Mehdi,
Adam used to sit on a hiring board. He has good insight on these kinds of questions. Your best source is the airline itself. Call any of them and ask your question about education requirements.
Tory
Benjamin,
You need to finish high school, period. This is not even a discussion point. I would also highly recommend that you go to college first, then obtain your flight training. There is a certain maturity that comes with having a degree that will benefit you in flight training, plus it is simply easier to stay in school mode. You will need either two years of college or your PPL before enrolling in ATP.
Remember that with online college, you often get what you pay for.
Chris
Mehdi,
If your Iranian “AA” can be verified or converted to something equivalent to a US AA you’re fine for a Regional. A Major will still want a 4yr degree.
Adam
I appreciate
Hey Chris thanks for the response! When I said “leaning towards finishing high school” I meant I was leaning towards pursuing the plan I was discussing. I am forsure finishing high school and my 2 year degree. Sorry for the misunderstanding😂!!! I am wondering what the loan will be like at ATP assuming I am going from zero hours? How quickly would I be able to pay it off pursuring the plan I stated Earlier?
Benjamin,
For financial specifics, it would really be best if you would call the admissions department and speak with them as they are the experts on such things.
Chris
Thanks Troy.
I have a question please about the ATP placement of pilots. While looking at the airlines where ATP graduates were hired in 2018-2019 I see most of the Regionals which makes sense, but then I see some were hired by Southwest, United, Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines ,American and Jet Blu, were these pilots hired after working as a CFI at ATP just like the ones who were hired by the Regionals as direct hires, or were these pilots hired and worked for a Regional first then moved to the Legacy and majors etc and ATP listed their hiring as they moved on. TIA
Julia,
ALL started their careers at the Regionals. No one is going from CFI to a Major (or even an LCC) unless maybe your dad is the CEO and even then it would be tough.
Adam
Thank you Adam for clarifying, that is what I thought. My dad was an airline Captain , when he started his training in 1979 at Meacham Field airport in Fort Worth, at the time this was one of the busiest training airports, he did the PPL, CPL,IR,ME,CFII/MEI at a school there that does not exist today, then he did a B727 FE with Braniff International, hired by BNF and was an FO on the 727 before BNF went bankrupt. He was unlucky with his choice of airlines, next was Eastern, started as an L’1011 2nd officer , promoted to FO on the 727 , and Eastern goes bankrupt when Lorenzo did not bulge. Then my dad flew for SAS, Gulf Air and finally Royal Jordanian , then he retired. The reason I am searching help here is he does not help me as he does not want me to follow in his footsteps, as during his days the airline industry was at its worst.
Thanks to all the mentors for all the great advice and help they provide to all. I have two questions and I appreciate your answer.
- I am a Freshman at University ,will have 30 credit hours by May. So here are my options
-Stay at my current University, get my degree in psychology and business, a double major, Ill graduate when I am 21 and then go to ATP
-Or transfer to Purdue University, in my hometown, do a degree in aeronautical science and do all my flying there, work at Purdue as a CFI and get my restricted ATP in 1000 hours, although the Purdue program is very competitive and the only take 50 students a year into this program
Last my dad has pilot friends who are senior Captains in United, and others at Netjet. Does having a recommendation from pilots help in any way , of course after meeting all requirements.
Thank you again for all the help .
Julia,
My father was a pilot, he went through several airlines and a few bankruptcies before retiring, so he did not see the industry at its best either. He recommended against me becoming a pilot. I did not listen and I am really glad that I did not as I love the job and have had good luck in the industry myself.
I absolutely prefer your fist plan, there is no discussion in my mind. You are already in college, you will need a degree anyways for the majors and you are following a set path. Even if you did get into the Purdue program, it will probably cost significantly more, take every bit as long if not longer and you will not have your backup plan. I recommend staying at your existing school, but doing whatever you can to speed up the process, such as taking extra classes over the summer.
Recommendations are always helpful, particularly when applying for the company that the recommending person works for.
Chris
Julia,
While the industry has improved significantly, your dad’s story should serve as a cautionary tale of how ugly it can be and the value of a strong backup plan. I’d continue the path you’re on.
This is a very small industry and recommendations and networking is always a good thing.
Adam
Julia,
When your on the placement section of ATP click on the student and it will expand showing ATP Start, Next move ATP CFI, Other school CFI, part 135) and then their Regional start and finally Major Start so you can kind of get an idea what route people went and how long things took them.
Julia,
I’m with the other mentors, but I am curious about your interest in Purdue. I just flew with a pilot that graduated from there. I was surprised to learn how much he spent on tuition/flight training. It was a lot less than I thought it would have been. Now, I don’t know if he received any scholarships or financial aid, I have since looked at aviation universities slightly differently. Do you by chance know how much tuition and flight training would cost at Purdue? I looked on their website to verify, but I didn’t spend too much time on it.
Instead of just saying that all aviation universities are expensive and thus a bad idea, it would be more beneficial to help you come to your own conclusion about which path is best for you, instead of telling you what we think you should do.
So, comparing your two proposals, which one do you think is the better investment? Both lead to the same end goal of becoming an airline pilot, but which one is better for you?
Tory
Thank you Tory, Purdue is very expensive, I think you meant it was a lot more than you thought, not less?
I agree with you. I just talked today to my dad’s friend who is one of the most senior Captains at Netjet and he basically recommended the same route you guys recommend. He told me to get my college degree and hours and he can get me a start at Netjet. Is Netjet a good path to the majors, or regionals are better ?
Thank you Tom, this helps.
I meant less. He said it only cost him $100k. That sounded a lot less than I expected. Again, just what he said.
What answer did your dad’s friend give you? Good, better…those are relative terms. It all comes down to what you want. What do you know about NetJets? Any idea what their hiring minimums are?
https://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/fractional/netjets How does their fleet and hiring minimums compare to a regional?
Tory
Julia,
The Majors are looking for experienced pilots. Either route would be fine (I know pilots hired from both) it’s really what you think you’d enjoy more. Very different flying Regionals and NetJets. A friend who was trying to get me to come to NetJets asked me “would you rather be a limo driver or a bus driver?”. There are pros and cons to both. Me I’m a bus driver 
Adam
Julia,
Netjets is certainly a path to the majors, but I feel that the regionals are a better path. Think about it, the majors are an airline, it makes more sense for them to hire other airline pilots as they already know how to operate in the airline environment. It also seems to me that RJ pilots fly more than charter type pilots do, so you will build the necessary experience faster.
Chris
Just FYI I have a friend who is in the United pathway program going directly from CFI to a class at United. Times are changing!