Expert: David A. NewMyer - 11/3/2003

Question
Hi there,
 My name is Brian, and I'm an 18-year-old freshman at Metropolitan State College of Denver, majoring in aviation technology. Lately I've been having doubts about aviation as a career. I have to keep a 3.5 GPA to keep my scholarship, and I'm afraid of it slipping away due to my total lack of aptitude for math (C in the class right now). I'm trying to think of other things I could major in, but am having no luck. I don't hate flying, but it just seems too hard for the level of "like" that I do have for it. My goal is ideally to "succeed" in life; you know, have a nice house, drive a nice car, etc., and I'm pretty confident that a career as a pilot (possibly airline) is a good way to get there. The problem I'm having is that if I don't absolutely love flying now, will I in the future? and how badly will that damage my happiness in life, doing something I don't love? I would appreciate any info or input you might have on this. :)  Thanks,

Brian

Answer
Hi, Brian:

Thanks for your question....I will try to help with an answer.  

The question that you are asking is, in general, an ages-old question.  If it is true that you do not absolutely love flying and/or you have any sort of doubts about it, then flying may not be for you.  Definitely do NOT go into flying just because it might be a path to a "successful" life as measured by a nice house, a nice car, etc.  Those are NOT the measures of a successful life in my book. One measure of successful life is that you are spending time working at a career that you LOVE....and, if that is not the case with you and flying, then, you need to look elsewhere, in aviation, or, even outside aviation.

I am 56 and had many of the same questions when I was your age:  It boiled down to trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life.  Luckily, I sort of found my way into the aviation industry via a summer internship during my undergraduate years as an airport planner.  I did not major in aviation...such majors were less prevalent then.  But, I did continue to pursue education and, as I got more advanced degrees, I did earn an MS in Transportation.  Today, I am fortunate to enjoy what I do (I work for a major university aviation program and working with students such as you is a very rewarding thing....and, I do NOT fly, and, never have during my aviation career).  Which leads me to this:  Having a career in aviation does NOT require you to fly for a living.  In fact, of the 2.2 million people who work in the civilian aviation industry in the USA today, only about 10 to 15 percent are pilots.  The rest do something else....engineers, aviation mechanics, avionics specialists, flight attendants, airport managers, airport planners, crew schedulers, aviation maintenance managers, aviation educators, product support specialists and many, many more job titles.  The point is that you can have a very nice career in aviation doing something other than flying.

As for your work in math, this may be a reflection of your general unhappiness.  That is, if you were a bit happier with your choice in undergraduate major, you might be doing a bit better in math due to the fact that you would have one less thing stressing you out.  So, go see one of your instructors there at the Metro State aviation program for some advice:  I know both Kevin Kuhlmann (he is a graduate of the school where I work) and Bob Mock.  I am sure either of them would be able to talk to you about this further.  (And, do not worry:  this is confidential and I will not mention anything to them about your question to me...)

Or, if you do not feel comfortable doing that, please follow up with any other questions that you wish to follow up with.  I would be happy to assist further.

All the best to you,

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