Education

When looking for a career as an airline pilot there is a plethora of knowledge you will need to acquire. Here is information on the piloting profession and details on acquiring the proper education.
  

Preflight Checklist ─ Preparing for an Airline Pilot Career

Q General Qualifications
All pilots are licensed by their national regulatory authority¾the FAA in the United States and Transport Canada in Canada. In the United States, a certificate can be refused or revoked if the individual is determined not to be of good character; this stipulation does not apply in Canada. Physical requirements vary with the level of the license, but all pilots must be able to pass a physical examination at regular, frequent intervals.

A good educational foundation in mathematics, science, English, and geography is needed. Most airlines prefer a four-year college or university degree.

Q Experience Requirements
In aviation, experience is judged in two ways: hours of flying and kind of flying. Most commuter airlines require at least 300 hours of flying time, most Regional airlines require at least 500 hours of flying time, preferably in multi-engine aircraft. While it fluctuates, the average new-hire at regional airlines has over 600 hours; the average new-hire at the major airlines has almost 4,000.

Although flight instruction and similar work are good ways to build up the first hours of commercial flying experience, once a pilot has recorded 2,000 to 3,000 hours of flying, additional time confers no competitive advantage unless it is flown in large transport-type aircraft. A pilot with 6,000 hours as a crop duster is probably a very good crop duster—but the airlines want multi-engine, and specifically turbine, experience.

Q    Training
More than half of the pilots currently flying for U.S. airlines have had military training, with the percentage slightly lower in Canada. In both countries, however, the military are training fewer pilots and requiring longer service commitments. You may reach your goal of becoming an airline pilot sooner through civilian training, much of which is geared to airline flying. Pilot training can be obtained in colleges through aviation courses or from privately operated flight schools.

Q    Civilian vs. Military Background
Since 1994, airline pilots generally come from one of two different flying backgrounds, either civilian or military.

Q    Civilian Pilot
Civilian pilots normally pay for their own flight training at a Fixed Base Operator (FBO), a university, or some other flight training institution. After obtaining commercial, instrument, multi-engine, and flight instructor ratings, the civilian pilot is then prepared to begin logging hours in earnest as a flight instructor, charter pilot, or some other flying position with small, single-, or multi-engine aircraft. With the current high demand for airline pilots, a pilot may be able to seek employment as a first officer with a small-aircraft airline after logging 500 or more total hours and approximately 100 or more hours of multi-engine time or possibly even less. The next advancement is to captain and, after logging adequate time, then on to the major airlines as a flight engineer or first officer. There is a trend by some pilots to stay with small-aircraft airlines because the pay is becoming more attractive and quality-of-life conditions can be the same as, if not better than, the majors.

A growing number of pilots obtain their college degrees and flight ratings simultaneously at schools that offer such curricula. A few airlines have internship programs established at some of these schools that enable pilots trained there to be employed by that airline after graduation. These programs can reduce the amount of time spent building flight time prior to obtaining an airline pilot job.

Q    Military Pilot
The military pilot’s career progression is quite different from that of the civilian pilot. After graduating from college and being commissioned as an officer, the pilot enters active duty with his or her branch of the military and is assigned to flight training. At the completion of flight training, the pilot will then be assigned to his or her first of what may be many different types of aircraft to be flown from one or more air bases around the world. Military pilots may leave active duty in their late 20s or early 30s to join the airlines with several thousand hours of total flight time, most or all of which is in turbine-engined aircraft. Because of the excellent experience gained by operating heavy and/or high-performance jet aircraft, they are highly qualified to be employed by a major airline and may bypass the small-aircraft airlines entirely. Many former military airline pilots fly in their branch’s reserves in order to serve their country, earn more money, and create a more secure retirement.

Flying the Line ─ Personal Requirements

Q Age
The U.S. and Canadian governments have established minimum and maximum ages for airline pilots. A private pilot must be at least 17 years of age, a commercial pilot at least 18, and an applicant for an air/airline transport pilot certificate at least 21 in Canada and 23 in the United States. Federal law in the United States requires airline pilots to retire at age 65; there is no such limit in Canada, but the normal retirement age on scheduled airlines has changed recently from age 60 to age 65 with legislation that was signed into law in December 2007.

Until very recently, airlines rarely hired pilots after age 32. Today, older pilots are more frequently hired, especially during expansion periods, but the airlines expect experience to be commensurate with age. In other words, older pilots with many hours of flight time who would not have been considered just a few years ago are now being looked at by the airlines.

Q Physical
Airline pilots must meet stringent physical health requirements. Medical certificates required by the FAA are classified as First, Second, or Third Class, while Transport Canada has Category 1 or Category 3 certificates. (Category 2 is for air traffic controllers and flight engineers, although the physical requirements for a flight engineer are similar to those of Category 1 to account for prolonged or difficult flights.) Each class or category has specific physical requirements. The First Class and Category 1 certificates have the highest standards and are required for an air/airline transport pilot certificate. The First Class Certificate is valid for six months, while the Category 1 Certificate is valid for one year for pilots under age 40, and six months for those aged 40 and older.

Before you begin training for any airline position, we strongly recommend that you take a First Class or Category 1 physical from a physician who is a designated FAA or Transport Canada examiner. You can obtain the names of such examiners from the FAA or Transport Canada regional headquarters nearest you, or you can ask the operator of any approved flight training school in your area.

