99jolegg. My point was NOT to imply in any way shape or form that having a degree in any way makes you a better pilot. I completely agree that it does no such thing.
My point is that when you hire someone you should not just hire them for their intrinsic skills of being able to fly a plane well. You should hire them for their personality, business acumen, overall aptitude and other skills. I would argue that in a modern airline a multi skilled pilot who understands IT, business, the travel industry, and the surrounding issues in aviation is far more valuable than a better pair of hands who can do none of the above.
After a certain amount of experience say 1500hrs or so on a type
(willing to concede more or less but the figure is arbitrary) there is little difference between the benefit the airline is getting from your average or Chuck Yeager like ability. They do however need pilots with the correct world grounding to be fleet managers, chief pilots, i.e you need to promote pilots within the firm to other duties. You are part of the airline as a business person NOT just a pilot. That is only one of your duties within the firm.
Does groundschool not do this? Do A levels not do this? A few people (here too) mention that A levels were more stressful / difficult than their degree!
To put it simply, for the role of a pilot, what does a degree (not related to flying) show?
- Life experience? No, you can get better experience of that outside of uni.
- Knowledge? A levels are good for that - three subjects, lots of exams.
- Dedication to a task? Spending £60,000 or £45,000 plus studying for 14 exams sounds like dedication.
- Basic level of knowledge? A levels...
Simply put the FTSE 100 is pretty much the hundred most profitable companies in this country. They without exception have graduate programs for their managers. They also without exception DO NOT care what subject you read at university, they are not hiring you for your knowledge of a particular subject! That is what the professional training is for i.e. Chartered Accountant, chartered manager, CIPD, DipLaw, etc
A Levels show you are good at retaining large amounts of detailed information and I would agree much of the A level standard was higher than that I encountered at university in quality (not in quantity). I however know many people with excellent 'A' Levels who you would only follow into a cockpit out of curiosity. My point is one of professional standing, you do not have doctors, lawyers or dentists without degrees. Most of the FTSE firms I describe above require far less aptitude and dedication than aviation and they only hire graduates. Why? for the same reasons nightclubs in cities make people stand outside when they are empty it makes it that little harder to achieve so the better/ more competitive people want it.
If you want aviation to be considered as profession
by other professionals then you need to raise the entry bar. I have yet to meet a commercial pilot who was not academically capable of getting a degree in something somewhere. The day of the barrow boy with the good business acumen is past us...