Hi, I am a High School senior and aspiring pilot trying to decide about fallout options.
Is a degree in Aviation Management a good fallout/backup option for a Pilot? I see everywhere that aviation degrees are pretty much useless other than being a pilot, but I am not sure if that is in reference to just the basic aviation/professional flight degree, or any sort of aviation degree at all (management included).
I know that, other than being a pilot, my first choice of a career would be something within an airport or airline, which makes me think that Aviation Management would be my best degree option.
First I have to say I’ve never heard the term “fallout” used in this way. Thank you for keeping me updated on the current slang.
When we say aviation degrees are useless that’s pretty much as it pertains to flying jobs. Also often people end up not flying for a living want to be as far away from the airport as they can. That said if that’s something you think you’d like to do by all means go for that. Totally your decision.
If it interest you, it can’t be a waste of a degree. However, as a backup degree in case of future furloughs, you don’t have as many options. Typically if airlines are furloughing pilots, every sector of the aviation industry is getting hit just as hard. So if you are out of work as a pilot, I imagine you won’t have much luck getting hired within any other airline or FAA office with an aviation management degree.
A business, finance or tech degree could provide a multitude of jobs that would be completely independent of the aviation industry. Just something to think about.
Okay, that is good to know as well. I guess I was referring to if I ever were to lose my medical certificate for some reason, but I did not even consider being furloughed. Thank you
I kind of like “fallout” as opposed to “fallback”, I might adapt that term.
I would recommend getting a generic business administration degree, not an aviation management one. A generic one can apply to any industry and much of business is the same, no matter what the industry is. An aviation degree is very targeted and could actually limit you later.