I believe it was 5 out of 7.

 

SWAPA Family says 550 to be hired this year.

 

I am ALL for upholding our profession as much as possible but have to completely disagree with you on this. What the hell does having a degree in something totally non aviation related have to do with making a good airline pilot?! Are you kidding me?

So let me get this straight....we've done away with a sim check for applicants (which measures the skill sets required for the job directly), and now instead require a degree even if it's in basket weaving to get an interview/hired?! Now many majors also want to see volunteer work?! GMAFB!

There's few people out there that hold our profession in a higher regard than me or get more bent out of shape when I see one of our peers doing something that casts us in a bad light. In that regard, unprofessional behavior and dress (a big one amongst the many slob pilots in this country), do far more to hurt our profession in the public and management's eyes than not having a college degree.

Travel the world a bit and you'll realize that nowhere else is the professional piloting profession respected so little as here in 'Merica, yet I can promise you that we have the highest percentage of pilots at our major airlines with four year degrees.

The next time you travel to a foreign country try to observe how their flight crew are treated by the general public and fellow airline workers. I'll bet you that it's with a lot more respect than here AND YET FOREIGN CARRIERS DO NOT REQUIRE A DEGREE!

So I say make the psych eval and sim ride mandatory and get rid of fu fu bull^*+~ requirements such as a four year degree and volunteer work. Also, perhaps a course in properly sizing and wearing a pilot uniform should be mandatory as well as getting a clue on how to act like a professional while in public amongst our passengers and fellow airline employees.

A four year degree has NOTHING to do with flying an airliner and very little to do with upholding respect for our profession.

 

So because you chose on your own accord to get several degrees, you're going to cast the expectation of a degree on everyone else? That's what it sounds like.

The FAA makes it crystal clear what the requirements are to be a professional pilot and a bachelor's degree isn't one of them. Reasonable people can disagree about whether an airline having additional educational requirements makes sense or not. Whack makes a great argument above against it and I for one agree with him, and I have a bachelors and a masters.

But regardless, to say that if someone made it into the seat next to you on their own merits without a degree you wouldn't consider them a peer or a professional is a little arrogant. My guess is unless you asked them you'd never know who had one and who didn't...you'd only care how they performed their job.

That said, I do agree with you that the game is the game. The expectation and preference by companies for applicants to have a degree is well known. You may strongly disagree with it, but don't complain about not getting called if you continuously refuse to get a bachelor's degree - the expectation is uniform. But bro...get off your high horse about it.

 

I've flown with several degree types that can't fly for ****. And I've flown with several without degrees that can fly the box the airplane came in.

I've known former United chief pilots that flew over 100 combat missions in Nam without a degree too.

And to turn your nose down at folks that work with a rag or a wrench in their pocket--that just makes you a dick. It takes skills and talent to be a good mechanic.

Don't confuse work ethic and natural talent with a degree in history. When the **** hits the fan, I want a good stick next to me that knows the airplane.

Period.

 

Well said. That attitude will not sit well with most guys over here. That attitude is usually well taken around Atlanta, commanding hotel vans. Lets hope the screen name holds true for him

 

I understand your reasoning about the importance of a bachelor's degree and its direct consequence with labor negotiations and the respect between management and the pilot's union. I also support that pilots should attempt to obtain a college education. However, your disrespect towards these pilots who do not meet your "standards" is reprehensible. You do not know who these pilots are and do not know their backstories. Maybe one of these pilots could not afford a hybrid degree with flight training and they had to choose between attending a university or enrolling in a flight school. Maybe one of these pilots decided that they wanted to obtain their flight certificates only. Whatever the reason may be, by saying,"I have no patience for someone without at least a bachelor's degree asking to be one of my peers. To be blunt, those folks haven't earned the proper credentials to be called a professional." is disparaging. You or any other person can fight me on this until the end of time, however, the truth is that a bachelor's degree has no direct effect on the flying skills of a pilot. They may have more knowledge on specific areas and topics of aviation (suspecting that this person's degree was in aviation), but the fact is that a degree cannot make a person a better aviator. Only experience in the cockpit can truly do that. Even obtaining your flight training from a university like Embry Riddle does not make you a better pilot. I have flown with pilots from the "big" aviation universities and the pilot mill flight schools and I do not even recognize the difference. Each pilot has their own unique set of strengths and weaknesses, whether they obtained the bachelor's degree or not.

In the future, respect all of your fellow pilots and people in general. Also, do not worry, I'm sure Bill Gates is not 100% hurt by the fact that you do not think that he has the proper credentials to be called a professional.

 

Well Mr. multiple degree pants, may I pen and ink the above paragraph or two citing multiple grammatical errors? It's obvious you've received your degrees from unaccredited universities. Oh. And eff off!

 

It's actually very simple...

Why should we, or anyone else for that matter hire someone without a degree over someone with similar credentials who has a degree?

Bear in mind that there are thousands and thousands of applicants for still a relatively few positions. So the question is how do you differentiate between thousands of applicants with similar credentials?

Also, right or wrong, but the military pilots are still an unofficial preference at major airlines. Considering that they're officers, and a degree is a requirement to be an officer, it stands to reason that a competitive applicant will also have a degree.

Foreign major carriers often get their pilots from their ab initio programs and not from the retiring or separating military pilots or experienced regional pilots which is the case here. In fact, a few legacy European carriers won't even hire experienced pilots and will almost exclusively hire ab initio grads when they're hiring new pilots.

A degree/volunteerism requirement is an example of a simple supply/demand curve here and means to differentiate between applicants given the sheer volume of applications.

 

the short answer is companies want to hire well-rounded individuals, and having a degree is seen as being a part of that.