What path do I take?

C

Cpilotaz

New Member
First I'd like to say that I've been coming to Jetcareers for around a year and viewing the forums, I've just never figured out how to get an email address from my ISP till now.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Colin, I'm 18 years old and live in Scottsdale, Arizona. I've wanted to fly airplanes since I was little and my ultimate goal is to become a commercial pilot. I've had no training (outside of a few $49 intro flights) and I've been a flight simulator addict for years. I'm a senior in high school, going to be graduating this year, and I've been accepted to Arizona State. I've already recieved my Class 1 medical. I've been in contact with a retired 747 captain from Pan-Am and he's been a mentor of sorts but I wanted to get some other opinions.

I basically have four options thats going to decide my future and I'm not sure which way to go.

1) I've been accepted into the Professional Flight program at ASU. I can do that and graduate with an aviation degree with a guaranteed interview at Mesa. One problem is cost. At this point I nor my parents are financially able to pay for this program, as I would have to get a ton of scholarships and I don't qualify for any full rides. Also, from what I've heard and read, its smarter to get a non-aviation degree as a "backup". Lastly, from pilots I've talked to, Mesa is not a good company to work for.

2)Go to college and pursue a non-aviation degree. Get some flight training, graduate, and go into the airforce as an officer, (and assuming I can get the competitive pilot spot) come out with flight time, an airline interview, and a backup degree in case anything goes wrong.

3)Go to college and pursue a non-aviation degree. Fly when I can and work my way up to ATP and build hours as an instructor. Hold a side job in whatever my degree is in until I have enough hours to get an interview and get a job with an airline.


I have no idea what the future hiring prospects are for pilots or what the nature of the industry is going to be like when I've graduated so thats why I've come to you guys for some advice. I'd appreciate any replies.
 
Here is my suggestion. Keep your options open. Things change. If you know what degree you want to major in, learn about all the prerequisite courses needed. Attend junior/community college and attain your lower division courses there. Junior college is much cheaper than a university and provides the same level of instruction as a uni.

When that is completed re-evaluate your options and goals. I suggest you do get your 4 yr degree. Some aviation degrees can be valuable if flying doesn't work out. I.e. medical disqualification. One such degree would be aviation administration or management.

When you have earned your bs/ba degree, again, re-evaluate your options/goals.
If you decide the military is the way to go choose the branch where you think you will be most satisfied. Air guard is a great gig if you can get a slot. Remember, the military will own you for a significant amount of time. You will have a great time, meet friends for life, serve your country and get the best training.

If you want to go through civie training post college work in a field and pay for the training as you go.

Right now you are young, you have time to make these decisions. Where there is a will there is a way.
I am 34 and finally have started my training after being surrounded by aviation my whole life. Good luck.

p.s.
Don't get any women pregnant. Kids cost money!
 
Hiya Colin

It seems that you have some good options in front of you.

Pretty much the same info as eta71

Basically,
  • Time,
  • Money,
  • Motivation, (probably the most important factor)
and​
  • Innate ability, (spatial, motor, organizational, etc)
will be the determining factors for your success.
​

If you can go to college, do it. Study something you like; something that you are interested in.

If you can't afford some big aviation program, then work,
save your money, goto an affordable school (possibly
online) and do things at your own pace.
​

You don't need to have an aviation degree, and truthfully, you don't
even need a "degree" in the first place if you just want to fly at the
regional, or private through commercial levels etc.
However, It's recommended so that you become better educated and are more marketable.


With that, study as hard as you can, and learn as many things about
aviation as you can while you work and save money, or while you
attend a school for some other area of study.

It's a good thing to know your medical status etc, so keep a healthy
lifestyle, and go for that first class a year or two down the road again
to make sure that your body is still up to snuff.

-Perpetual
 
Cpilotaz said:
First I'd like to say that I've been coming to Jetcareers for around a year and viewing the forums, I've just never figured out how to get an email address from my ISP till now.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Colin, I'm 18 years old and live in Scottsdale, Arizona. .....
.....
I have no idea what the future hiring prospects are for pilots or what the nature of the industry is going to be like when I've graduated so thats why I've come to you guys for some advice. I'd appreciate any replies.
Click to expand...

I hear there's a pilot that lives in North Scottsdale that is gone quite a bit. Maybe you can make some extra scratch gutting his grass. :D

If anyone had the idea about hiring prospects, they'd be rich. Oh wait I forgot about Kit D. Dang It.


Anyhow, Welcome Aboard. There is a wealth of information available here. Don't be shy about using it.
 
I took the aviation degree route. But at the time I had another goal in life- missionary pilot instead of airline.. My college was paid for, so it was an easy decision.

