Hi aviation community,
I am a Junior in college and am currently studying finance. My graduation date is December 2024. From April-August of this year I have so much free time to begin flight training. My plan is to obtain my PPL & Instrument ratings in that time period before school starts back up again in late August. From August-December, I will not progress in my training but rather fly once/twice a week to maintain my previous proficiency in my ratings. Then following graduation in December, I plan on continuing my progress towards being a commercial airline pilot. Is this path viable? How does it sound?
Revisiting one of your old threads, When to Start Flight Training?, I recommend holding off on any flight training if your dream is the airlines until you complete the degree. You’re super close to finishing your degree, and that should be your priority focus right now. Airline shortages are not going anywhere, neither are sign-on bonuses or tuition reimbursements.
As Martin said, ATP only has TWO entries, Zero Time and Credit Private. Now if you’re okay just the private pilot for now, that could be practical. But bringing up what Hannah mentioned months ago, your skills will perish if you do not use them consistently. If I was you, I would wait to start any flight training until you finish your degree, take the momentum of acquiring your finance degree into flight training and excel!
Also, I have not seen this question asked nor answered, do you have any flight experience that makes you say, “I want to become a commercial airline pilot?” One thing you could do in the meantime is take a few introductory lessons (which are logable hours) and get a small logbook that you can use even during your training at ATP, to start the countdown to 1,500…
I’m going to disagree with Brady here. I don’t see anything wrong with getting your PPL during your break. While it’s possible, I seriously doubt you’ll earn your IR as well. Training locally isn’t that efficient and if you get your PPL done in the 5mos you’ll be lucky.
Also keep in mind to get credit for your PPL with ATP, you need to have at least 78hrs of flight time. Keep flying and keeping your skills up until December, bang out your writtens and you’ll be fine.
Exactly what I wanted to hear, thank you Adam. I do plan on flying 3-4 times a week. I will be taking classes at a local flight school; we’ll see how efficient they are.
I think your plan is a good one, except I also do not think you will be able to get a PPL and an Instrument rating int hat time period. I say get the PPL, finish college, then go to a school where you can efficiently finish the rest of your ratings.
