So I am 23 I was going to a small community college for aviation. In 2020 I got deployed and had to put all my flight training on hold leaving me at 240hrs and no commercial (But have PPL with Inst addon). I came back and the head of the program told me too many things have change and I should go else where. Leaving me bummed out, its 2022 and I am having a really hard time finding where to go and what to do to complete my training as my end goal is to get to regionals. I would like to do it through a program like this not attached to a college as I already have done that. Question I have is what would anyone recommend for me to get back into it and going towards my goal? I’m honestly lost on where to go and what to do to finish commercial and get my CFI, CFII and so on. I have kind of beat myself up for not knowing how or where to go to finish. Any help would be great!
Your best route would be to find a school with an accelerated program that will pick up your training at commercial. Unfortunately, ATP’s program has only entry points at zero time and credit private. A local flight school will have the most flexibility starting you at Commercial but you may face challenges getting your training done efficiently.
Did you end up finishing your degree? If not, completing that either at a community college or online should be a priority for you as well. Just don’t try to achieve flight training at the same time because one will suffer. Best to do that while you time build or at the regionals.
Short answer is yes, you should definitely get back into it if that’s what you’d like to do. The industry is in the midst of the greatest pilot shortage in history. Unlike it past, where there was alot of ambiguity regarding getting hired, that’s no longer the case. Earn your licenses and ratings, build your time and a long as your record is clean you will get hired.
As to where sooner and faster are always better. This is ATPs forum and we’re all successful grads and are therefore partial to ATP. While i understand you might not want to repeat your instrument training, ATP could have you instructing and building time in just 5mos. Definitely something to consider.
Thank you for the response sir really means a lot!
I see online through the program that they don’t accept past the IFR rating so would I have to go back through the IFR or would I be able to just start Commercial all over again?
You would need to do the instrument training all over again, you just would not take the checkride. I will say that two years is long enough that you might need a significant amount of the instrument training again anyways, it just depends on how much you retained. IF you do not go to ATP, there should be a local flight school in y9our area that can help you finish up, just make sure they are able to help you get your CFI ratings as well.