The Road to Becoming An Airline Pilot

My advice is to stop trying to find the easy way to do things. Many others, who are probably smarter than you, have tried and failed to find it. There is no magic way to go about things other than hard work. Go to college, have a good time, and earn a degree. Sure you can get a great job without a degree but chances are you won't make it to exactly where you want to be. Stop thinking about the now and start thinking about the later; 5/10/15 years down the line. This is a very competitive business filled with very competitive people, we will not hesitate to eat you alive if you get in our way. If you go into an interview with me and don't have a degree I can promise you I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that when we board the plane I turn left and you turn right.


Get the degree. He with the most checks by his name gets the job.

Yeah, it's so noble going to College and learning how to party! (Yeah, I did it but whatever). Online schools require dedication, and self motivation. They are the SAME degree as going to the brick and mortar school itself. In fact, alot of employers/interviewers respect someone who has taken initiative, and is dedicated enough to want to better him/herself with a degree while working.

Just curious as to what you can do? If you are both interviewing at the same time, I see you as powerless to influence the outcome for another applicant. Or are you saying that you would be doing the interviewing? Then, I think that you are not really qualified to be making that decision if it's just about the degree. I've known people who have a degree and are the dumbest people on the face of the earth. Real mouth breathers. I've also known peolpe who have never set foot on a campus and are some of the most intelligent people I have ever met. I guess you can call that experience.

What I can do is make sure I'm the most qualified applicant out there. I'll do this many ways though only one of those is my degree. I've got both the education and experience to fly for every regional under the sun but I've eaten ramen noodles before and don't like them. So, to that end I'll spend a little more time saying "left wing, right rudder" and use my free time for recurrent and advanced training that most applicants never even consider. Thinking I'm powerless against the outcome with other applicants is not something I suffer from.

I guess I still don't quite understand the whole "turn left, turn right" comment. Do you mean you go to the cockpit, and he goes to the cabin, or, you go to the left seat and he goes to the right seat? Gotta be honest with you, either way it was a silly statement to make.

As far as being the most qualified applicant out there, getting the education and experience is a good thing, but attitude is a biggie too. If you come across as God's gift to aviation and are overly aggressive or abrasive, you will most likely be shown the door. Maybe not at the regional level, but at one legacy I'm intimately familiar with, they'll bounce an applicant with more experience and education if they think there'll be a personality clash. Just sayin'.

I hate sitting in the back so yes, I mean turning left into the cockpit. Only a few of us actually get to do that. With that in mind I'm well aware of what attitude can do to help and or hurt you. I'm confident in my abilities, my person, and my skills. There are aviators out there who are better, smarter, and more qualified than I am but I'm working on that. I'm not God's gift to aviation but aviation is a gift to me so I'm more than happy to eat, sleep, and breathe it.

Well, good luck in your hunt for that seat. If you'll allow me one final word of wisdom. This is for everyone interested in pursuing a career in aviation, so please don't feel I'm calling you out.

Bagging on someone who doesn't have the same skill set or motivation as you isn't a good thing. We all strive to reach the same end point by taking different roads, and some of the people we cross paths with can be in a position to either help or hinder us. Aviation is a small world. More so as you move into the corporate, cargo or airline part. There are only a few degrees of separation involved and some things we say or actions we take can bite us in the end. Nuff said.

I'm not bagging on anyone, only encouraging this guy to think about his future and not jumping into the first shiny jet that comes his way. All these roads have one thing in common; they aren't easily traveled. Rushing into any career because it seems cool is a recipe for disaster. A former student/Navy Seal gave me a piece of advice that I've found to be applicable to every aspect of my life. He said: "Fast is slow, slow is smooth, smooth is fast." Point being, take that extra time to do it right and you'll be better off.

Please re-read my post where I said I WASN'T directing it at you. Think of it as some advice from someone further on down the road than you, just like your Seal student's. It was for those just starting out. However, feel free to completely disregard it.

Learflyer,

I am right, and you are wrong. Sorry. It's not anything LIKE the same degree. The only way you'd think they are is if you think of college as a trade school. Which is missing the whole point of college. The environment in which you learn is as important as what you learn.

The classic "fighting words" of the internets!:banghead:

I read that, I was just going over the top to make sure that everyone else knew. I'm happy to take advice from anyone who has been there and done that.

I appreciate everyone's advice even though some of them are conflicting. In the end we're a family in the small world of aviation and it's best to respect one another and enjoy our journey.