Q Education
The commercial airline pilot profession increasingly becomes more complex and technical. Meeting the constant demands of continuously changing technology requires a high degree of mental dexterity. Airline pilots never stop learning—new systems, new aircraft configurations, new procedures. Because of the ever-changing aviation technology and the requirements for mastery of new systems, pilots must attend and pass ground school courses regularly as well as passing flight checks in simulators and aircraft.

Because the airline pilot works with technically complex navigation systems and communications equipment, the pilot should have a thorough grasp of mathematics, aeronautics, navigation, and meteorology. The pilot must be able to think clearly even in times of stress, and be capable of communicating accurately, understandably, and concisely while performing other duties.

The acquisition of these skills begins at the secondary level of education with an emphasis on the basic sciences, particularly math and physics. At the college/university level, preferred courses in preparation for an airline pilot career would include advanced math, English, sciences, aeronautical engineering, and other aviation-related studies.

Learning to fly an aircraft requires training and experience, but because pilots are in command of equipment valued at millions of dollars and are responsible for hundreds of lives, they must also have good judgment and a good attitude.

Q Health
Because of the unique physical demands of a pilot’s daily duties, regulatory agencies require that pilots meet strict health standards, primarily concerning the heart, lungs, physical dexterity, and eyesight. Dependence on drugs—even prescription drugs—may be disqualifying.

Almost every airline will now allow applicants to wear glasses to correct vision to 20/20 in each eye.
 

Educational Resources

The list below shows institutions whose aviation-related education programs meet the academic and training standards of the Aviation Accreditation Board International, formerly known as the Council on Aviation Accreditation:

U.S. Schools

Arizona State U. (Mesa, AZ) http://eastair.east.asu.edu

Auburn U. (Auburn, AL) www.business.auburn.edu/academicdepartments/aviation

Central Missouri State U. (Warrensburg, MO)  http://www.ucmo.edu/x36709.xml

Daniel Webster College (Nashua, NH) www.dwc.edu/admissions/programs/aviation.shtml

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. (Daytona Beach, FL) www.db.erau.edu

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. (Prescott, AZ) www.erau.edu/pr/index.html

Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL) www.fit.edu/AcadRes/aero

Hampton U. (Hampton, VA) www.hamptonu.edu/academics/schools/engineering/aviation

Kansas State U. (Salina, KA) www.salina.k-state.edu/

Kent State U. (Kent, OH)  http://www.kent.edu/tech/

Louisiana Tech U. (Ruston, LA) www.aviation.latech.edu

Mercer County Community College (Trenton, NJ) www.mccc.edu/~jkuhl/Aviationdpwp.htm

Middle Tennessee State U. (Murfreesboro, TN) http://aerospace.web.mtsu.edu/home.htm

North Shore Community College (Danvers, MA) www.northshore.edu/departments/dept.php?depcode=avs&term=200409

Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, and Technology (St. Louis, MO)  http://parks.slu.edu/index.php

Purdue U. (West Lafayette, IN) www.tech.purdue.edu/at/

St. Cloud State U. (St. Cloud, MN) www.stcloudstate.edu/aviation

University of Dubuque (Dubuque, IA) www.dbq.edu/academics/aviation/aviation.cfm

U. of Nebraska (Omaha, NE) http://ai.unomaha.edu/index.php

U. of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) www.aero.und.edu/f0_home/index.php

University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) www.aviation.ou.edu/degree_options.html

Utah State U. (Logan, UT) www.ete.usu.edu/

Western Michigan U. (Kalamazoo, MI) www.wmich.edu/aviation

Canadian Schools

Algonquin Flight Center (North Bay, Ontario) http://www.algonquinflightcentre.com

Brampton Flying Club (Brampton, Ontario) http://bramfly.ca

Gander Flight Training (Gander, Newfoundland) http://www.gft.ca/

Greenwood Flight Center (Waterville, Nova Scotia) http://www.flygfc.com/

Harv's Air Services (St. Andrews, Manitoba) http://www.harvsair.com/

Millennium Aviation (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) http://millair.sasktelwebhosting.com/index.html

Moncton Flight (Moncton, New Brunswick) http://www.mfc.nb.ca

Red Deer College (Red Deer, Alberta) http://www.rdc.ab.ca

Ottawa Air Services (Ottawa, Ontario) info@ottawaflighttraining.com

Selkirk College (Castlegar, British Columbia http://selkirk.ca/

Seneca College (Toronto, Ontario) http://aviation.senecac.on.ca/

St. Hubert Air Services (St. Hubert, Quebec) info@sainthubertflyingschool.com

Learn about ALPA's Scholarship Program


Governmental Resources

Director of Education Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 800-255-1111 www2.faa.gov	The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, offers extensive educational resources as well as a comprehensive list of aviation-related publications and organizations. As the aviation industry's governing body in the United States, the FAA is the foremost point of contact for current and future pilots.
Transport Canada Department of Transport 330 Sparks Street Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0N5 613-990-2309 www.tc.gc.ca	NavCanada, a not-for-profit organization monitored by Transport Canada, is responsible for developing and administering aviation-related policies, regulations, and services set by Transport Canada. However, unlike the FAA, NavCanada neither licenses pilots nor registers aircraft. Transport Canada retains these authorities and should be contacted for inquiries.

Career Resources

Aviation Information Resources Inc. (AIR Inc.) 3800 Camp Creek Parkway Suite 18-100 Atlanta, GA 30331-6228 800-AIR-APPS www.airapps.com

AIR Inc. provides complete, timely, and accurate information to help pilots make informed decisions throughout their job search and to assist them in their career development. Resources available through AIR Inc. include magazines, newsletters, seminars, job fairs, and resume/interviewing services.