Becoming an Airline Pilot without a College Degree
- Thread starter gliderpilot3
- Start date
He's bringing back high-wage clean coal jobs! Good enough for our great grandparents, good enough for America's Clean Coal Future(tm)!
SeanD
Well-Known Member
Imagine the possibilities of railway travel. Trains could reach 45 mph.
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
A lot of people recommend getting a degree outside of aviation to fall back on if something goes wrong with your aviation career, which I would agree with in general. However, I think most people overestimate the "backup" value of a degree, as it will likely be difficult to get a job in the "backup degree" field down the road if the degree is not recent and you have no experience, or at least no recent experience, in that field. You say you do not enjoy learning Political Science, so if you find you are not motivated and your academic performance is suffering as a result, it may be worth switching to an Aviation major if you would be more motivated to complete the degree.
That would absolutely be possible in theory, but it would not be guaranteed to work out, and it would be imprudent to put all your eggs in one basket like that if you have the opportunity to make yourself eligible for the rest of the majors by getting a degree. As others have pointed out, the flow from Envoy to AA could always be cancelled in the future; in the past Mesaba and Compass had flows to Northwest and Delta respectively that were cancelled. Envoy could also be shut down similar to Comair before you get the chance to flow; actually a few years ago I believe AA threatened to do just this if Envoy's pilot group didn't ratify a concessionary contract. American itself could even go out of business before you get the chance to flow- consider how many historical airlines are no longer existent. At the end of the day there are few truly career-level airlines, so it would be wise to make yourself eligible to be hired at as many of them as possible.
Pretty much all of the legacy airlines require a degree, and it seems that at LCCs a degree is generally preferred if not required. So it will probably be difficult to get past the Regional level without a degree. And I would not count on the requirement for a degree being lifted in the future, even if there are plenty of future retirements at the majors. The fact is, a larger percentage of society has a college degree than ever before; and whether or not it is fair more and more jobs than in the past require them. In this environment, where having a degree is becoming progressively more common, it seems unlikely that a company would stop requiring one. There is an overwhelming amount of competition for jobs at the majors and it is unlikely that the standards will ever be relaxed.
You could always try to make a lifelong career at the regionals, of course, but that is unlikely to work for your entire career with how unstable the regional airline industry is. Your regional could always be shut down like Comair eventually, and then you'd have to start out all over again as a first-year FO at a different regional, if any are even hiring. The regionals will always be unstable as there is a great deal of competition between them to provide regional feed for the lowest price possible. Also the mainline partners create additional instability among them to encourage the regional airline companies themselves to offer lower prices; and to lower operating costs within these regionals.
There are captains at some regionals who have been there for over 20 years and are making decent money, albeit significantly less than a mainline pilot- but understand it is in the best interests of the mainline partner not to allow regional employees to accrue that much longevity. Constantly shifting flying to other regionals and expanding them allows most of it to be done by newer employees who are on the lower part of the pay scale, thereby lowering costs. My employer is expanding right now because of United's use of this strategy, but someday United will shift our flying to a regional that underbids us. That is how the outsourced regional feed industry works.
I actually did get an aviation degree, and I matriculated right after high school. I've often wondered whether it would have been better to get my certificates as quickly as possible, get hired at a regional much sooner than I actually did, and then get an online degree. But people who have done or are doing this seem to recommend against it because of the difficulty of completing a degree while working full-time as a pilot. Since it sounds like you've already made progress toward a degree it would probably be wise to finish it now.
Believe me friends, my train is going to go a MEEEEEEEllion miles an hour. It'll be the fastest train evah. Everyone agrees. So bigly.
JordanD
Chinese Food Enthusiast
That the electoral college needs an overhaul and the intent of the electoral college has skewed too far in the other direction thus giving rural areas disproportionate amounts of voting power?
In my opinion anyway.
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
I'm not sure why the fact that half the U.S. population lives in a small number of states is relevant. The problem with the Electoral College is it gives people in populous states less voting power than those in small states. But then I don't buy the popular notion that rural people are some how superior to urban people, and should be entitled to outsize representation in government.
alaskadrifter
Landing gear operator
It’s not that anyone is superior, but that power isn’t consolidated too much. Our government was set up with built in checks and balances for a reason. It also ensures that whoever wins must earn a broad base of support.
