Schooling

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

Hey, I’ve been working for two years and want to start school again and was thinking about becoming a pilot. Are there any schools that will give you a 4 year degree in flight school? Or is my only option too go to flight school and then go to online school while working for a regional?

2

Austin,

There are many universities across the country that have aviation programs and offer flight instruction as part of the curriculum. The downside is they’re generally expensive and it’s 4 yrs before you can start building time so there may be better routes to the airlines. I suggest you do some Googling and take a look at your options. Embry Riddle, Arizona State, Kent State and Auburn are just a few.

Adam

3

Look for schools that are FAA approved

4

Christina,

Can you define FAA approved and tell us why Austin should look for one?

Adam

1 Like
5

Yes - FAA stands for Federal Aviation Administration. You want to look for a flight school that is FAA approved for several reasons:
-they have better quality training, standards to their curriculum, equipment and facilities.

You can find more info by going to this website faa.gov
https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/training/pilot_schools/

6

I would argue that a Part 141 school—which I can only presume you’re referring to as an “FAA-approved school”— has better quality training. They are required to adhere to a curriculum that is approved by the FAA but quality of instruction is not dependent on whether the school is a Part 141 or a Part 61 outfit… I think folks automatically equate Part 141 and it’s lower hour minimums to better quality of instruction.

7

Christina,

Yes I’m aware of what the acronym stands for thank you. Do you know why the FAA was originally created? It actually had nothing to do with safety but that’s another conversation.

Ok let’s assess:

  1. They have better quality training. Really? What are you basing that on? The FAA (for better or worse) is a gov’t agency. Now while I’m a proud American citizen I wouldn’t say our gov’t is necessarily the most “efficient” or best at many of its tasks. The TSA reports over 80% of THEIR workers fail spot checks. Have you ever been to the DMV? Collapse of Wall Street? I could go on but the fact of the matter is that people that sit in rooms writing the rules have much less experience than those who are out there doing the job (like the retired airline pilots who created ATPs program). Here’s a question? If the FAA is so awesome at flight training why so most Part 141 flight schools use manuals OTHER than those produced by the FAA? (Jeppensen, ASA, etc.).

  2. Standards to Their Curriculum. That I’ll give you but again do you really believe the gov’t standards are the highest? Have you taken any of the Knowledge exams? Most people take them and pass with memorization and zero flight experience. Finally ALL pilots must pass the same checkrides administered by the FAA so regardless the standards are and must be upheld. Personally I set the bar higher.

  3. Equipment and facilities. You’ve kidding with this one right? Name me ONE flight school in the country (141 or 61) that has a fleet comparable to ATPs? I’ll save you the time, the aren’t any.

Christina as always all are welcome to offer opinions but if you’re going to make statements of fact you should make certain they are.

Adam

8

Apologies. I am doing research for schools and everything i’ve read so far say to look for FAA approved schools (ATP being one of them).

Thank you for your feedback.

9

Christina,

No apologies necessary (ever). Just trying to clarify.

Adam