If I could have, I grew up always wanting to be a military pilot. But I've got a history of asthma and at the time I graduated college, the pilot slots were going to the honor roll Academy grads.

All that being said... my vote is for the Air Force if you can get a pilot slot. I'm totally ignorant about the recruiting practices so I don't know if you can get a guaranteed slot. It would be the cheapest route for you and you'll get top-notch training.
 
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3. The degree will make you more well rounded and also give you a nice backup plan. You won't really learn much with an aviation degree if your ultimate goal is to go to college to become more knowledgable.
 
Chris_Ford said:
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3. The degree will make you more well rounded and also give you a nice backup plan. You won't really learn much with an aviation degree if your ultimate goal is to go to college to become more knowledgable.
Click to expand...
How about Aviation Management? Essentially it's a business degree with an emphasis on aviation. Seems like a good choice to me.
 
AlexF said:
How about Aviation Management? Essentially it's a business degree with an emphasis on aviation. Seems like a good choice to me.
Click to expand...

A backup plan, IMO, isn't just a "what if you lose your medical"... it's a "What if something as big as/bigger than 9/11 happens that cripples the industry and essentially eliminates jobs in the commercial aviation sector... Then what does that avmgmt degree do?

If you want to do it, go for it. I honestly don't care either way, but from personal experience, I've found that getting an aviation degree is worthless.
 
I'd go option three as well. Go to a school that has nothing to do with aviation and find a local FBO that you can train at. Get as many of your ratings as you can at the FBO and work to the CFI stuff. By the time you finish up school you should have a fair number of your ratings done and maybe in a position to start instructing. Keep in mind, nobody knows what the industry will look like 4 years from now. Definatly keep your options open, but most importantly try to have some fun with learning to fly and going to college. Aviation shouldn't become a "career" until you are getting paid for it, and even then that is questionable.
 
Chris_Ford said:
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3. The degree will make you more well rounded and also give you a nice backup plan. You won't really learn much with an aviation degree if your ultimate goal is to go to college to become more knowledgable.
Click to expand...

you told me, and I now agree Shot the 3 pointer, my friend. good luck man and welcomme to aviation.
 
If I could start over I'd personally start with method three and see where that takes me. As has been said, whatever method you choose may not be the method you do when you finish everything. As for me, I'm changing my methods. But its largely a personal matter. I wouldn't have known which way was best for me until I did it. Now that I have done it, I feel that there is a better way to do it, so I'm looking at making the switch.

So what I'm saying is.....start. Then one day you may be sitting on the couch thinking, why don't I do it this way?
 
Setting goals in mesa is a horrible choice so I'd say options 1's a no-go especially if it will put your family in a financial crunch.

Option 2 is a good goal but you cant plan on getting a slot. Its presently about a 100-1 odds if you even get to submit a packet after all the tests/medicals.

Option 3 is a good bet.

Option 4 - the one I wish I'd have done is - Army aviation. No degree required and theyll pay for your college. You can apply to warrant officer training and be a helicopter pilot in the army which ill only help on the civilian side plus it opens up a whole new area of aviation to you. You get paid and you can even do it as a reservist so you can go to school and thump around the country side in an apache as well all on uncle sam.
 
"reservist so you can go to school and thump around the country side in an apache as well all on uncle sam."

Funny you mention that. There was a guy in my 757 F/O class who still does that in KY. He got started in helicopters. Got lucky and transitioned into fixed wing. Got out and worked his way up to UPS but kept flying Apaches in the guard/reserves.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread....

Colin, do you have any other interests outside of flying that might work into a college major? I think it's best to stay away from aviation majors but, at the same time, it's dumb to spend a lot of time studying something you don't enjoy. Heck, you could probably get an AA degree in general studies from the local community college and work on your flight training while you figure out what you really want to major in.

Like the others have mentioned, you are young and have time to figure out what is best for YOU. Whatever you do, don't fall for the marketing BS of the big academies, especially that one school that says "being owned by Delta makes all the difference".
 
I just wanted to thank you guys for all the great replies. I'm hoping to save up for some training soon.

There seems to be a few SDL/PHX pilots around on the forums. Does anybody have any reccomendations for flight schools around here?
 
Cpilotaz said:
I just wanted to thank you guys for all the great replies. I'm hoping to save up for some training soon.

There seems to be a few SDL/PHX pilots around on the forums. Does anybody have any reccomendations for flight schools around here?
Click to expand...
I'd probably recommend #3, although I did #1 and don't regret it. For FBO's in the PHX area this thread has some good information:
http://www.jetcareers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=320596#post320596
 
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