My daughter wants to be a pilot
Hello - I'm hoping some of the professional pilots on this forum can give me some guidance. My daughter has just turned 16 and has always wanted to be a commercial pilot. She has a few hours of flying but really nothing to speak of, but she wants to do it right.
I would really value the advice of anyone who has gone through this (fairly recently) as to what we should be looking for in a flight school, and what steps she should be taking.
We're realistic about this - nobody thinks she's just going to walk into a six figure salary job. We understand she needs to go through the regionals, how seniority is everything, how she'll one day have to leave a Captain position on Express to become a FO on mainline etc. Between my wife and I we have 35yrs in major airlines, though neither of us are pilots. We understand the lifestyle.
As you can tell from my username, we're in South West Pennsylvania, so it's really the advice of pilots in the US that I'm seeking.
I've looked at ATP Flight School, and they have a scheme that is sponsored by the airlines and offers a guaranteed Instructor position to build hours to 1,500. To me this seems rather good, but I'm not an expert. Is this fairly typical? Are there other/better ones out there?
I'm not looking for the "cheapest" way in, rather the best value. What's going to give her the best chance of success and career progression, and the best way into the major airlines?
Thank you in advance for any help and guidance you can give me.
Michael