Questions about Major Airline employment

[ckl73golf]

Hey

I am a junior in high school and am working on my PPL and Insrument rating and I would really like to be a commercial pilot. I know the job market for pilots is hard now a days but, what else do I need in way of courses or ratings to be able to apply for a job at any airline after college? And do the airlines look at your GPA or even consider it in hiring?
Any help would be appreciated!

--ckl73golf--

 

[banned username 2]

First off you will most likely not go right from college to an airline, let alone a major Airline. You will most likely be a flight instructor for a couple years until you have around 1,500 hours or so (You will get out of college with around 300-500 hours depending on how much "extra" flying you do). Then you will apply and hopefully get hired at a Regional airline where you will stay 4-10 years depending on how the market conditions are, THEN you will be ready for a Major.

 

[AA717driver]

Just get your licenses and find a job to build time and then you can decide if the airlines are right for you.

Who knows what the industry will look like in 10 years.

Airlines will look at your transcripts. My grades sucked but I had an excuse(no, it wasn't chicks and beer!) that they bought. The better your grades, the less hassle in the interviews.

I would get a non-aviation-related degree in college, though. Just fly on your own in college if you can swing paying for both.TC

 

[texanpilot]

If you are set on being a pilot for a profession, a great way to get both a degree, very important, and all your licenses and lots of flight time is to go to a university that offers an aviation degree. For example, I went to Purdue University and got a 4yr BS and all my ratings and graduated with 1000 hour flight time. Aviation schools, for the most part, have great reputations in the industry. There are tons of universitys/colleges out there that have some type of Aviation curriculum. "Flight Training" magazine, which you can get at any flight school, usually has a plethora of aviation school listed. A good time to start looking is now. Typical progression to becomming a Major airline pilot is as follows:
1. Get PPL, Instrument, Multi, Commercial, Instructor
2. Fly anything with fixed wings on it to build time
3. As soon as you can, put the Commerical to use and let someone else pay for the remaining flight time you desire.
4. Go to any regional airline that will hire you at approx 1500 hrs.
5. Upgrade asap. for PIC Turbine
6. Dish out all your paperwork to the majors.
7. Most important - Network, Network, Network. It's 90% who you know. Dont piss anyone off, aviation is a small, wierd world.

Its a long process, but by no means impossible. There are lots of nay-sayers out ther, ignore them.
good luck.

 

[de727ups]

Texas pilots post

I agree with everything except the aviation degree part. It's great to graduate from college with 1000 total time....a worthy goal. You could do this just as easy by attending a non-aviation school, getting a degree that's actually worth something, and instructing on the side while in college.

 

[RShebib]

CKL,

Another option is going the military route. You could go 4 or 2 year ROTC, attain a pilot slot and go into the AF/Navy etc and get some of the best pilot training in the world. Also, you will, after a 9 year committment, have substantial amount of flying time, be in your early 30s and have made a comfortable living the entire time. Oh, but there is that little thing about military life--like going into combat, being away from home/family during certain tours.......just letting you know that there are a lot of different options out there for you and the civilian only route is not the only one

 

[texanpilot]

del727,
Great point about getting a degree elsewhere. I tried to get that across too. The Purdue degree is "worth somehing" however. If you wannna be a vet you go to vet school, if you wanna be a lawyer you go to law school, if you wanna be a dancer you go to dance school, you wanna be a pilot you go to flight school. A Big Ten flight school that has one of the top reputations in the nation.
But, as you said. You can also go to So And So State, and end up just like anyone else. Personal preference. But the main point is for someone who wants to be a pro pilot - Go to college somewhere!!!