It’s been my dream to become an airline pilot for as long as i can remember. Right now I’m 19 going to plam beach state college in Florida because it’s close to home and my grant covers my whole tuition. I plan on getting my bachelors degree. I’m also planning on taking the intro flight next month. Right now I have zero time and barely any knowledge of the aviation field beause I just don’t know where to start but even so I’ve always dream of one day piloting the planes that I’ve been on. I need advice on what to do and how to start and plan out my career path. Also it’s my first year in college.
Hello Yeral and welcome,
Generally when I hear someone say they need “serious help” it’s because they fear they’re crazy? Hopefully that’s not the case here and you’re just looking for some guidance so let’s go with that one 
I also need to respectfully disagree in that it sounds like you know exactly where to start and are doing so. My best advice to you would be a) to take an intro flight and b) finish your education, and it sounds like you’re doing both so kudos. Beyond that, provided you enjoy the flight and it confirms your belief that this would be something you’d like to pursue it’s a matter of getting trained at a reputable flight school offering a high level of quality training (obviously I recommend ATP). Build the required 1500 hrs to fly for a Regional. Gain experience and continue building time flying at a Regional and eventually move on to a Major. It’s really that simple.
Sound reasonable?
Adam
Thank you for your response you have helped me out a lot and I do plan on going to atp which is why I’m going to take my intro flight at their facility in Fort Lauderdale. I would like you to hear out my current situation and tell me what you think or recommend. Right now I live with my parents and I have a part time job that pays well and like I mentioned I’m going to school for free. Once I get the feel for it in my intro flight I would like to start working towards my career as soon as possible. I’ve been looking into private pilot license and there’s an airport like 15 minutes away from me that offers classes. I would like to know if I should start there or wait the 4 years and start from zero at ATP in Fort Lauderdale.
Yeral,
I would absolutely recommend that you finish college before starting your flight training. It sounds like you have a great deal going with the free school, I would be hard pressed to give that up. You are going to need a four year degree anyways when you apply for the majors, so you might as well get it now.
Chris
Thank you Chris. Right I’m aiming for my bachelors degree. So I shouldn’t aim for both my private license and my bachelors degree at the same time but just focus on the degree first and if that’s the case is there anything else I could do to get a little head start.
Yeral,
I would really just focus on your schooling and doing as well as possible in your program. I got my private while I was in college and I felt that it took away from my ability to study for my classes. It is certainly doable, but it is biting off a lot when you could just wait and do all of your flight training at once. Waiting to do all of your training together will also keep your knowledge from getting stale.
Chris
Yeral,
I’m with Chris. While I appreciate you’re anxious, having your Private in your pocket (other than being cool) really won’t do anything for you. Not to mention if you earn it and don’t really use it for 4 years chances are you’re going to have to relearn everything. I’d save my money.
The only time I recommend someone getting their Private first is if they’re not really sure they’re going to fly and want to get more of a sense if it’s really for you.
Adam