The Biggest Lie in Aviation

[UndauntedFlyer]

THE BIGGEST LIE IN AVIATION.

“A person needs a degree in aviation to become an airline pilot.”

The above statement is simply not true! The problem, however, is that almost all young people of high school age and their parents believe this is true. After all such a belief makes sense considering that doctors must have a degree in medicine to become doctors and lawyers must have a degree in law to become lawyers, so it seems to make perfect sense that pilots need a degree in aviation to become airline pilots. However the fact is that this is simply not true. And some would say that just the opposite is really true.

Unfortunately for many young people who are skillful and interested in other things besides aviation such as computers, electronics, agriculture, chemistry, mechanics, writing or so many other things, these special interests are usually lost forever in that young person’s pursuit of the airline pilot dream. The reality though is that a 4-year degree in any of those subjects of special interest may actually be a much better choice for some young people interested in pursuing a career as an airline pilot. In the airline industry, these alternative degrees should be considered to be used as a backup or as a second career alternative for students who have both aviation and non-aviation interests.

The fact is that right now to get hired by a regional airline an applicant must simply have their FAA commercial certificates and about 1000 hours (plus or minus 500) and 100 hours of multiengine time (plus or minus 50). Although no college degree is required for the regional airlines, a 4-year degree in anything is a must if that person wants to eventually move on to the major airlines. And to get hired by a major airline, when hiring eventually resumes, will require regional airline experience as a captain plus a 4-year college degree in ANYTHING.

One problem in the airline business is that it can be a brutal experience for some people and many times the brutality depends only on good or bad luck. After several years at one airline, doing a good job and working up the seniority ladder, a person can easily find that their airline is now in bankruptcy. So that pilot who has done nothing wrong may be out of a job and now has to start at the very bottom somewhere else, usually at another airline. This may happen once, twice or several times in a pilot’s career and sometimes there is a point when financial obligations prevent a return to the commuter co-pilot seat, thus career changes may become necessary. Or a person may find that they have developed a disqualifying medical condition and again, changes will be necessary. Or a person may have the unfortunate experience of alcohol convictions or motor vehicle actions or FAA violations, all of which can end a pilot’s career, thus changes may be necessary.

So one might then say, “Why not get a degree in Engineering or what ever and just learn to fly at the FBO?” This is very possibly and such an alternative flight training program could easily be completed all the way up through the FAA commercial pilot and CFI levels while pursuing any degree, but the problem is that students and their parents just don’t understand this alternative. And remember they are most likely still being strongly influenced by the “big lie” that a person needs a degree in aviation or at least needs to learn to fly at a university to become an airline pilot.

 

[midlifeflyer]

I've never even heard anyone say it. How big a lie can it be?

 

[GogglesPisano]

Maybe. But college teaches you to drink responsibly.

 

[Peter Brady]

Why continue to beat a dead horse? This subject has been discussed a countless number of times over the past few years. People will debate their different opinions on the subject. Then pilotyip chimes in and says something that everyone disagrees with, which will make this thread go on for several pages before it turns into a flame war and ends up being quite useless.

And to get hired by a major airline, when hiring eventually resumes, will require regional airline experience as a captain plus a 4-year college degree in ANYTHING.

Am I the only one who read this part?

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

To a non-pilot the thread just doesn’t make sense but in reality it is all true. The layperson’s misunderstanding of this is the reason schools like Embry Ridddle can charge 3-times what smaller schools charge for the same thing. People just think that if you pay more money or go to a larger university flight program that is better known because they run 2-page 4-color ads in FLYING MAGAZINE that their program is going to be better, resulting in an advantage that will help the student get a job. Let me reassure anyone who may read this that a graduate of a smaller school is just as employable as any graduate from any other school. That is because all of this really makes so little difference in the final evaluation. A commercial pilot certificate is just that and the certification standards are the same everywhere. It is true that a Harvard Law School graduate would surly get better employment offers than other law school graduates, but that logic just doesn’t apply here. In the airline pilot business it’s experience and pilot records that count. Where you learned to fly really means very little.

How do I know all of this? I guess it's rather unscientific, but let's call it 35-plus years in the airline pilot profession, including two long furloughs, one bankruptcy, three engine failures, two forced landings and one mid-air collision. And having personal conversations with thousands of fellow pilots with whom I work while flying long 12-hour international flights all over world. Now I can say that almost all of the major airline pilots have a degree in something, but I would estimate that only about 15% to maybe 20% of the pilots at the major airlines have an aviation related degree. More so for the younger pilots and less so for the older pilots. And the militray pilots rarely have a degree in anything relataed to aviation. So that says that an aviation degree certainly doesn't hurt anything toward employment but it is not a necessity. Therefore, I would encourage any student to major in whatever is their special interest and learn to fly concurrently in college or before college which is even better. If a person has no other interests but aviation and wants to learn everything about the airlines from a business point of view, then Aviation Management/Whatever may be a good choice or if a person wants to learn everything about how to repair and build an airplane then Aviation Technology (A&P) is probably the right choice, also if a student has a special interest in say computers as an example, then that student should major in something related to computers and learn to fly too.

 

[RichardRambone]

I think the bigger lie is Im gonna come out swinging and making fat dough. You may not need a degree but why not get one? I think college is an important part of growing up and its 4 years of learning to hunt women. You shouldnt go get one if all you wanna do is be an airline pilot but why would you skip that step in your life? Its the last spot where you can be somewhat irresponsible and get away with it. GO TO COLLEGE ALL, DONT LISTEN TO THIS GARBAGE!

 

[troy]

one might not need a college degree, but it can not hurt. given two equal applicants, one with, one without, the results are obvious. Just get the degree, have fun, examine one's self in the world, and relax. Stop beating my horse.

 

[A Squared]

Hey, I love a good myth-busting as much as the next guy (probably even more) but mythbusting this aint. The "myth" you're purporting to bust, is a non-existent Myth. A straw-man myth, as it were. With the possible exception of Embry-RIddle salesmen, nobody says that you need a degree in aviation, and those salesmen are fairly broadly understood to be liars.


I would point out to a few others that the original poster didn't say you don't need a college degree, he said you don't need one in aviation. No matter, Pilotyip will soon appear and turn it into a "you don't need a degree at all" thread.

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

This thread sez that a degree in aviation is not necessary to become an airline pilot. Meaning that a degree in anything, computer science, engineering, journalism, etc will do the job just as well. Nowhere do I say or will I say, or will I ever recommend that a 4-year degree should be by-passed in the pursuite of the airline pilot dream. To do so would make that person a "lifer" in the lower end of the pilot "food chain." That would be a great mistake, especially and certainly in the long term.

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

Should be Biggest Con in Aviation!!!!

Really I think I should have called this thread "The Biggest Con in Aviation." Unfortunately a lot of aviation education is just that, a con-job. While the colleagues and universities do a reasonably good job of teaching the material, is it a con-job to entice these young people into the piloting profession without backup educations? Except for Aviation Technology (A&P) which is in itself a backup education as a technician, shouldn't the other aviation studies be just a minor study of maybe a few courses under the more traditional degrees of say Business Management or Journalism or Math?

Your comments please. Is Aviation Management an educational Con-Job? What is the best degree for a young person to pursue if he wants to become an airline pilot?