2 or 4 year degrees

[cougar6903]

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Your comments and insight has been very helpful in my decision making. I think I may not have clearly stated my question in my first post. I am planning on either going to a 4 year college and majoring in aero-science or an equivalent course and getting all my ratings up to CFI or go to a 2 year school, get the ratings up to CFI 2 years earlier and then instruct by day and go to school in the evenings to finish with a 4 year degree. I'm hoping either way it would take me 4 years but if I would go to the 2 year College first I could end up with a Bachelors degree in something other than aviation and an Associates degree in Aviation, as well as about 2000 hours +/- of flying experience. Sound like a good??

 

[Idiot Police]

Re: Re: 2 or 4 year degrees

I think he has it backwards, the ultimate goal is UPS, FDX, or DHL and if that falls through, then settle for a pax airline!

Sir, I am going to have to ask you to step out of your sewer pipe... put one foot in front of the other and follow my flashlight...

Now count backwards from 99 to 76...

JAIL!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pilotyip]

playing down?

I was not playing down the importance of the 4 yr degree, all school teachers need them, and I guess most major airlines candidates. You can be a successful career pilot without a 4 yr degree. 4 yrs of flying a 700-900 hours per year will make you much more employable at age 22 than a 4 yr degree and 300 hrs. At age 30 what would you rather be a major wantabee or a senior F/O junior Captain at Spirit or AirTran, is that person an aviation failure because he does not have a 4 yr degree and a better chance at a major in the year 2007

 

[pilotyip]

There is no major future

I have a friend who followed your track, left Spirit in 1999 for a major, USAirways, if he had not taken that move he would be like #10 Spirit Captain at DTW, now he is an unemployed 45 year old pilot who not does not have 1000 turbin PIC, because of his time building in the right seat. Because of his senority he probably does not even have a shot at J4J's. Don't you guys get it there is no future at the majors. If you get hired in the next cycle starting 2007, you will behind all of the furloughe's with senority dates back into the 90's. you will be an F/O for 10-15 years. You will flying in a Cockpit like TWA in the mid 90's Capt age 58, F/O age 55, F/E age 52. Major pay is going ot be redefined and F/O's will not be 6 figure jobs, Captain at the Spirit and AirTran and JB will be. Again as far as the 4 yr degree goes if you have real degree that leads to a job, like Teaching, Nurse, Engineer something to fall back on it is a good thing, but most major airline wantabe's have aviation degrees which is not in big demand except to manage an FBO. Too much value is put on the value of 4 yr degree in avaition and it is mispalced

 

[Finch]

I couldn't agree more.....

Pilotyip, you are so right! I do have a degree, and while I would not discourage a new pilot from getting one, you have to be realistic. The majors will never be the same......who would want to be fo for their career? I wish that educators would wake up and smell the coffee-give us education that is worth more than the parchment it is printed on! Avaition degrees are just a new way for schools to capture more students, and to justify the outragous tuition cost by extolling the virtues of the degree ( the major airlines will think better of you if you have one!). If I had to do it over again, I would get a technical degree and not an abstract artsy fartsy one.

Finch

 

[pilotyip]

Quality Time

When you go for the interview at LLC, you will be called in on the quality and quantity of your flight time, not the possession of a 4 yr degree, the degree might make a slight difference between two candidates at decision time, but the pilot who started pursuing flight right out of high school will have his flight time sooner and be interviewing in his mid 20's as opposed to the 4 yr degree guy typically in his late 20's. And if the 4 yr degree is in Applied Flight Technology from South Bumblebee State, where you get 15 credits for all your CFI's, 15 Credits for your Comm/Inst. etc. and the recruiter compares this to the non 4 yr degree pilot with a CFI, ATP, the 4 yr degree will carry very little weight and personality will be the telling factor.