Expert: David A. NewMyer - 2/17/2005

Question
Hi My name is Joe and I have taken a great interest into flying.  Now I have already received my 4 yr degree in criminal justice and was wanting to go for the career pilot program.  I live in Tulsa, OK so I looked into Spartan School of Aeronautitics.  First,  have you heard of this school? If so, what do you think of it?  Second, before I invest about $60K, where else can I fly other then the airlines, and corperate. Also are those two options real competitive to get into?  Thank you for your time.

joe

Answer
Hi, Joe:

Nice to hear from you...I will try to assist with your questions.

First, yes I have heard of the Spartan School of Aeronautics.   A number of their students have transferred to the school where I work (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) to obtain a four year degree in aviation management.  It is a reputable school and has been around a long time.

Second, flying careers abound in quite a few locations.  You mention airlines and corporate flight department flying.  Of course, remember that there are many different types of AIRLINES out there, including:

By what they carry:  Passenger and Cargo....United and Southwest as examples on the passenger side and FEDEX and UPS on the cargo side.

By size:  Major Airlines ($1.0 billion or more in gross annual revenues) such as American, Delta, United, Southwest, FEDEX, UPS, and others.

National ($100 million to $1.0 billion) airlines like Midwest Airlines, Skywest, Air Tran and jetBlue

Regional Airlines:  Airlines like Chautauqua, Transmeridian and others

Then, there are GENERAL AVIATION entities (general aviation is all flying except that done by the military and by airlines):

Flight Schools/flight instructing

Charter companies (fly for hire) including those that fly passengers, cargo and for banks and other financial institutions (check flying, document flying, etc)

Pipeline inspection companies

Agricultural application companies

Parachute/skydiving schools

Fractional ownership companies such as Netjets, Flexjet, etc (these companies sell partial ownerships in corporate aircraft)

Corporate flight department flying for companies like Xerox, IBM, and many others

And, then there are GOVERNMENT entities out there that fly airplanes, including:

The obvious:  The military (Army Aviation, Naval Aviation, Marine Corps Aviation, Coast Guard Aviation and the US Air Force)

The less obvious:

Federal:  Forestry Department (US Fire Service contractors who fight forest fires), Customs Service, Border Patrol/U S Immigration Service--Dept of Homeland Security, Treasury Dept (ATF, etc), and others.

State:  all 50 states have state aviation departments or commissions and many of them operate aircraft

Local:  EMS (emergency medical service helicopters and fixed wing services), police, fire and rescue operations.

As far as competition to get into, the BIG airlines and corporate aviation are definitely competitive to get into and would be jobs you would go for when you are into the flying business from five to ten years.  For example, both larger airlines and corporate flight departments will be looking for from 2500 to 4000 hours of total pilot in command (PIC) flight time with 500 to 1000 hours of that PIC flight time in turbine or jet aircraft.  This will take you a while to get, so, you will have to start at the entry level and work up, just like in any career field.  The starting jobs would be like with American Eagle airlines on the airline side:  They are hiring with as little as 1000 hours total flight time and 100 hours of multi engine time.  To get to the point where you can work for American Eagle or some similar company, you will have to flight instruct, fly charter, fly for a sky diving company and/or do other jobs to build up your flight time and your flight experience.  So, it will take a couple of years to get to that point (of working for American Eagle) and then another five years or so to build up to what the large airlines or corporate flight departments want.  But, you can get there as long as you stay focused.

I hope that this information helps!  Let me know if you have any other questions via a second question via Allexperts.com

Best wishes to you,

Sincerely,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
http://www.aviation.siu.edu