Expert: David A. NewMyer - 1/3/2005

Question
My son, currently a freshman in Middle Tennessee State Univ's Pro Pilot program, is interested in a corporate pilot career.  He is concerned that upon receiving his Bachelors degree in Pro Pilot, that he will not have sufficient flight hours to be employable (will have approximately 250 hours only).  He is considering a flight academy in lieu of pursuing the university degree.  Which path would make him more employable and provide the best opportunities for him?

Thanks for your assistance.

Answer
Hi, Mike:

Nice to hear from you.  I will try to assist!

In order to have a good chance at ANY flying career, whether it is with the military, the airlines or with a corporate flight department, it will be important for your son to have three things:

1.  Pilot Certification and Ratings:

A. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Private Pilot Certificate;
B. The Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument and Multi Engine Ratings;
C. The FAA Flight Instructor (Airplane) Certificate, with, if possible, Instrument and Multi Engine Ratings [the last two ratings are not as crucial to begin with as the CFI (A)]

2.  Flight Experience, including both total Pilot In Command or PIC flight time AND experience in twin engine aircraft (called Multi Engine time) AND experience as a Captain or Pilot in Command of a turbine powered aircraft.

3.  A bachelors degree....this will be required for any pilot position as time goes on due to the fact that the flight arena has become more competitive and, especially in the corporate flying world, where corporate pilots are dealing routinely with the CEOs, COOs, Board members and other top executives of the companies for which they fly.  They need to be articulate, conversant with corporate objectives and be able to work on plans for the corporate flight department as one of the essential departments of the overall corporation within which they work.  Another key thing is that the bachelor's degree is a key indicator of one's ability to learn.

Given the above, a flight academy WILL get you number one (ratings) and will get you a START on number two (flight time)....but, I would argue that any flight academy will ONLY get you the total PIC flight time FOR WHICH YOU PAY.  That is true in any flight school environment...nothing is given away for free.  The big negative of the flight academy environment is that you do not get the degree (number 3 above).  The big positive of the flight academy environment is the speed with which they will get you through the flight training (which is another reason that I highly doubt that they can do anything but give you the SAME minumum amount of flight time that MTSU will give, but the flight academy WILL do it faster and, possibly, more expensively).  The only way for the flight academy to boost their flight time offering is to encourage your son to hang around and flight instruct (using his CFI-A), which he can also do at MTSU.

Therefore, my view is that the MTSU program would give your son the best long-term employment opportunities simply because "it fills more squares" than the flight academy route.  Also, the key here is long-term:  It is not necessarily the first job right out of MTSU or out of the flight academy that is important.  It is the job that your son will be applying for when he reaches 2500 to 3000 PIC flight hours.   That is when he will be getting the chance to apply for a corporate flight department job, and, that is when he has to have ALL of his best qualifications to put forward to the potential employer.  If, by that time, all he has is ratings  and flight time and not degree, he will not be as competitive as someone who has the ratings, the flight time AND the degree.  

Some key flight time thresholds or milestones for different kinds of flight jobs are:

Below 500 hours PIC:  Flight instruction jobs

500 hours PIC:  This is the minimum that most insurance companies require for such work as flying in an FAR 135 charter environment or flying for a small airline

500 to 1500 hours PIC:  Fly for hire jobs such as banner towing, aerial sightseeing, pipeline/electrical transmission inspection, and small regional airlines

1500 to 2500 hours PIC:  Small charter companies, large regional airlines, fractional ownership companies

2500 to 4000 hours PIC or more:  Corporate flight departments, major airlines, etc

Again, at all levels, the bachelor's degree is of help, but, most especially at the upper levels.

I hope that this information is of assistance to you.  If you have any other questions, please follow up with another question to me at Allexperts.com

Sincerely,

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