Regional After College?

If I end up going to a 4 year college such as Purdue, is it possible to get my degree in aviation and get all of my necessary ratings to start with a regional right after I graduate?

Thanks

Nathan,

I know some of the colleges out there say that is possible, but I just don’t see any way possible to get a four year degree, get all of your ratings and then flight instruct to reach the 1,250 hours required for the airlines in the span of four years. I would think that any college aviation program is going to require the student to flight instruct for some time after graduation to build the necessary flight hours.

Chris

Nathan,

As Chris said, you can definitely get the all the required ratings no problem, it’s the min required flight time that will be an issue. It can usually take 1.5-2 yrs instructing full time to build the time necessary.

Adam

Are there possibly any other ways to get these hours besides instructing? And if I do instruct, which aircraft would I usually instruct for?

Nathan,

Instructing is the most common way most low time pilots build their time but there are other ways. Banner/glider tow, traffic reporting, crop dusting and there are some smaller cargo/mail services out there but those jobs are often hard to find which again is why most pilots find themselves instructing.

The aircraft you’ll instruct in is whichever aircraft the flight school you work at uses for instruction. Traditionally that means single engine Cessnas and Pipers which is why you also need to make sure you get sufficient multi-engine time from the school you do your training with or the flight school you instruct at. That btw is another reason ATP is such a popular choice.

Adam