Not going to college

Adam,

Thank you for the response. I hope not taking college in the future will not get me stuck in a Regional.

Bryan

Adam,

I will do my best on the program so on my resume, I will have a greater chance to get into a major airline without a degree and get more noticed.

Bryan

Adam,

I know that AA requires a degree, but I heard this thing they call " flow through " that if i work for them as a Regional Pilot after 3-5 years while building time i get to transfer to a mainline. Might take that route in UNITED or DELTA. Wish me luck in the future.

Keep safe and God Bless to all of you.

Bryan

flysafe

Bryan,

While it’s always good to have hope, it’s really not a very good career plan. The Majors won’t know how well you’ve done in the program nor will that be on your resume. What also won’t be on your resume is a college degree. On ALL the airline applications they ask “do you have a 4yr degree?”. If the answer is no you go to the bottom of the pile, it’s really that simple.
Yes there currently are some flow-thru’s but there’s lots of fine print and they can be cancelled. You’re literally putting all your eggs in a VERY small basket.

Adam

Adam,

I really don’t have any choice but to not take college. But I might do online school when I’m already working as a Regional Pilot, for 2 years. While building time i can get my 2 years of college online. And the would probably help. If not. I will just take the risk and hope the with out a college degree. I will get a job flying international on a Major Airline.

Bryan

Bryan,

Two years of college is not the kind of degree that the major airlines are looking for, they want to see a full, four year degree. I do not know a single person that has made it to the majors in the last fifteen years without a degree, not one. The same rules apply for international airlines, except that those jobs are even more difficult to get because of residency requirements and different licensing requirements.

While you may not be able to afford college now, as a regional pilot you should be able to. All four years of it.

Chris

Bryan,

Not really sure why college is not an option? (But that’s really your business). If it’s financial you should know flight school costs alot more than community college and getting financial aid and student loans is considerably easier to get for college than flight school. I’m also not sure what you think you’ll do after you get your PPL.

Really not trying to dissuade you but you really should do some more research and give your plan some thought. Again hope is a good thing but you also have to be realistic.

Adam

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Honestly you can look at what is happening now as a good reason why you should get a degree as a backup plan. I finished ATP, got an instructing job, then everything started happening and now I have been out of a flight job since February. Contemplating going back to school to finish up a degree or get a different job in the meantime. I jumped into it at 26 because I didn’t want to wait any longer, but if I had been younger, I’d 100% get a degree first

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AA flow is the exception not the rule, and flows can change/be cancelled and if you look on airline pilot central there’s people on there claiming they have first hand knowledge of the flow being closer to 8-9 years. I’m not sure of the validity of their statements but sure is worth looking into

8-9 yrs isn’t bad to a Major. Keep in mind there are no nor have there ever been any guarantees. Some pilots never get the call.

Adam

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I have my ged and about to get my associates degree. Do major airlines look at a ged and not a high school diploma as a bad thing?

Jude,

Not necessarily but it would further emphasize the necessity of a 4yr degree.

Adam

I would have t get a Bach degree then.

Would the online Bach degree be a problem?

No, Jude. Online degrees are acceptable so long as they are received from an accredited university.

Tory

Awesome!!! I’ll probably go with the Colorado Springs school. So will I be studying aviation

GED or diploma the Majors want 4yr degree.

Adam

Jude,

I doubt the majors will even ask where or how you graduated college. The reason is that they will asking about your four year degree instead, so I would plan on getting one of those.

Chris

Okay, but you know the field of the degree doesn’t matter. Don’t just pick aviation because you want to be a pilot. Take a look at this: Do I Need A College Degree To Be An Airline Pilot? - #2

Tory

Hey thanks a lot for that tip. I checked it out and that helped me tremendously! I think I’ll stick with the regional and down the road I might take a 4 year collage coarse.