Agreed!

I joined the debate when someone said you couldn't get hired by a foreign airline without a degree. I know dozens of guys flying overseas for some serious airlines who don't have degree's.

If the pilot shortage is serious in the US, it may change, but I wouldn't plan my career on it.

I needed a 4 year degree so I could get a commission and fly in the military. If I had wanted to be an airline pilot, I would have know I needed a degree to get a job at a major.

So, I got a degree, along with >99% of major airline pilots in the US.

The end.

Not counting those hired during the strike in 85, I have flown with exactly 1 pilot at United without a degree. Lets call that 1 out of 5000.
Probably more than 5000. That makes it .02 percent.

The reason I know it is one, is I always ask where they went to school/learned to fly.

The one that didn't have a degree spent the whole round trip to LHR telling us how having a degree doesn't make you a better pilot, and that United really needs to hire more pilots without degrees.

That would be a very boring conversation 😝

ATCA // CPP / Airline Training Center Arizona

UNITED CAREER PATH PROGRAMM.
Join our team.
Are you ready to pursue a career with United Airlines? ATCA is currently recruiting and mentoring qualified flight instructor candidates into the United Airlines Pilot Career Path Program. Designed with the flight instructor in mind, this program offers employment at ATCA with a very exciting compensation package, and upon meeting CPP graduation requirements you’ll become an active applicant within the United Airlines hiring pool.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
High School/GED equivalent.*
Complete the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) with a score that meets United standards.
Certifications:
Current FAA First-Class Medical Certificate.
Commercial Pilot Certificate.
Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI).
Minimum Flight Experience:
500 hours of total flight time.
200 hours of flight instruction experience.
200 hours of instrument experience.**
Interview:
Participants must successfully complete both an ATCA and United Airlines structured interview.
CPP Graduation Requirements – Participants must:
Be on active service.
Complete both 18 months of service to ATCA and achieve 1500 total flight hours.
Meet the requirements set forth in the Training Performance Record chapter of the Policies and Procedures during the time of active service.
Meet the requirements set forth in the Dependability Record chapter of the Policies and Procedures during the time of active service.
Meet the requirements set forth in the Disciplinary Record chapter of the Policies and Procedures during the time of active service.
Hold a Bachelor‘s degree from an accredited institution.***
Complete a FAA approved ATP/CTP course and possess an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with Aircraft Multi-engine Rating.
Receive a ‚recommend‘ for hire by the United CPP administrator after completing a final performance review of the standards set forth in the manual.
Be approved by United‘s Pilot Selection Board.
* A pilot will be ineligible for hire at United until he/she has obtained a Bachelor‘s degree from an accredited institution, or otherwise has credentials established by United at its sole discretion and applicable to United new hires.
**Flight time in simulated or actual instruments conditions, or under IFR, with up to 50 hours in FFS, FTD 2/3 or FNPT II.
***If a prospective or active pilot instructor does not possess a Bachelor‘s degree from an accredited institution, ATCA will notify the United CPP administrator. The United CPP administrator will determine if the pilot has other credentials that are acceptable to United.

I flew with a pilot who wrote the launch roll program for the space shuttle. He decided that work wasn't interesting enough so he became a pilot mid career. I guess it averages out. That was not a boring conversation.

Oh yes.......And I have to deal with these people on a regular and painful basis!!

The 570 are the most respected pilots at United. The 539 were the scab wannabes.

The 570s were trained (as strike breakers), but NOT hired, prior to the strike, and then refused to come to work when the strike was called. They were all "fired" by United when they did not show up (although it is hard to say how you "fire" somebody that was never officially hired). It took the ALPA quite some time to get them back on the property, and more time to get back their rightful seniority.

The 539 were hired during the strike as permanent replacements (scabs). They do not have the official label of "scab" because they did not "turn a wheel in revenue service" which is what we have used as the "official" definition of scab.

Joe

The 570 are the most respected pilots at United, by the 570. A lot of the rest of us, not so much.

I never flew with one who I didn't enjoy sharing the cockpit with.