I’m about 1/2 way through getting a bachelor’s in Global Business Studies. I have a local airfield, and am looking into starting flight training at ATP. My question is, Should I just finish my degree to then give flight school my undivided attention, or should I get a head start? I know seniority is big in aviation.
P.S. I am 20 years old, so I figure if I were to start ATP’s accelerated program I would be able to work at one of the majors as soon as I turn 23 (from what I’ve researched is the youngest you can be a pilot at a major airline) Any advice? Please, and Thank You!
Welcome to the forum, I (and like others here) do not recommend starting flight training until you complete your degree. Why? Training once a week may sound beneficial to your schedule and/or timeline, but when you can’t train consistently you are going to hinder not only your skills, but improvement to any previous built/learned skills. You do have two options; however,
Option 1: Continue your Bachelor’s Degree and then attend a program like ATP. Getting a solid GPA and finishing strong will help look good on a resume and when the question on the application says, “What was your GPA,” you can have a strong response.
Option 2: Pause where you’re at, attend a flight school like ATP and then return to finish your degree while you’re building time at a regional airline. I don’t know if you’re on scholarships or anything of that nature, but a program like ATP would be super beneficial. Instructing is a full-time gig in itself, the last thing you want to do is leave a student stranding while they’re preparing for a checkride, or phase evaluation.
I tell my story all the time how a simple PPL turned into a 13-month journey, I’ll save you the grief of hearing it detail-by-detail. I’ll sum it up to, I started training (while fulltime employed, firefighting classes, finishing college, and officiating U.S. Soccer), flight school closed down, did not fly for 3 months and struggled through not just my PAR AKT, but checkride as well (with a first-time pass).
Also, do you have any flight experience? Before you jump into anything, we recommend taking at least one Admission Flight with ATP and discovery at your local airport, to make sure this is something you could foresee yourself doing (not saying it isn’t). Flying is not for everyone and sometimes I’ve met individuals who think it’s for them, they get a few hours into a program like ATP and then don’t like it anymore.
Since you’re young and already nearly halfway done with your degree, I vote you continue and finish it first. It’s tough to return to later plus the obvious challenge of completing a degree while flying a full time schedule. Also, people are progressing thorough the regionals quicker than ever, sometimes in just 1-2 years. If you finish the degree now, you’ll be on your way to a major faster. What a shame it would be to be qualified with the hours but not getting an interview because your degree isn’t completed.
As Brady said, before you do anything you need to fly. Until you do you really won’t know if it’s something you like (or have any talent for).
To also echo the others, you absolutely should finish your degree. You’re going to want to have one and again, until you fly you really won’t know how successful (or not) you’ll be.
Now if you’re talking about getting to an LCC (like Spirit or Frontier) by 23 sure. But if you’re thinking a Legacy Major is going to snap you up, with no degree, AND minimum experience and flight time you may be very disappointed.
I would focus on your college studies and make sure to have a good GPA. The major airlines will ask to see your college records and will pay attention to how well you did. I know you want to get in the air, but focus on your studies and save the flying for after college. It will save you money and end up being very little difference in time. I got my private while I was in college and wish I had just waited until I went to ATP. It was in some ways just oo much and I did not do as well in my classes as I could have.
Thanks for the guidance. I did go to ATP for an admissions flight, and I very much enjoyed it. Seems like I should finish college first in order to maintain my gpa, (cumulative 3.83) and attend flight school after. (I was not aware the majors looked into undergrad grade point averages)
After seeing the responses, I feel that finishing my bachelor’s and then attending flight school is my best option. I have also heard what you mentioned of people going through the regionals quicker than ever, which is definitely a plus. Are the sign on bonuses at regionals as lucrative as I’ve been hearing? (50,000+)
Thanks, I definitely agree on that. I’m taking summer & winter semesters at school in an attempt to get to ATP quicker. I’m not interested at all in a LCC, so not continuing with my degree is not a possibility. As I mentioned to Brady, I took an admissions flight at ATP.
Chris,
Thanks for the advice, I have a pretty good gpa so far, and as I mentioned to Brady I wasn’t aware it was that important. Thanks for clarifying the time conflict, I was pretty sure it would be tough to do both.
On top of what Hannah linked, there are many airlines that have Cadet Programs where you CAN earn some extra bonuses. Piedmont has their cadet program where you can earn $30,000 before you even start flying. And then as you upgrade, flow, earn hours etc., you can earn more bonuses! I don’t foresee any airline bonuses slowing down anytime soon, unless someone closes their doors.