I’ve been working the ramp for one of the majors for a few years now and am eager to get in the cockpit. I have flown with a friend who is doing part 141 currently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Currently I am doing research into ATP and I like what I see thus far. I have financing secured, however my dilemma is not having a college degree, not even my AA. How feasible is it to knock out school while at the regionals. I am 27 so I’d like to get my seniority date as soon as possible. Any insight to a process along these lines would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Nick
That really depends on you. I know many pilots who got their degrees while at the Regionals and many who tried and just couldn’t seem to buckle down and do it. If you have the discipline it certainly can be done but you have to put in the time and the effort.
There are some online aviation degree programs that will give you college credit for your licenses and ratings. If it were me I’d do some research into one of those as it could probably save you some time and money.
Copy that, thanks for the info. I’ve recently read about liberty university offering credit for flight training. Will do more research into that avenue.
Getting an online college degree while at the regionals is absolutely possible to do and in fact many before you have done it. I would recommend looking into Utah Valley University.
Nick,
I’m currently a student at ATP and I plan on finishing up my degree while at a regional. I’ll add that for me, that pay bump from regional to major is enough to push me to finish that degree two times if I had to. Since we are on the topic I do have a question for the Mentors and anyone with this experience that I’ve been wondering about; once at a regional, i understand that you don’t have the most favorable schedule so being that i have seen @Chris mention how a face to face lecture is more valuable than online courses. I wonder if a classroom lecture is possible and if there is any idea how this would be achievable without having to miss classes.
As a newhire, whether it be at a Regional or Major, you don’t have the best schedule but as you gain seniority (which you can relatively quickly at the Regionals) you will have much greater control over schedule and life. The problem is if you wait till the point when you can actually do classroom learning you may be delaying your degree beyond the point where you could/should be applying to a Major.
So while eventually it might be possible to actually take classes, timeframe wise you’ll probably be better served studying online.
I would have to agree with what Chris said, I graduated from Utah Valley University with a bachelors degree in Aviation Management. For the better most part of the degree, most of my classes were only offered ONLINE.