Decisions Decisions

Turbolag

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. My name is Brock. I live in Tx and am currently attending college. This is going to be my 4th year in school. I only have 29 hours so far because of some.....obstacles that I have had to deal with. To be honest, I am getting pretty tired of school and am ready to leave. :(

I currently have 5.5 hours of logged flight time in a C-172. I am tired of school enough to leave and focus on getting all of my ratings and try to hire on with a regional or wherever I can find work. I live at home with my parents, so the low FO pay of the first year is no problem. I don't work right now, so even if I were only making 18,000 my first year it would be a raise in money to me.

I just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on this regarding school. Does anyone here fly for an airline and not have a college degree? Thanks for taking the time to read this.
 
Brock:

If you do leave school and happen to get a job flying you will certainly reach a point where your progress will halt as you have no degree. Getting hired at a major with no degree is theoretically possible, but not likely. You will have to go back to school to finish at some point so the question should be: "should I finish school now or later?" Seems to me that with free rent and time on your hands school should be your priority. You really need to figure out how to finish up in a few years because at the rate you are going you will still be in school in 7 or 8 years. Have you thought about attending an aviation college where you can get school and hours at the same time? If you think school is a drag, you will be even more discouraged working your way through the aviation maze to a good job. Hard work is the only answer Brock as there are no easy ways to get here. Good luck...
 
Without that degree those...obstacles...will at some point become insurmountable. Right now you're not going to get hired as a lowly CFI much less a RJ F/O so why not finish that degree anyway? If I were on the hiring board I would most certainly ask why you quit school near the end and be very suspect of your ability to stick things out.


Get the degree!
 
This really is a no brainer. Stick out the last semester get your degree. Hopefully you've chosen a non aviation degree program. You've posted here so I assume that you have taken the time to read what everyone in the industry is going through right now and hopefully understand that this is not an isolated event. Furloughs are cyclical and a reoccurring saga that all pilots must endure. Unless you like the prospect of being back in your parents basement in your 30's or 40's because your airline folds and you've got nothing to fall back on stick it out. Flying is the greatest thing in the world and many of us suffer from Peter Pan syndrome never thinking we will need to grow up, but the real world can catch up to you in the blink of an eye. It will be nice to know that if your company fails or you lose your medical you can still take care of your responsabilities.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. I have been working on pre-requisites for Texas A&M in Galveston. My degree is most likely going to be Marine Transportation. I am not yet at TAMUG, so I am here in Beaumont at another college. I guess working on the pre recs is getting old and I am ready to get to the school already ! :banghead: Basically my degree is ship navigation. I will be licensed for unlimited tonnage. That means I can work on any ship any size.

Here is another question. The way the job will allow me to work will be similar to this. 2 months working, 1 month off. Maybe 1 month working, 1 month off. Or maybe 3 months working, and 1 month off.

Are there any flying gigs I can do on my downtime from being home for the 1 month or so ?
 
Pre-reqs suck. Once you get into the meat and potatoes of a degree, it's much better since you're studying something you enjoy.

As for the flying gig with the ship gig....freelance CFI is about the only thing I'm coming up with that will let you have that kind of a schedule.
 
Get a degree. The day I interviewed at Piedmont there was someone who didnt have a degree and he was one of two people that wasnt offered a position. You cant go wrong with ahaving a college education!
 
I managed to get hired at a "major" without a degree, but there are many airlines that won't consider you. Delta, UPS, FedEx, etc... won't even look at your resume without that degree. Limiting your options isn't a good idea. I lucked out, but it was just that: luck. At my carrier, 99% of the other guys have a degree. I have yet to fly with another pilot here who doesn't have his degree. I imagine that I wouldn't have been hire if I didn't have a ton of recommendations.

Get your degree.
 
Get the degree.

This might hit home with a couple of us, but you really don't want to be that guy at a shrinking regional, sans degree. Chances are, when hiring starts "up the food chain", there's going to be massive competition and most of the best jobs in the business require a degree.

Also, if the minimums suggest "degree preferred" consider it mandatory.
 
I guess i'll take a different view. I would most def. get the degree, as it would be likely to limit your options out of school should flying not work out,

But within flying, there is a lot you can do to supplant the "degree" If you put in a ton of time picking up lots of different experiences etc, IE mission pilot, aerobatics instructor, glider pilot, etc... then maybe. Also, say you went military and flew on your own dime while serving, and instructed at flying clubs etc.

The biggest thing is that you will have to show experience consummate to a college degree. If i as an interviewer met somebody totally dedicated to the profession, with every rating under the sun, tons of flight time, an A&P, wonderful personality, etc.. then yes. But you will spend as much if not more time doing this than the degree
 
TUCK, some carriers won't even look at your resume without the degree, so there's no way to make up for it in other ways. Delta will not even let me apply, despite the fact that I'm flying an airplane with the same type rating as a huge portion of their fleet out of the same hub airport that they are based. Do I think it's absolutely absurd? Of course, but they make up their own rules for hiring.
 
PCL is correct.

Besides, it's electronic.

I can walk a resume into the pilot selection office, they'll only ask me for the applicants name, look it up and if he doesn't have a four year degree, end of story. Plus, I'd expect to get a stern talking to for even taking up their time with an applicant who doesn't meet the minimum standards.

I don't make the rules, but if the roller coaster says, "You need to be this tall to ride", well, not much a brotha can do.
 
"You need to be this tall to ride",

I HATED those. When I was growing up I had my growth spur really late and was always too short for any of the cool rides. All I had was that cupcake thing and the swings.

BTW I agree, get the degree.
 
Wasn't saying that it wouldn't limit your options, just saying it's not an end all.

4 year degree's today are like the High school diploma of 50 years ago. everybody's got one, so it's hard to make up for it if you don't.

I have a friend sitting at SWA with a 2 yr right now... there is always another way, it often just seems to take a whole lot more effort than the "common" way

Get the degree, in 5 years when the economy is in a state where student loans are few and far between, and only the "rich" can afford college again... You will be kicking yourself for not getting it while you could.
 
I HATED those. When I was growing up I had my growth spur really late and was always too short for any of the cool rides. All I had was that cupcake thing and the swings.

Me too. I'm a gargantuan 5'8.

My 12 year old niece is damned near taller than I.
 
Thanks for all of the advice everyone. It is nice to hear it from a 3rd party.
Sometimes school can get stressful but I just need to do it.....

I never had a problem with the must be this tall to ride.

My issue was, you must be this brave to ride this ride. :eek:
 
I never had a problem with the must be this tall to ride.


Heh, me neither. I was the one telling people they couldn't ride b/c they weren't tall enough. :)

You'd be amazed how many times I heard "Well, he's only a LITTLE too short," "What? Can't we sign a waiver or something," or (my favorite) "YOU'RE RUINING OUR VACATION!"
 
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