Expert: David A. NewMyer - 8/26/2005

Question
Greetings..

I am thinking of persuing a airline pilot career (I'm 18) and i have several quick questions. My first question is this: What should i do after i recieve my bachlor's degree in flight. Am i eligible to fly for small bush plane companies by possesing that degree? And is it true that the demand for airline pilots are low? Thank you for reading this. I really appreciate it.

Answer
Hi, Alessandro:

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

In order to pursue ANY aviation flying job, you will need three things:

1.  Certification to fly (the Federal Aviation Administration Private Pilot Certificate and the FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument and Multi Engine Ratings as a minimum);

2.  Experience as a pilot:  Most aviation employers will not hire you until you have at least 500 pilot in command flying hours for insurance reasons....some will require more.

3.  Education:  More for airlines and larger employers, you will need a bachelor's degree, preferably in an aviation field such as aviation flight, aviation management, or something similar.

To fly as a bush pilot, which requires flight experience flying into small, unimproved airports (no hard surface, no approach lights, no approach aids, etc), you will need flight experience more than a bachelor's degree.  Of course, having a bachelor's degree will not hurt, but, the flight work experience is what will get you the job.

As for airline jobs, no, they are not scarce.  There is a lot of hiring by regional, low cost and cargo airlines right now.  The regional airlines are hiring pilots with as little as 500 to 600 flight hours and 50 to 100 hours of multi engine flight time.  Low cost airlines like Southwest, AirTran and jetBlue are all making money and are hiring a fair number of pilots....but, their qualifications are quite a bit higher than the regionals.  Also, Cargo carriers like UPS and FEDEX are also hiring but they are looking for 2500 to 4000 hours of total flight time and 500 to 1000 hours of multi engine pilot in command flight time.

I hope that this answer helps!

Best wishes to you,

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