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fbke

Filing Flight Plan
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My question:
Why get an aviation degree instead of a degree that can provide you an income if a flying career doesn't work out? Why not give yourself options?
 
so....what can you do with that degree?...if flying becomes not possible.....Like if you should lose your medical. That's the "only" reason to get the degree. So, get something that is marketable and will land you a job somewhere.

IMHO....like I told my kids. Go to the local community college get a strong two year degree....if you must keep going, go and get a degree for another field. This is your backup plan should flying not be possible.

FWIW I started out to be a pro pilot....I have the Comm SEL Inst rating with A&P. Got selected for pilot's slot in the air national guard to fly C-130's. Went thru the medical screening and sent to Tx for reviews and testing. Passed everything cept the medical part. I had my schooling in a BS in Aerospace Engineering. After 30 years of work I have spent half that time "outside" of aviation due to economic down turns in aviation. Those are common every 10-15 years. You will need a backup plan.....
 
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Pay as you go....no college loans. You don't need to spend tens of thousands on an education.
 
What do you think about building up my 1500 flight hours to become a regional pilot, to build seniority. Then I could pay for online school while flying for the regional airline, making money too?

At this time in the hiring cycle, that is probably the right thing to do. Get your hours as fast as possible, get a 121 job and some experience, obtain the degree along the way (online, combination or local college).
The majors still require A degree and during the next downturn it may be helpful to find gainful employment while on furlough.
 
Flying for a regional, you're likely to be doing weird hours and schedule and living hand to mouth. That may complicate getting a degree at the same time. If the college work drags on for a long time, credits earned early may begin to expire and have to be re-earned.

One way to mitigate that is to get a two-year associate's degree, then continue for the bachelor's. Credits expire but degrees don't.
 
1. No
2. At this time, no
3. A lot of regionals are on par with pay with corporate gigs unless you’re at a cushy 91 job or flying at Netjets which your chances of getting hired at 1500 hours are slim to none
4. Most of them do.
 
There are corporate flying gigs. There are airline flying gigs. I've never heard of a corporate airline flying gig.

Anyway step one is get a 1st class medical. Do it now. Don't spend another moment pondering any of these career path decisions until you have a 1st class medical in hand.

After that I would agree the priority should be getting hours in your logbook. Professional aviation goes in cycles. Right now anyone with 1500 hours and pulse can get hired. That won't last forever. Get hours before that changes.

Here's my perspective on degrees. There are jobs that only open up to you once you have a degree. Any degree. Then there are jobs that you can only get with certain specific degrees or degrees in certain specific disciplines i.e. you're probably not going to get hired to a position as a parasitologist if you have an art history degree. Professional aviation is one of those fields where if a degree is required for the job, any degree will do. If you're only interested in getting a degree that gets you jobs where any degree will do, get the cheapest quickest degree you can find. If that's an aviation degree, great. But I bet there are other degrees that could be gotten cheaper and quicker.
 
My entire career has involved race cars and airplanes. The first things to go when the economy tanks are race cars and airplanes. I have restarted from the bottom more times than submarines.

I have been without a medical for two years. Having something else going has been a life saver.

Get a degree in something besides aviation, or at least pick a good trade school.
 
Professional aviation is one of those fields where if a degree is required for the job, any degree will do. If you're only interested in getting a degree that gets you jobs where any degree will do, get the cheapest quickest degree you can find.


That's one perspective. Here's another:

That aviation job can end instantly. A medical issue, an economy downturn, an airline going bust, etc., can throw you out of work. If that happens, your BA in ancient Mayan poetry won't be worth as much as a large pizza. At least the pizza can feed a family.
 
My degrees are in construction management, unfortunately an industry also very tied to the economy, but at least it’s a fall back if I lose my medical. I’ve bounced back and forth a couple of times over the last 30 years, but been a full time pilot for the last 12 years and hoping to make it to retirement.
 
That's one perspective. Here's another:

That aviation job can end instantly. A medical issue, an economy downturn, an airline going bust, etc., can throw you out of work. If that happens, your BA in ancient Mayan poetry won't be worth as much as a large pizza. At least the pizza can feed a family.
Oh I completely agree. Perhaps I should have said if you're only interested in getting a degree that gets you jobs where any degree will do, and I strongly recommend you not do that, get the quickest cheapest degree you can find.
 
Oh I completely agree. Perhaps I should have said if you're only interested in getting a degree that gets you jobs where any degree will do, and I strongly recommend you not do that, get the quickest cheapest degree you can find.
yup....an online Riddle Degree.
 
50% of students exit college and go into a job that has nothing to do with their degree.

Very few aviation jobs care in the slightest about what or where your degree came from. (Minor exceptions exist. There are some places that love ring-knocking military academy backgrounds, ERAU, or UND. But all of those places still hire other people.)

Debt load is a massive problem for all college students these days, aviation magnifies and multiplies this wherever possible. Avoid debt like the plague. Two regional airlines just lost a big contract this week... and lots of pilots with big debts are all feeling very nervous and scared right now. This is a repetitive theme in this industry. Get an education, but get the most cost effective education you possibly can and try hard not to rack up debt. Sally Mae will move into your house, life, relationships, and everything she possibly can and not leave for decades if you have no written plan to kick her out of the house.

Online stuff is fairly common these days. Liberty isn’t known for being cheap but they are known for convenience if you’re trying to do school work while working a job or traveling. Like many online places.

If not already there get acclimatized to a low income by forcibly limiting spending way below income. Stay at that spend level and pay off any debt hard core. Savings in the bank means you have options when opportunities arise. No money means stuck.
 
Yeah it’s always essential to have a backup plan, which isn’t necessarily tied to ANY degree. Much of the ‘backup’ is to do with the individual, regardless of degree, or lack there of.

I know very successful people without a degree or totally out of the field of study. I know a few who know more about ‘business’ than most any with a masters in business. I liken it sorta to the ‘Back to School’ movie with Rodney.

To each their own, do what makes sense to you. I doubt a Sociology degree is any more useful than one in Aviation Management. It’s better to graduate with underwater basket-weaving than flunk out of pre-med, as far as airline apps go.
 
There are corporate flying gigs. There are airline flying gigs. I've never heard of a corporate airline flying gig.
There is delta private jets. Corporate flying in a program owned by delta airlines. The pilots are in CASS and have delta travel benefits. ...

Not sure how cushy it is in comparison to other corporate jobs
 
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