American Eagle Seminar in Raleigh

[Shaheen]

I'm going to go ahead and guess that you don't have a four year degree and that you got hired with low hours... (85% sure on the degree thing, 50-50 on the low hours )

For the sake of arguments, lets say I do not have a college degree and I did get hire with low number of hours...does that make me less qualified at the initial hiring stage?

This [airline flying] is ONE profession where there's some status attached to it, but unlike law, medicine, engineering, etc., this is the only game where you can have a degree in sociology, but do something that has nothing to do with what you did in college.

Go ahead...give us some more input. It will make you feel better (or worst).

 

[Shaheen]

Fly well? Ever heard of experience? It has a great deal to do with how well you perform as a 121 crew member.

Flying well, huh. So, how come with so little flight experience of today's new-hire crew, the regional planes are not falling out of they sky on daily basis?

 

[Walter Sobchak]

Well, Shaheen, there aren't RJs falling out of the sky because the guys in the left seat aren't letting it happen. As far as the 4 year degree question goes, you are correct in saying that it doesn't have anything to do with how well you fly. It does, however, give a pretty good indication of whether or not the applicant is going to make it through the ground portion of training.

 

[pilotyip]

THe college degree has nothing to do with finishing ground school. True most pilots finishing ground school have college degrees, but it is becasue most pilots starting ground school have college degrees.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

Yip,

Read my post again. I didn't say it directly had anything to do with finishing ground school. Like it or not, if a candidate has a 4 year degree they have proven themselves to be "trainable" to a certain extent. A candidate without a degree is an unknown quantity.

 

[pilotyip]

Not true Walter, you can test for the quailites that allow you to be sucessful in ground school. As I said before most college grads have these, but many do not, many who did not attend college score higher than college grads. Look at the degrees grads are getting now days, they are not technical. One semester of college algebra.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

Yip,

I think you must be getting defensive about this or something. I didn't say that people who don't have a 4 year degree are untrainable or any less qualified to become pilots. I agree that you can test for qualities that will likely allow you to succeed in ground school, but has any airline developed and employed such a test? Every pre-employment airline test I have ever heard of deals mostly with ATP written questions. If you can effectively argue that somebody that holds a bachelor degree is somehow LESS qualified than someone who doesn't (all other variables being equal), then I will concede the point.

 

[pilotyip]

Me defensive, never, you stated that a 4 yr degree showed a pilot was trainable, I tell you that is simply not true. The only thing that really proves a guy is trainable is military or 121 training. Give me any a two year community college auto mechanic degree to a 4 yr degree in French History any day.

 

[daviator28621]

Both of you guys aren't real sharp college or no college. This post was about the American Eagle seminar and how desperate they are and will continue to be.
As to whether or not you need college, only if your employer needs it. I have worked with really smart college guys and some pretty dumb ones. The same is true with non-college guys.
I personally was not able to go to college when I was young. However I read on a college level and I am usually in the top of any of the classes I have ever had to take for my various jobs. I scored 96% on my commercial written, does that make me any better than the guy who got 70% nope, as long as you pass you still get to be called commercial pilot.

 

[Bruno82]

The last newhire class had 30 folks in it. The class before that had 24.