BoilerUP said:
The way you quoted what I wrote took the entire point out of context. To do so is misleading, at the least.
ATC is a viable option (especially since the announcement that the FAA is *finally* going to start hiring again) and could provide somebody who is young
(such as the person in this case) another option. Yes I know you need a medical, and yes I know there is a maximum age at which you can be hired, but for the 21-23 year old coming out of school with 250-400 hours and a CFI ticket attending a CTI school could be just what they need to get started in a great career while being able to pay the bills. I wish I had structured my academics to allow me that option.
Flying is fun, but definately not the end-all of aviation. Especially in this day and age.
This is the paragraph that I quoted, in its entirety:
BoilerUP said:
Obviously I'm partial to the Boilermakers, but I would suggest getting a minor in something outside of piloting if you attend a school for a flight/aeronautical science degree, regardless of where you go. Finance, Economics, Management, Labor Relations, Computer Science, or even Air Traffic Control would all provide you with a foundation for a fallback career in the event of furlough or medical issues.
I guess what you meant and what you actually wrote are two different things. "Even air traffic control would all proivde you with a foundation for a fallback career in the event of furlough or medical issues." Sure seems to me that you're advocating that ATC would be a good fall back career (or option, as you say in a follow up post) in the event of furlough or medical issues (again, your words). For the reasons I listed above, I think it's not. Can't hold a pilot physical (two or one)? You won't pass an ATC physical either. Get furloughed from the airlines? Better hope it happens before your 31st bday! Good thing the feds got rid of the two year limit "in the pool" for the time being, otherwise I'd say you'd better get furloughed within two years of graduation as well.
As a CTI student who really did his homework before enrolling in CTI courses, I really can't advocate that ATC is a good fallback career or option... I think that you have to choose to do it and go full steam, because by the time a flying career craps out (it takes so long to get it started), it probably will be too late to go crawling back. Do you really think that a student can pass on an FAA phone call, and two or three years later call them back and say they want a job? I don't think so. If you're advocating that a kid be a controller while building his flight time, that's a different story, but that was in no way the perceived meaning conferred by the post I first responded to.
An ATC career is work. Hard work. Among other things, you have to pass a tougher medical than pilots do, have not a lot of choice in initial facility assignments (expect five years at a minimum from the time you show up at your first facility to the time you transfer). There's no way to even know when you'll get an OKC academy date (will be several *months* after graduation). You also have to take an aptitude test that they won't give you until *after* you've started your CTI training, and I won't get started on the crappy schedule. Your first assignment is not a guaranteed slam dunk pass either.
What's the point of this banter? It's not about splitting hairs. It's to help all the young kids reading this trying to decide on an aviation career path to pick the *best* career path options available to them. The things worth knowing most you can't learn from faculty, advisors, or recruiters.
And frankly, I believe that your institution of higher education is very good at what it does, and has a unique combination of strong programs that you can't find anywhere else. Had I known then what I know now, I would have selected Purdue for my undergraduate studies (for all kinds of reasons... I could have done the engineering thing, flew, and got my CTI training). Heck, I would have selected it for my CTI training as well most recently (in conjunction with a Master's degree), but you know what Prof. Nolan (the guy who runs your CTI program and wrote a $100 text book I had to buy) told me? If you want to go be a controller, go be a controller. Don't come here and do a Master's degree. It's like PilotYIP says about being a Pilot -- if you wanna be a pilot, go build flight time. Don't horse around with an aeronautical science degree thinking it will make you a better pilot or get you hired faster than PIC time.
