PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - MSc Air Transport Management - Cranfield vs City
Old 5th Mar 2019, 15:50
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Dan Winterland
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Fragrant Harbour
Posts: 4,787
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One sure way of ensuring you don't end up in airline management as a pilot is to have a qualification in it! This may sound a bit cynical, but no-one - and I mean absolutely no-one I know who has done one of these courses has ever been chosen for management as a result. This may be because an airline's management don't want someone turning up who is going to make them look bad - or because no one can possibly know better than they do. It's usually a job for the boys anyhow. if your face doesn't fit, forget it.

The advice to do a generic MBA is a good. But the issue here is that everyone seems to have one these days, and choosing the correct course to make you stand out is difficult. Another option is to look at some of the other courses in aviation science which some universities offer. I was looking for a MSc course in transport safety and I narrowed the choice down to the Safety Management MSc at UNSW Australia, the Safety and Human Factors MSc at Cranfield, and Safety and Accident investigation MSc - also at Cranfield. The former is all correspondence and several of my colleagues had embarked on it and lost steam after about 6 of the required 9 modules - and not all the modules interested me. So I discounted it. Of the two Cranfield courses, the Safety and Accident Investigation won, mainly because the modules looked more interesting, but also because it also qualifies you as an accident investigator. Both Cranfield courses are attendance and the accident investigation course requires 11 weeks in the first 2 years. I managed this despite living in Hong Kong.

I have found the course fascinating - all the modules were good and none of it was boring. There is also a huge amount of latitude in what you may chose for your research project. It's also a highly regarded course and I have had a several of invitations to apply for jobs as a result.
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