Unsure on my Path

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

I am an 18-year-old community college student pursuing an associate of science in business and a flight school student getting my PPL. My Goal is to work at a major airline. My plan at first was to get my PPL with a local flight school and go to ATP after that.

I later found out my college has an aviation program that not only has an aviation-related degree but also partnered with a flight school so I would get the training I need and also lower my required amount of hours for the airlines from 1,500 to 1,250.

Two of my options I am unsure of is:

  1. Join my college aviation program and getting that degree in aviation lowers my required amount of hours and does my training
  2. continue what Iā€™m doing and go to ATP

I am also nervous about whether an associate degree will be enough for the competition in such a career because 2 of my friends also pursuing this career are out of state in a 4-year aviation school.
I like the idea of going to a 4 year school but that just adds to the cost of pursuing this career because there arenā€™t any 4 years near me having me to dorm etc. One of my goals is also not to go too far in debt.

I would love to hear your ideas thank you

2

Julian,

An associates degree doesnā€™t count as ā€œhaving a degreeā€ in an airline app. Bachelors is the degree they are looking for. I find it hard to believe a part 141 aviation program that qualifies for the reduced hours is available with just the associates degree. 99% of the time the part 141 hour reduction only comes from schools with approved curriculum with 4 year aviation degree (bachelors).

I see two paths for you:

  1. Continue with your associates at the community college and start ATP credit private with the associates degree. Then if you do well in the program and get hired by a regional you can finish up the last 2 years to a bachelors degree while at the regionals.

  2. Once you complete your associates, pursue finishing up your bachelors degree at an approved part 141 aviation degree program.

Hannah

3

Thank you Hannah this is helpful. Another question I have is whether it is worth switching to an aviation degree for the time required to reduce or just continuing with my degree in business. I have a deadline June 1st so If want to switch so I have to make this decision soon.

4

Julian,

Personally Iā€™m not a fan of aviation degrees. Other than possibly reducing your time, the airlines neither desire or require one. Further should aviation not work out for some reason (whether by choice or circumstance) itā€™s ALWAYS good to have a plan B.

Adam

5

Here is my two cents, for what its worthā€¦
TL;DR:
College for 4 year degree, 1250 hours for R-ATP will probably take about 5-6 years
ATP and instructing to 1500 hours & ATP/CTP will most likely take about 3 years

While Iā€™m not a mentor, I have looked quite extensively into differences and advantages over a four year degree program in Aviation or going to ATP. Iā€™m fortunate in that I have my GI Bill from my time in the Air Force, so I could do a 4 year program in Aviation and basically have everything paid for, but it would take 4 years and it would only eliminate 250 hours from the ATP minimums for a R-ATP. So, in the grand scheme of things, Iā€™m better off going to ATP and finishing the program in 7-10 months (I say 10 because there could be a number of delays due to weather, DPE availability, another COVID, etc. could even be closer to a full year) and then instructing to get to 1500, which on average is about a year and a half to two years after completing the program.

If you go to a 4 year program, youā€™ll have a degree in aviation, itā€™ll take you four years, and youā€™ll still need to build 1000 hours, give or take, as an instructor to get to 1250 for the R-ATP. Thatā€™s about 5.5-6 years total before youā€™ll have your R-ATP and can apply to a regional airline.

If you finished up your current degree plan, PPL, and then attend ATP, youā€™ll finish the program in probably 7-9 months (again could be longer, but youā€™ll be starting with your PPL so that will shorten the program) and then instruct to 1500, which again is a year to two years, so overall timeline would be 3 years, give or take, before you can start applying to airlines. Plus, ATP has so many partnerships with many different airlines, you could start applying and have a conditional job offer before you even reach your 1500 hours.

Again, Iā€™m not a mentor, Iā€™m just putting out what my research has shown me.
Hope that provides you with some more information.
Good luck regardless!
-Steve

6

Julian,

As Hannah mentioned, I am a fan of starting out at a community college and getting your general education credits out of the way. This will allow you to explore some fields or interests that may catch your eye to further your degree into a field you want. While we donā€™t typically recommend aviation degrees, any degree that you find fascinating or could see yourself doing as a backup if something in aviation fell through is fine. There are also ā€˜catchesā€™ to the P141 and R-ATP that many think is quicker when in reality it can be longer and more expensive. In todayā€™s time, I would recommend a bachelors as ā€œhiring is slowing down.ā€

This topic has been on the trend lately about whether college, no college, or some college would be better for ā€˜meā€™. Steve provided a great outlook on his experience and discussion on the forum in the past.

Brady

7

I agree with you Adam thatā€™s why I wasnā€™t so worried about getting into an aviation degree right away after high school and starting college had some time to think while taking the basic classes I need to continue for a bachelorā€™s later on.

8

Hey Steve I agree with you that getting a 4 year degree will make it longer until I get to the airlines. But something Iā€™m concerned about is how competitive the job market is for the major airlines and me not having a four-year degree puts me behind massively.

But I appreciate your point of view and you really showed me the reality of starting over by trying to get an aviation degree and how I lose so much time.

9

I think you might have misunderstood what he was saying. A four year aviation degree would take longer despite the hour reduction. But continuing your community college course work and eventually finishing your bachelors degree (potentially at the regionals), that would be worth the time. Youā€™re absolutely right that with the slowing hiring climate, the degree will once again become more important to have.

Hannah

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