Hi there aviation community. My name is Alejandro, and I am a 19-year-old sophomore studying finance at the University of Pittsburgh. It has been my lifelong dream to become a pilot for a major US airline, but the problem is I’m not sure when to start. Would it be possible for me to achieve my ratings at a local flight school while still being enrolled at school? Should I pursue my PPL over summer break? I understand seniority is very important at the airlines, so what’s the best way to go about this?
My advice is get ground school done before you start training. And get your FAA medical done too. This will save you time and stress. Once both of those are done you can be a little more selective with your training.
The college degree is essential to your future success as an airline pilot and you’re nearly halfway there. We recommend you complete that degree first then pursue flight training. As much as it may seem logical to multi-task when time is of the essence, however, flight training needs to be done in a full time commitment and I’ll tell you why.
Flight skills are perishable, if you learn them and then don’t exercise them, they degrade over time. So if you get your PPL over your summer break and don’t keep it fresh, by the following summer you will need to spend numerous flight hours just to get back the proficiency you once had before making any forward progress. This method is costly and risks the success of your ratings. Plus, there are only two entry points at ATP Zero time or credit private.
It’s best if you focus on college only, getting a good GPA and that degree completed. When you get within 6 months of graduation, you can start preparing for flight training by securing financing, a first class medical, intro flight and competing written exams.
Thank you, Hannah. I will certainly listen to your advice. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to help me out! Means a lot!
How do airlines look at pilots without a college degree? I’m 37 and don’t plan on going to college, I plan on doing the cadet program through an airline or going through ATP. Thoughts?
This question gets asked daily. While no airline requires a degree, ALL prefer one and will always hire pilots with one before one without. The flows are great but you’re essentially putting all your eggs in one airlines basket. If that airline’s growth slows you could be stuck.
Great response, that’s true. Perhaps ATP would be better on a general (all airlines) style program, rather than pigeon-holing myself to a single airline, even though I’d love to graduate their system and walk into a job with them. So many avenues lol. Thank you, Adam.
I would strongly encourage you to reconsider your stance on a college degree. I u understand you do not want to spend the time and money, but it really will benefit you in your career. There are many colleges that will give credits for flight training.
As long as you attend a college or university that is accredited, there won’t be any problem. The link Chris posted above provide you three (3) options of postsecondary education campuses that you could use your pilot certificate for credits towards the degree of your choice. You could even work on your degree online, as long as the school is accredited. Fun fact, I finished out my final year of college via ‘World Campus’ through Penn State, received the same diploma that my friends who stayed on campus did and I’m working in the P121 world.
Any accredited university will check the box. Embry riddle is an expensive option with aviation degree programs and flight training combined. If you’re planning on pursuing ATP, find an online program on a budget that will provide flexibility in classes that would fit within your regional flying schedule. You can also utilize your flight ratings to get college credit for some aviation programs. (The link Chris posted above)
Embry Riddle’s college programs well respected and would most certainly qualify for the airlines. They give out a fair number of credit hours for flight training, read more about that here:
Community colleges do not issue undergraduate degrees.