork and hopefully pass judgement in the affirmative. Then, you will be expected to describe the programme in detail and speak to how it benefits your employer.

However, the regionals will not be as picky and neither will Southwest.

I'm quessing there is a woman involved

That will be the issue, if anything. If your JAA ATPL qualifies as a bachelor's degree, then why doesn't another guy's FAA ATP?

Yes, I know that the JAA exams are much more comprehensive than the FAA ATP, but it could be more of a legal issue. Generally, the initial screening for applicants is either fully computer based, or done by lower level HR. You may need to get your application into the hands of someone higher up who can appreciate your unique situation. Try going to some job fairs to see if you can get some face time with a higher up at the airlines you're really looking at to get their take on it.

In the mean time, it's VERY easy to get an Bachelors here in the US on-line while continuing flying. Given that you've got a masters, and you convinced City University (good school) to take your ATPL as a Bachelors, you could likely start off with quite a few credits, especially if you didn't care about the name of the school.

Good luck.

Comair Academy is all you need!

Thanks for the replies guys. My main motivation behind this is to essentially determine whether to start a Bachelors degree online over here in the next few months.

To answer questions about why am I not flying in the UK? Well there are a couple of reasons. Firstly, as Rolf correctly identified, there is a woman involved. I'm married to an American and she has an excellent and stable career. Secondly, I used to fly in the UK, but if you think the US is a mess then try going to Europe. I was flying the A320, I got laid off because my airline 'needed to make significant cost reductions'. Six weeks after I'd be laid off along with 274 other colleagues the airline in question announced a 'wonderful' new pay to play scheme. Basically any Joe off the street could pay $50,000, get an Airbus type rating and would be 'allowed' to fly 150 hours for the company unpaid before being turfed out on to the street to allow the next schmuck to take their seat.

Airlines in Europe now only want 200 hour wonderkids who are willing to pay to fly. Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz, Jet2 etc are all at it. The only really viable option for me is BA who are yet to call and the Middle East. We're happy with life over here for the time being. I wait in hope of a call from BA, but for the time being life is good...ish!

Thanks for that. That was very informative. I'm naive. I thought just about every pilot in Europe was paid like Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, and BA pilots.