If you recall from my previous post, I’m roughly 2-2.5 years away from getting my Bachelor’s. I know right now is a great time to start ATP (and flight school irregardless of where), however, I’m curious as to the mentors’ thoughts on what it will look like in a few years. Suppose I take into consideration an aggressive estimate on getting my 1,500 hours of 2 years once I graduate ATP (now we are 4-5 years down the road with my Bachelor’s time frame). How likely is it that this hiring spree and fantastic opportunities will still be going strong? A few publications out there project this will continue until 2032 (which will fall within my range of years) but I also know they aren’t IN the pilot realm.
Essentially my overarching question is this; should I wait until I get my Bachelor’s to enroll in ATP or start now through a local flight school? Yes I know that anything can happen and even if waiting is a good option now, there could always be another “full stop” event, markets decline, travel comes to another halt, etc.
First we ALWAYS recommend finishing your degree first and second the pilot shortage is forecast to continue for some time. How long that will be is anyone’s guess?
Thing is, to me, pilots were training and getting hired long before there was a shortage. In the future you may need more than 1500hrs and a pulse but there will always be a need a good pilots will always get hired.
I should have clarified. Start now with a local flight school while continuing my Bachelor’s (build those hours as early as possible right?) or wait till I finish my Bachelor’s then go into ATP (no need to answer this). I guess I’m not really worried about the demand from the shortage vs. a normal hiring cycle. What I’m really saying (after thinking about it more) is I want to make sure I’m setting myself up for the best possible scenario for myself and making myself as marketable as possible. I’m not looking to make this a “job” at all. I want to make this a career.
While many people believe they can get a jump on things by starting their training part time at a local flt school. Most really don’t get ahead and end up wasting lost of money and time and really don’t progress very much.
Successful flight training depends on consistency which is difficult to get locally training part time. I’d wait.
I got my private at a local school while I was in college. It was a total disaster. It took way longer than I was told it would and cost much more. The school only had a few airplanes and it seemed like either the airplanes or my instructor were never available. On top of this, I was balancing the demands of college and was not able to truly focus on flight training. What was supposed to save me money ended up costing more.
Also, keep in mind that if you do get your PPL elsewhere, you will still need 78 hours of flight time to join ATP, so make sure to factor that into your equations.
I’m starting to realize that the main objective when it comes to flight school is both quality and quantity. Meaning finishing up my Bachelor’s and then committing full-time to flight school in order to build up both hours and knowledge efficiently without getting burnt out.
I’m curious, however, if you and @Adam (and any other mentors on here) recommend anything for me to do or work on now while I am still finishing up my Bachelor’s.