RedFive
Well-Known Member
I second this. Another point is that there is A LOT that you can still do in Aviation if you lose your medical. Look at using your experience to get a dispatchers license or go into some other aspect of the industry. Operations, route planning, Net work ops, Station operations/management etc.. There is still a lot that can be done that doesn't need a medical.
All that being said, you're close to being done, just finish it. Otherwise it is a huge waste of money down the drain that you will need to pay back. That is the boat I am in now, and trust me it sucks.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
If you had it your way, campaigning would only be done in the key 10-15 states and the rest could be ignored. That's a democracy, not a republic. We're a constitutional republic. Populous states like California have far higher electoral college votes than a place like Rhode Island.
phill1174
Well-Known Member
Good advice, I think people forget that there are other things you can do at your shop if you loose your medical. Hopefully you finish the degree up. I got discouraged/burned out while doing my degree. I took a GPA hit but I’m happy I finished. I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel if I wouldn’t have finished while still having to pay the money back.
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
Are you seriously using this argument in favor of the electoral college? Right now nearly all presidential campaigning in the general election is done in a few swing states, with Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida generally getting the most attention. I think this is a huge disadvantage of the electoral college, since it gives a few swing states massively more influence than the rest of the country.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
The current system exists for a reason. Just popular vote doesn't work because it would become a tyranny of the majority. It's votes, by state, and each state has a certain voice in the election system. Rhode Island shouldn't be marginalized and ignored because it is the smallest state. Nor they they wield some overwhelming power. So for example they get 3 electoral votes. Compare that to 50+ in California, for being a much larger populous state and a larger state in general. A candidate could theoretically lose Ohio and PA and still win the election. And don't forget Michigan and Wisconsin - Hillary did
Kingairer
'Tiger Team' Member
Do you mean Rhode Island and Providence Plantations? I'm confused.The current system exists for a reason. Just popular vote doesn't work because it would become a tyranny of the majority. It's votes, by state, and each state has a certain voice in the election system. Rhode Island shouldn't be marginalized and ignored because it is the smallest state. Nor they they wield some overwhelming power. So for example they get 3 electoral votes. Compare that to 50+ in California, for being a much larger populous state and a larger state in general. A candidate could theoretically lose Ohio and PA and still win the election. And don't forget Michigan and Wisconsin - Hillary did
nibake
Powder hound
I'm not going to poo-poo the idea of finishing your degree online if you think it's the right thing for you. I am finishing my degree in December after having spent 1.5 years working on it while working full time and then some and being a single parent. If you think it will work for you and you are eager to start working it might not be that bad of an idea. While the initial training is pretty intense, a lot of these 121 jobs give you far more free time to study than your typical job would.
As far as the other other college goes (the electoral one), I'm pretty sure the original idea was not to have political parties dominate. Electors would be able to represent their states and constituents. That lasted only a handful of election cycles before the parties took root and we have pretty much gone downhill from there. Between having electors beholden to parties and senators beholden to the public and not the states after the 17th amendment there isn't much of a republic left.
As far as the other other college goes (the electoral one), I'm pretty sure the original idea was not to have political parties dominate. Electors would be able to represent their states and constituents. That lasted only a handful of election cycles before the parties took root and we have pretty much gone downhill from there. Between having electors beholden to parties and senators beholden to the public and not the states after the 17th amendment there isn't much of a republic left.
tcco94
Future GTA VI Pilot
Didn't take long! Only 3 pages in for someone to make this about POTUS!
Hope you just forgot the
tag.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Didn't take long! Only 3 pages in for someone to make this about POTUS!
Hope you just forgot the
Nope! I can post the studies on who voted for him using their education as a discriminator if you'd like.
z987k
Well-Known Member
I'd like to see that.
tcco94
Future GTA VI Pilot
Yeah I'd like to see it as well. Also, want to know how going to college means you didn't vote for Trump? You suggest we need to "push" people to college? What was your point? Send them to institutions that push liberal ideas? It's like you're suggesting someone with a higher education MUST have voted for someone else.
I really hope your "study" isn't as ignorant as your comment. Then again @ATN_Pilot argued with me how those polls with 1000 people are scientific and actually have a lot of meaning with the formulas. So I see this going no where with such a closed minded comment.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
You do see the irony of this statement, right?
