Expert: David A. NewMyer - 5/29/2007

Question
I am currently on my way toward an engineering degree, and I was wondering what the best way to become an airline pilot would be:  through a flight school or the military.  If I went through the military, how long would it be until I could get out?  How competitive is it to become an airline pilot?  What's the likelihood of becoming an airline pilot if I'm a pretty good student?  Is it possible to be a part-time pilot and engineer?  Would I have to move to a big city to become an airline pilot, or could I stay in Pensacola, FL?  Do I ask too many questions?  

Thanks

Answer
Hi,

An engineering degree is a good start.  Your choices of flight school vs. the military basically come down to choices related to the following:

1.  Cost (how much it will cost to go to a flight school ($30,000 or more) vs. the military (zero depending on how you do it);

2.  Time (there is a time investment of about ten years to become an Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps pilot....your initial training plus the minimum initial enlistment required by the branch of service that you join) vs. the flight school time, which will be one to two years....

3.  Lifestyle:  the military will require you to conform to a particular lifestyle while the civilian route will not so much (the work itself in the civilian aviation world can be military-like in that you do have to conform to regulations and schedules).

So, investigate the cost, time investment and lifestyle differences between the civilian "route" via a flight school and the military "route."  Consider also that the different military aviation units have different commitments of time and different housing locations (Navy and Marine Corps:  Frequently aboard ship, for example....).

As far as the likelihood of becoming an airline pilot, you can become an airline pilot for a smaller REGIONAL airline like Mesa, Skyways, Trans States, and others, with as little as 500 hours of total flight time and 50 to 100 hours of multi engine flight experience.  Many aviation students who graduate with aviation-related baccalaureate degrees have that flight time at the conclusion of their BS degree or within the year after their graduation....so, you can become an airline pilot pretty quickly.  As far as flying for a LARGE airline like American, Southwest, UPS or FEDEX, that will take something like seven to ten years after your graduation from flight school.  Or, if you are lucky, it can happen for you as you get out of the military IF you are lucky enough to fly the right kinds of aircraft (fixed wing aircraft that make the transition to the civilian airline world easy).

As far as where you live, initially in your career, you will be hard-pressed to stay in Pensacola, FL and become an airline pilot.  It is not impossible, but, it would require a lot of commuting to your flight job (to, say, Atlanta, or Memphis).  Normally, such commuting is something that more senior airline pilots do routinely, but, not junior, beginning pilots.

As far as being a part time pilot and engineer, you might be able to find some sort of smaller business that operates an aircraft that can use you both ways.  Those are unique situations and not something I can refer you directly to...but, I am sure that they do exist.

Good luck with your career goals!

Some websites to check out:

www.aviationinterviews.com

www.avjobs.com

www.aeps.com

www.avcrew.com

www.aviationemployment.com

Take care,

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