Expert: D. Norkus - 1/11/2008

Question
thank you that helped very much. so in your opinion it would be better to attend a (community college or flight academy?) for the first 2 years and then go attend embry riddle right. that is if i were to attend erau. i would definitely have to take out a loan and have grants to go to erau. i have money for university, just not really 40K for each year. but i wouldn't mind graduating from there with its reputation as a great school. I plan to be a corporate pilot, which academies do you recommend? which are the best?
thank you, Athen

Answer
Athen

If you are on a budget and must borrow most or all of your funds for your education and flight training, then yes- I would highly suggest the community college route to save some money. You should to have at least your associates degree and will definitely need your bachelors to be competitive for a good corporate pilot job (or major airline for that matter). Whether or not you go to a flight academy will depend on the route that suits you financially and personally. The "best" for one person may not be the best for another- regardless of reputation or advertising you may have seen. In the end, all pilots must pass the same tests to the same standards.

You can also attend a C.C. with an aviation program and do your training there while getting your associates. If you graduate with 250 Total Time (flight hours), then you meet the minimum requirements for two regional airlines (PSA & Piedmont). After even a short stint at a regional, you would be a more attractive candidate for a corporate position having gained turbine aircraft experience. Other airlines hire in at 500 hours, so if you chose NOT to attend an academy, you would need to build up your flight experience via small flying jobs like towing banners, flight instructing or flying skydivers to be considered for hire. You could also do such jobs until you had enough experience to fly small cargo, skipping the regionals, as that could also be your stepping stone into your corporate career.

If you wish to attend ERAU after a C.C., then that is your choice. (You could also attend their Extended Campus option while flight training locally too. You can do just academics there and they have hundreds of 'off campus' class locations worldwide.) Just to see what is available, I suggest this .pdf file link from the University Aviation Association for a listing of schools across the USA with aviation degree programs- http://uaa.auburn.edu/institutional.pdf


Regarding the corporate pilot career track:
As an entry level pro pilot, getting into this career will not be nearly as easy as getting into the regional airlines. Corporate pilot jobs are often filled by those looking to get out of the airlines, small charter/freight operations or even the military and are not as desperate for pilots. Generally, corporate pilots must have many more flight hours of experience to be hired than the regional airlines require.

I think you should contact Women In Corporate Aviation for some specialized career guidance from current corporate pilots who can address your career track in detail. WCA offers a "Mentor Program" for aspiring female corporate pilots-
http://www.wca-intl.org/mentor_program.cfm
Here is their mentor message board link- http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/wcai/

Additionally, the International Organization of Women Pilots (Ninety-Nines Inc) has a career pilot mentoring program you should look into for some more valuable advice and guidance-
http://www.ninety-nines.org/careers/mentoring.html

BTW- the FlightInfo.com & Jetcareers.com websites both have message boards with sections devoted to the big name flight academys and aviation universities (some by name like ERAU). You can search for topics already posted by name or start your own.

Hope this helps
Dottie