Good backup degrees
- Thread starter Kestrel452
- Start date
E_Dawg
Moderator
Who cares, successful people will be successful regardless of what degree they have. Half the people with fancy degrees can't even tell the difference between "they're" and "their", or "your" and "you're".
The important thing is you have one, so you can check the box.
I'd say if you have problems keeping your medical or whatever, you can still find an aviation job which will allow you to apply your knowledge to your passion while still making money. Sim / ground instruction, management positions, etc. All within the company or at a Flight Safety type place.
Or, sell hot dogs. And do it well. No sarcasm. A fall-back degree does not equate to an instant fall-back career. With 10+ yrs in the airline industry do you really think you'll be able to fall back on your MBA at a comparable salary? It's easy to get caught up in how hard it is to make $ as a pilot, but somehow I doubt it's necessarily easy to make $ in other careers, either.
The important thing is you have one, so you can check the box.
I'd say if you have problems keeping your medical or whatever, you can still find an aviation job which will allow you to apply your knowledge to your passion while still making money. Sim / ground instruction, management positions, etc. All within the company or at a Flight Safety type place.
Or, sell hot dogs. And do it well. No sarcasm. A fall-back degree does not equate to an instant fall-back career. With 10+ yrs in the airline industry do you really think you'll be able to fall back on your MBA at a comparable salary? It's easy to get caught up in how hard it is to make $ as a pilot, but somehow I doubt it's necessarily easy to make $ in other careers, either.
E_Dawg
Moderator
One more idea, if you do end up furloughed, company goes out of biz, etc. Chances are it will be in tough economic times, when non-aviation companies can hardly be bothered to hire someone WITH experience in the field, much less an out of work pilot. So the fall back degree again has limited use.
meritflyer
Well-Known Member
The MBA is a waste in most cases.
I love it when MBA students come into my business and try to talk to me about operating leverage, contribution margin ratios, managerial accounting, etc.
I love it when MBA students come into my business and try to talk to me about operating leverage, contribution margin ratios, managerial accounting, etc.
typhoonpilot
Well-Known Member
If one's goal is to be a professional pilot and their interest lies in airplanes and things aeronautical then it makes sense to get a degree in aviation, perhaps one that includes an A&P or meteorology minor as part of the program. As has been stared, get a degree in something that interests you. If one has an ability in math and an interest is engineering then an Aeronautical or even an Astronautical Engineering degree would be a good choice as well.
I'm personally not a believer in the degree programs which count a lot of your flying experience towards credit hours. An ability to audit some classes based on having a PPL and IR are fine, but beyond that college is about academics not flying lessons.
I've said before and I'll say it again, if one chooses a career field then they should commit themselves to it 100%. And no Jtrain that doesn't mean they give up a life, it means they commit their professional life to the field. When a person does that, and it doesn't matter what field they are in, they will eventually be successful (assuming they aren't stupid and/or socially inept).
Typhoonpilot
I'm personally not a believer in the degree programs which count a lot of your flying experience towards credit hours. An ability to audit some classes based on having a PPL and IR are fine, but beyond that college is about academics not flying lessons.
I've said before and I'll say it again, if one chooses a career field then they should commit themselves to it 100%. And no Jtrain that doesn't mean they give up a life, it means they commit their professional life to the field. When a person does that, and it doesn't matter what field they are in, they will eventually be successful (assuming they aren't stupid and/or socially inept).
Typhoonpilot
Ralgha
Well-Known Member
No it doesn't (aeronautical engineering is different, I don't consider it an "aviation degree"). Any engineering degree will prepare you better for flying than an aviation degree will. In my airline new hire class, the engineering degrees slept through the class, the aviation degrees thought it was the hardest thing they've ever done.
Polar742
All the responsibility none of the authority
:clap:
If we ever get overnights in Dubai....It's beers in Irish Village (is that still there?) :beer:
I had an aviation degree. I spent most of my time in my initial class explaining the basics of bleed and electrical systems to the guys. I was THE FO in class, the rest were Captains, who knew alot more from an experience side, but had never had an academic curriculum on transport jet systems.
I was the guy that took all the individual pictures from the book and was explaining how things were related, how air turbine starters worked and what not.
Now, I was not the smartest guy in the group, but I never am. However, this was one of them fancy electric jets where the systems manual is the "Green is Good, Red is Bad - Grog must say "Operates in accordance with system logic" then turn switch off". There wasn't much info on that.
Moving a little more off topic, if you don't understand how a system is supposed to operate vis a vis knowing that if the FPA shows it's on or there's an EICAS message that it's broke, it reduces the amount of knowledge passed to the maintenance man.
BillErvin
Peddling as fast as I can
knowing how to use a map & compass would be a good thing too:bandit:
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
BTDT. Maybe your definition of decent money is different than mine. After I quit flying, I went to a trucking school and had a CDL 6 six week later.
I got a $50k/yr job right out of school driving brand spanking new equipment. That job ran teams 4 days a week and on my first trip the guy they put me with looked at me and said everyone takes this job thinking its a truck driving job. Driving the truck is what you do to get yourself to where the job is. The job is unloading the truck and walking its contents into the freezers and pantries (it was a food service company). Its still a decent job, but I my back couldn't take humping 160,000lbs of food into resturants every week and my brain couldn't handle the eff'd up sleep schedule of driving all night/working all day 4x/week.
Got a local job after that. Home every night just like you said. But I was back to $12/hr driving ratty equipment and constantly sneaking overweight loads around the scales to avoid getting tickets. The ratty equipment, low pay and generally low employee moral reminded me too much of aviation so I found something that suited me better.
I'll agree that getting a CDL is an easy backup career option. But its not exactly easy money for the amount of work you do and the lifestyle you have to endure and its certainly not for everyone. So I don't think I'd recommend it as blanket option that will work anyone going into pro aviation.
FlyingOfficer
New Member
How about a BBA in Aviation Management? Would that be a good plan?
Joe Gremlin
Well-Known Member
If the aviation industry tanks, all areas are likely to be affected. If you decide that you hate the industry and want to get out once you start flying for a living, chances are you're going to want to get out of the industry all together. A BBA in aviation management will only help you if the industry is strong and/or if you want to stay in the industry. Its better than no backup, not as good many other backup plans IMO.
If you're going to get a business degree, why not go for something more marketable like finance/accounting?
meritflyer
Well-Known Member
twotwowoo
New Member
My advice would be to carefully consider what you would like to do if professional piloting didn't work out; and also whether you would enjoy working in aviation in the first place.
I wish I majored in Creative Writing or Philosophy. Both are as useless as aviation, but serve to make you a more well-rounded individual. I am continually finding out that even though I love aviation, I hate the aviation industry. Unfortunately my Aviation Management degree won't help me find writing jobs.
I wish I majored in Creative Writing or Philosophy. Both are as useless as aviation, but serve to make you a more well-rounded individual. I am continually finding out that even though I love aviation, I hate the aviation industry. Unfortunately my Aviation Management degree won't help me find writing jobs.
jspeed87
Well-Known Member
I'd be happy with that salary here in NJ. I'm a hard working guy and don't mind manual labor. Trucking is like being an airline pilot almost. Whatever happens, my fall back plan will be in the transportation business.