Regarding University Aviation Degrees.
As one has counselled many school leavers regarding a career as a pilot I would like to offer the following thoughts.
Airlines want pilots on flight deck seats.
They have little interest in anything other than the simple fact that you are qualified to sit in the seat and operate the aircraft.
In this regard, a BAv is a waste of effort.
When recruiting pilots, airline recruitment staff (usually other pilots) look at your logbook as their Primary Reference. Two, three or more years in a University classroom studying are two three or more years you have not been in a cockpit / flightdeck.
Most pilots in recruitment teams don't have and don't understand University qualifications. So your BAv will do little to impress them.
All other things being equal, if an airline had to choose between two pilots, one with no Uni Degree but lots of hours, the other with a BAv and low hours, the guy with the fatter logbook will win every time.
In this regard, a BAv is a waste of time.
Universities are like shops. They are commercial enterprises that nowdays have to make money or at least appear worthwhile to their paymasters. In an effort to achieve this they sell a range of products called "Degrees".
To get people to buy their products they engage advertising tactics to convince potential consumers that they need the product.
You need to ask yourself
"Do I really need this product ?"
The only qualification essential for a career as an airline pilot is an ATPL.
To get an ATPL you have to sit and pass exams and tests set by the government authority in your country ( in the UK it's the CAA).
To sit those exams you don't even need a Kindergarden qualification, let alone University Degree. You just need to pay the money and sit the tests.
If you pass all the CAA exams and tests, you get your licence.
So there is no
need for a BAv
Finally on the negatives, I have spoken with several students who have attended University BAv / integrated ATPL courses and the have
ALL run into the following problem....
They sit the university prepared courses that are set and assessed by the uni. They do just enough and get a final mark of (say) 51%. PASS !!
Now, with the same attitude of "51% is a Pass" they try to sit the CAA exams. Unfortunately CAA exams have pass marks or either 70, 80 or 100%.
So they have this double standard to come to terms with.
51% at Uni = PASS
51% at CAA exams = miserable failure.
As a young student with an awful lot happening in your life do you really need the complication of double standards ?
On the Upside of Uni qualifications.
Lots of youngsters who leave Secondary School and go straight to flying schools are (understandably) not very mature. For example, they might get very drunk in the evening then try to go flying the next morning. At best they will perform poorly and have to re sit the flight -- money wasted.
A year or two at Uni being silly before getting down to the serious work of learning to fly is safer and cheaper.
The 'integrated' nature of the Uni courses means that the standard of training you receive is often better than what you would get at a local flying school.
Universities usually have a far greater range of facilities / learning tools than local flying schools. This could mean things as simple as a library where you can study in peace and quiet (how many flying schools have a library that is anything bigger that a bookshelf with a few old flying books ?). It could be things such as visiting a Physics lab to do fluid dynamics experiments as a different way of learning about the lift generated by different wing shapes.
Different people learn things in different ways. Some people learn things just by looking at / reading things. Others have to be able to orally recite things to learn them. Others again have to be able to draw or physically act things out to learn them. Unis will be aware of this and have ways of accommodating these different learning styles. Flying schools may have a set of course books, maybe a DVD or two and one lecturer / flying instructor to help. Apart from that you will have to just get on with it the best you can.
Integrated uni degree / flying courses often earn concessions from the CAA so that instead of having to complete say 700 hours for your CPL you can be awarded your CPL after only 650 (50 hours savings at 150 pounds per flying hour).
My advice.
Do not go to Uni to study a BAv just yet. Do your research. Find yourself a highly respected flying training organisation and get your CPL / Frozen ATPL now. This will get you employed in an airline quickest.
Once you are 'In', you can now reflect on what you want a University degree for. Clearly you don't need it for employment as an airline pilot. Perhaps you want to progress into airline management, or do something different like study Ancient Greek Flower Arranging. Whatever, it will be what you want to do. It will be your choice and the threatening doom of failure and no flying career will have disappeared. The issue of double standards (51% Pass / 51% Fail) will also have gone.
Whatever your choice, good luck. There is a growing shortage of suitably qualified pilots out there, there is probably no better time to consider a career as a pilot.
Cheers
Wings
