Does coming from a 141 school matter?

Inverted25

Well-Known Member
So this was a debate at dinner the other night on a trip. Copilot felt that if you came from a 141 school you were superior in employers eyes. His argument was that if you weren't from a 141 school you would have a hard time getting hired at places because part 61 guys weren't as smart.

Obviously I don't agree being a part 61 guy but what has your guys careers shown? Does 141 matter in the part 91/135/121 world? Please when answering give specific examples if you can and what your background is in both schooling and aviation.

Ill start. I haven't seen any bias in aviation yet. The argument that 141 guys are smarter is ridiculous. I personally feel that if done right part 61 can produce a better pilot. For example during my part 61 training and time building I flew aerobatics, got a commercial glider rating, got a commercial seaplane rating, flew lots of different tailwheel planes. All things I feel broadened my bag of experience from which to draw from compared to a cookie cutter part 141 graduate. Now I am not anti 141 by any means. A few of the best pilots I have flown with have come from 141 schools. I just don't believe that 141 have any significant advantage over part 61 if the part 61 guy is willing to go above and beyond to get the extra experience.

My background I am 26 and currently am a captain on a King Air B200 in 135 passenger operations.


Please keep responses civil
 
The only thing a good part 141 school has over a mom and pop 61 school is structure. Task A to Z while following outlines 1 2 and 3. M
It is a small, if even measurable, advantage after a thousand hours or so. The person is the most important thing, not their pedigree.
 
The only thing a good part 141 school has over a mom and pop 61 school is structure.

And that all depends on the school. I worked at a pt61 school that was far more organized than the pt141 school I worked at. But I also had more freedom at the 61 school to focus on weak points, than just completing the task to standards and moving on.
 
Completing training at a 141 school means nothing. Your co-pilot doesn't know what he/she is talking about. By the time you get to a professional job, your flight training should be a distant memory. Did this person also go to ERAU? It just sounds like something a self indulgent Riddle rat would say....
 
I don't think anyone cares. The individual and the amount of natural interest they have in aviation combined with the instruction they got along the way make a way bigger difference than where they learned.

I a few hundred hours teaching in both 141 and 61 and for the most part I think the end result was about the same. The 141 structure and environment was prett limiting at times though so those students missed out on some things my part 61 students got.
 
No one that you're flying with cares, but SOME hiring departments used to care. You know, when qualifications mattered. Now regionals are just trying to put butts in a seat. It could be a part 15100 flight school and they wouldn't give a crap.
 
Your copilot sounds like a toolbag

No one that matters cares

That's the propaganda he heard before he went to the school and all the time he was at the school. Short on truth, long on ra-ra.
 
The only people that might care whether you trained 61 or 141, are 61 or 141 schools that you are applying to. Even then, I would be shocked to see them give a rats ass in this current hiring market. Big pilot factory schools are offering bonuses to get instructors so I would imagine they are desperate. Tell your co-pilot to go back to shining his shoes...
 
I think it sometimes varies based on which route whomever is making that decision took.

We all take the same check rides.






Some may have just paid a lot more to get there :biggrin:
 
Your co pilot doesn't know what he's talking about. I've been through about 5 interviews in the last two years at a fractional, 142 training center, and a few 135 outfits. Not once has anyone asked me about my flight training.
 
Did all my ratings through CFII part 61, got hired as an instructor at an aviation university and did my MEI there, flew cargo and was trained under 135 for 3 different aircraft, now in the military...so far nobody has cared where my ratings came from. They care that you can fly/teach, and that you are not a tool who will make their lives miserable in the workplace. Quality of instruction under 61/141/135/military has all been excellent in my opinion, albeit with very different approaches and emphasis areas. All have benefits and limitations, but at the end of the day, they all produce pilots who are qualified to do the job.
 
Because seniority. Nothing to do with ability our skill.
In 121 sure, 91 and 135 not so much.

In response to @Inverted25's original post. No it doesn't, I would actually argue the contrary - in the beginning anyways. I did three hours at a 141 and the rest 61. Part 141 programs are good for churning out foreign pilots and taking ignorant high school graduates that want to fly shiny regional jets, but part 61 will create a better all around pilot IMHO. At WMU, their marketing program preached that you could get real world experience and fly in all seasons. That is false. They have a bubble around the students there, and they don't see real world operations. You wanna fly a Seminole, on an IFR x-country in actual? Yeah, no - not allowed. These are the things their alumni will face after graduation flying freight, instructing, and the rest - yet, they won't expose them to said conditions. Doesn't make much sense in my mind, and that's part of the reason I switched. After 1000 hours flying at AMF in IMC for example, I'm sure both pilots would have the same basic skills, regardless of school, but before that experience seasons them a bit - I think that 141 schools produce a "greener" pilot because the school is always thinking for you with their structured rules and regulations. You're never truly a PIC in my opinion while flying in that bubble.
 
Spit on his face and then ask a 141 friend to do the same, then see if he can tell if it is any different.

The truth is that below average students exist at both schools. One is not automatically better than another.
 
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