My future as a pilot

[Bear]

minimum requirements to be a First Officer at X Airlines, Inc., may again be more than ATP eligibility and a pulse.

Thus the future Captains !

 

[alaskadrifter]

This is important to consider. There is a common misconception that you can qualify for a Restricted ATP certificate at 1,000 hours total time by attending any 141 school. The college itself, the degree, the part 141 program, and the individual courses must all be approved. The 141 school must also be associated with the college issuing the degree. For the Restricted ATP at 1000 total time, you must have an approved bachelors degree with at least 60 credit hours' approved coursework; with an approved associates or bachelors degree and at least 30 hours' approved coursework you can qualify for a Restricted ATP at 1,250 hours total time.

Even if you don't meet any of those education or flight training requirements you can get a Restricted ATP at 1,500 hours TT but with only 200 hours of cross-country instead of the 500 required for an unrestricted ATP. I believe the night time requirement is reduced as well.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/61.160

Being eligible for a restricted ATP at only 1,000 TT would certainly be an advantage, since you could potentially go to the airlines a few months to a year sooner, and seniority is everything in the airlines. However if you would have to take on too much more debt to achieve this it probably wouldn't be worth it. It is a cost-benefit analysis you will have to make for yourself. Keep in mind there is no guarantee that the airlines will be hiring at all when you graduate; or that low-time flying job employers like flight schools and aerial survey companies will be hiring. The pilot hiring climate tends to be either feast or famine and it can change quickly; even if the airlines are hiring their minimums could be greater than the minimum to qualify for an ATP as that has been the case in the past. It all depends on how easy it is for them to hire as many pilots as they need.

True, I was R-ATP eligible at 1250 with a 4 year Aviation degree, go figure. This all started after I had gone back to school and I wouldn't have changed my mind about my degree if I still had to get the full 1500.

 

[Hiboglossi]

Any discussion about this should consider the fact that, by the time you're "qualified" (by which- and whatever means), the industry may be in a radically different place than it was when you started, and perhaps the minimum requirements to be a First Officer at X Airlines, Inc., may again be more than ATP eligibility and a pulse.

Very true. Taking the long view of our industry's history, we are living in very unique times. It is quite rare for the hiring minimums to be as low as they are now, and for the airlines to be hiring at the gate they are now. It seems very likely that the hiring climate will be completely different by the time the OP graduates, especially since he's 18 so this is probably his 1st year of college.

Since it's been 8 years since the last recession, there's a good chance the economy could be in recession or just recovering when he graduates. It is rare to go more than a decade without a recession so we are just about due for one.

 

[Louie1975]

Very true. Taking the long view of our industry's history, we are living in very unique times. It is quite rare for the hiring minimums to be as low as they are now, and for the airlines to be hiring at the gate they are now. It seems very likely that the hiring climate will be completely different by the time the OP graduates, especially since he's 18 so this is probably his 1st year of college.

Since it's been 8 years since the last recession, there's a good chance the economy could be in recession or just recovering when he graduates. It is rare to go more than a decade without a recession so we are just about due for one.

@Yakob I'm curious of your (and anyone's) opinion of Janet Yellen saying something to the effect of 'we're safe for a while now.'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.us...financial-crisis-in-our-lifetimes?context=amp

 

[Autothrust Blue]

@Yakob I'm curious of your (and anyone's) opinion of Janet Yellen saying something to the effect of 'we're safe for a while now.'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/janet-yellen-i-dont-see-a-financial-crisis-in-our-lifetimes?context=amp

"You 'member the 90s?"
"Oh yeah, I 'member!"

 

[Hiboglossi]

@Yakob I'm curious of your (and anyone's) opinion of Janet Yellen saying something to the effect of 'we're safe for a while now.'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-06-27/janet-yellen-i-dont-see-a-financial-crisis-in-our-lifetimes?context=amp

"I don't see a financial crisis in our lifetimes"

That sounds like laughably wishful thinking to me. Reminds me of the captain of the Titanic's (likely apocryphal/ fictional) remarks that "God himself couldn't sink this ship".

Historically, recessions have occurred every 7-10 years, and I don't see any reason why that would suddenly stop happening. Admittedly, I don't see anything happening right now that could necessarily cause an economic crisis, and it's possible we might have a few more good years before the next recession hits. But it will hit sooner or later, and hopefully it won't be as deep as the 2008 recession.

For a number or reasons, I also don't think the airline industry will necessarily recover from the next recession like it has from past recessions. Quite a few people have been "left behind" in the recovery since the last recession, and I predict more and more people will be left behind in each recovery from now on, mostly because more and more jobs are likely to be automated out if existence.

 

[DubyaDawg]

Haven't posted in forever but figured I may for once be able to lend some relevant advice. I went into college with my PPL, I looked into majoring in Aviation at my school until I talked to people in the industry (including people here on JC) and concluded that the aviation degree may not be the best option. I started as a general business major but wasn't interested in it so I changed to advertising and really enjoyed it. For a while I considered going into advertising but still had that urge to be a pilot. I declared a minor in aviation management which let me scratch some of that itch and even allowed me to get credit for my PPL. Over summer and winter breaks I flew and eventually got my IR. I found out that this was more economical than my college's particular program and now I had a fallback plan in case something happened with me or the industry. After graduating this past December with my advertising degree I finally finished up my Multi and Single commercial at my local flight school and now am working on getting my CFI. It's frustrating at times to see friends that were aviation majors interviewing with regionals already but I really don't have any regrets about my path. I enjoyed my college experience while now getting to scratch that aviation bug. Only downside is constantly confusing family members when I would tell them my major and then as what I wanted to do with it, but you get pretty good at explaining it after a while!

 

[bike21]

Haven't posted in forever but figured I may for once be able to lend some relevant advice. I went into college with my PPL, I looked into majoring in Aviation at my school until I talked to people in the industry (including people here on JC) and concluded that the aviation degree may not be the best option. I started as a general business major but wasn't interested in it so I changed to advertising and really enjoyed it. For a while I considered going into advertising but still had that urge to be a pilot. I declared a minor in aviation management which let me scratch some of that itch and even allowed me to get credit for my PPL. Over summer and winter breaks I flew and eventually got my IR. I found out that this was more economical than my college's particular program and now I had a fallback plan in case something happened with me or the industry. After graduating this past December with my advertising degree I finally finished up my Multi and Single commercial at my local flight school and now am working on getting my CFI. It's frustrating at times to see friends that were aviation majors interviewing with regionals already but I really don't have any regrets about my path. I enjoyed my college experience while now getting to scratch that aviation bug. Only downside is constantly confusing family members when I would tell them my major and then as what I wanted to do with it, but you get pretty good at explaining it after a while!

FWIW, I think you've chosen a solid path, compare student loan payments some night over cocktails and your friends already at the regionals might be the more frustrated lot.