SongMan

I know it's not required by some airlines. However I just can't understand why having a degree is so important to being an airline pilot. Heck, Police officer only needs a GED and I would think they need more of a "general" skills dealing with people, writing reports, etc. I would think being a pilot is more of a particular job/skill than a police officer.

With that said, why does having a degree matter? Some even asks for GPA.

On the side note, this is not me trying to justify or argue my personal case. I got a degree. Just don't understand why this important to pilots and that's all.

Cheers!

ChipChelios

They don't really give a crap about degrees! If Delta for example needed arses in seats to move metal and pilots were hard to come by, they would hire them with a GED. Whatever gets the planes from A to B. There is no need for them to do that at this time. So why not make it competitive.

SongMan

I just read on Regional forum of this web that Compass prefers applicants with degree and even asks for GPA.

JohnLocke

Not this old chestnut again..

They want degrees because they want educated intelligent people. This is not a trade as some will suggest. Obviously, in most cases a four year degree does not translate to literal piloting instruction, but higher learning helps cultivate the critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills that this job demands. Obviously these traits are not absolutely necessary to pass a PC or to build the minimum skills that are required to steer an airplane, but companies like Delta and American don't want the bare minimum, they want the best possible applicant. It's not necessary to have a degree to acquire the skills required for the job, but having a degree is expected of a professional pilot. There are while collar pilots and there are blue collar pilots in respect to attitude and demeanor. Legacies hire white collar pilots.

You could teach someone without a degree how to perform surgery if they were smart enough and you gave the proper instruction, but that's not how the world works, see where I'm going with this?

There are people who will disagree with me and say that I'm full of it or I'm giving the profession too much credit, which is fine. Let them feel that way. A good attitude and respect for the job goes a long way in this business.

Ewok

John Locke spelled it out correctly. It's the same reason the military requires officers to have a bachelors degree. It doesn't matter so much what the degree is in, the basic learning and critical thinking skills are the desired attributes, and those attributes are expressed on paper with a bachelors degree. The military is even taking it a step further and "requiring" officers to get a masters degree in order to get promoted to Major, which happens around the 8 year mark. They don't care what the degree is in, just that you did the work and improved your learning, research and analytical thought processes.

I guess that's a heads up to the rest of the flying world that most of the military pilots getting out now have masters degrees as well as bachelors.

rickair7777

It matters to pilots because you will be seriously under-competitive without it. That's all you really need to know. Question?



Philosophically...

This assumes that you want to break out of the entry-level some day (ie regionals, fly-by-night 135, etc). If you're a career-changing blue-collar dude and are OK with regional lifer status, then it doesn't matter.

Years past the degree was not such a big deal, back when college was a privilege and not everybody had the opportunity to go. Today college is readily available and assumed for the professional class, everybody knows it, and everybody has been told all along they need to get a degree. If you're hiring for a professional labor pool you almost have to wonder a little bit about a younger applicant who ignored all advice and common sense and chose to proceed in aviation without a degree despite conventional wisdom. Judgement? Attitude? In commercial aviation we tend to prefer pilots who don't deviate too much from the beaten path.

Personally I would have a conversation with such an applicant as to WHY he he's applying for a pilot job before he has the degree. Any job offer would depend on the answer. If it's a young pilot, I would almost be tempted to send him away for his own good...go to college, drink some beer, meet some girls(or whatever) and come talk to me in four years.

With all that said, there are some horizon broadening aspects of college, and I think airlines would vastly prefer that their pilot groups retain a "white-collar" flavor. While there may always be exceptions to the rule (especially at the entry level and in times of high demand) I suspect that airlines would never accept a model where all or most of their pilots came from a pure vocational training track with no college.

Grumble

FIFY. I and my peer group made O-4 just fine with no Masters.

I know guys in the USAF just urinating away millions in tax dollars on worthless BS masters degrees because it's a stupid check in a BOX.

"How am I going to win a war without a masters degree? Maybe that's just a school I haven't been to yet." -Dos Gringos

JohnL spelled everything else out perfect.

ClarenceOver

I actually want to be a regional lifer which means its literally a waste of money to get the degree. Especially now that the regionals have been leveled by ATP mins.

Twin Wasp

And just for the record, my local police department doesn't require a degree but they do require at least 12 hours college credit.

Ewok

I thought the masters degree for all philosophy had spread to all the DoD, thank God it hasn't. There are some easy Internet degrees out there that cater to the Air Force check the box syndrome, which do little to advance our professional development and intellectual growth, total waste of money IMO. The more difficult degree program are always more than the tuition assistance limits, but they count the same as the easy ones for promotion in the Air Force.

Back on topic, the Internet and distance learning has made the bachelors degree replace the HS diploma as the new career baseline, gotta have one, and a masters degree has replaced the bachelors degree for differentiation in a career in the work force.