I currently have an associates degree and will have my PPL by the end of the month. The next step for me is to start ATP before the end of 2019. With all this talk of “pilot shortage” or diminishing pilot numbers getting hired. Is it possible that a major airline down the road will consider me to fly for them? I understand I will be flying for a regional airline first. Most of the articles in the forum I found were a few years old. If anyone can provide more updated information for me I greatly appreciate it.
This question gets asked often and you should be able to find some recent posts. Regardless provided you have a clean record, do well in training and at your Regional, there’s no reason you couldn’t make it to a Major. You don’t say your age so that could be a factor? You’ll also probably want to get your 4yr degree as the Majors have a preference for that but you can get that in the future online while at a Regional. Short answer is sure why not?
Not sure which articles you’re referring to. If you’re referring to the online articles not on this forum then yeah. Those are a couple of years old. You haven’t seen a more recent article because nothing has changed. Why would it? Unless something unexpected happens, the largest amount of airline pilots will reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 every year from now until about 2040. After that retirement rates return to “normal.”
You will need a four year degree to be hired by the major airlines. The only exception to this is if you became part of one of American’s flow through programs at their regionals, which are PSA, Piedmont and Envoy. I would sure not count on a flow through program though as those are subject to change and lock you into a specific major airline. I recommend that you get the rest of your degree while flying for the regionals.