Hello, this is my first post here and I’ve been needing some clarifications on this topic; I’ve heard different things from different people. I’m 24 and just graduated from college with my BBA “business management” degree. Immediately after graduation I enrolled in ATP’s airline career pilot program to pursue my dream of being a commercial pilot, eventually for a major airline. I am currently a month into my training and am starting to wonder whether or not the fact that I earned a bachelors degree at an accredited university will benefit me in my career as being a pilot in the airlines. Will my BBA ever set me apart from other competition when being hired? Will it ever help me earn a higher salary? Is it a requirement to have a degree for employment in a major airlines anymore? Any feedback and clarification would be appreciated, thanks.
Thomas,
The major airlines require a four year degree. The only exception to this is people that flow through from American’s wholly-owned regionals,Piedmont, PSA and Envoy. Without a degree, it is almost impossible to get hired on at a major outside of a flow through agreement to American.
All pilots on a seniority list at a company are governed by the same contract and everybody is paid according to that contract, so your degree will not earn you a higher wage. The only things it will help in is being qualified to apply to a major and potentially applying to management jobs at an airline, if you chose to go that route.
Chris
Thank you for your swift and quick response with this matter. I’m honestly glad to hear that all my hard work while attaining my BBA will pay off in my aviation career. A lot of students at ATP are misinformed regarding this matter and are not taking the education requirement seriously. I will spread this information on to my peers as well.
Thomas,
The Regionals are in a hiring frenzy and everyone with a pulse and 1500hrs is getting hired. There’s also much press about flow-thru’s and some of the Majors will look at pilots without a 4yr degree. BUT, this is not the norm and the Majors aren’t the Regionals. They’re still VERY selective and still want that degree. Furthermore flow-thru’s have a lot of fine print and no Major is going to cannibalize their own Regional. Everyone one knows a guy who knows a guy who’s cousin was hired with the bare mins, no degree bla bla bla and that might even be true. Aside from the fact your degree makes you more desirable it also gives you options. Again yes some Majors will hire a pilot without a degree but that’s after they’ve grabbed those with AND some Majors still won’t. You’ll be a solid candidate for ALL the Majors and when you get hired YEARS before those waiting for their flow to kick in you’ll know you did the right thing. That and of course should you ever change careers (voluntarily or not) you’ve got the degree in your back pocket.
Adam
Thank you very much for this information, it was extremely helpful and clarified everything. I’m very pleased to hear my degree will always serve me well in life. Thanks again, and I wish you well with your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Thomas
Hi Adam,
Would you mind elaborating on the flow-thrus? I was interested because you said that there is a lot of fine print. I also noticed the comment “when you get hired YEARS before those waiting for their flow to kick in you’ll know you did the right thing.” I ask this, because I have been doing a lot of research on flying for Envoy, specifically because of their flow-thru agreement. Thanks for your insight.
Nate
Nate,
Flow through agreements can be great, but there are some downsides to them. The big one that Adam was talking about is that under a flow through agreement, the major airline takes pilots from the regionals in seniority order and they often do not do it at the fastest rate as they do not want to cannibalize their own regional carriers. Contrast this to a regional pilot who does not wait for a flow through, but actively gets out there and applies to other majors with a solid resume, this pilot will probably get to a major several years before somebody who is simply waiting for a flow through to get to them.
Chris
Nate,
EXACTLY what Chris said is what I meant. In addition the fine print often makes reference to “X %” of their hiring will come from a flow and that % is often low and contingent on the availability of pilots at that Regional. People need to understand if the Major needs 100 pilots they will and cannot take all 100 from their Regional partner with a flow. Doing so would cripple the Regional thus crippling the Major. I witnessed that at Continental years ago which is where my caution comes from. As Chris said they can and sometimes do workout but I definitely wouldn’t put all my hopes and dreams in that flow basket.
Adam
Hi Chris and Adam,
Thank you for getting back to me quickly. I will actually be graduating with a Bachelors in Business Administration in a few weeks, so the whole cannibalization thing makes sense to me. Thank you for explaining that.
I do have one more quick question. Say I got hired with Envoy. If it was taking too long for me to get one with American is there anything stopping me from applying to another Major and forgoing the flow-thru?
Thanks again,
Nate
Nate,
Absolutely not, in fact I would recommend applying to any major that you would like to work for as soon as you meet their minimums.
Chris
Nate,
Again I’m with Chris, ABSOLUTELY not AND more important that’s my point and what started this thread. Things are fantastic in the industry right now, everyone’s getting hired and paid and the world is a beautiful place where no one gets furloughed and EVERYONE upgrades in a week and half and is at a Major the week after. Problem is I’ve been doing this for a few years and have seen a few things. Get hired by a Regional with a flow-thru and hopefully you’ll flow onward and upward without a hitch, FANTASTIC and I sincerely hope no pilot ever sees the dark side of this job. BUT again, things stall just a bit and ALL those naysayers running around without a degree telling those with one they’re wasting their time will be wondering why those that do are going elsewhere while they’re stuck because ALL they have is the flow-thru. The single best thing any pilot can do to have a long successful career is give yourself as many options as possible.
Adam