To the pros and the cons

[Tanveer]

Hi guys hows it going with everybody? This is my first post at these forums, and so far i liked the atmosphere and help provided here. I a 19 year old male from Vancouver and like most of you here interested in Aviation. Recently i have started looking for schools to train at in the US and i was wondering, would i be better off doing FAA or JAA training ? Plus i had some questions about my degree situation.

My goals are somewhat like this:

Education:
Get a degree, get all my licensing and maybe get an MBA.

Job:
Fly for an international airliner (duh)

I am originaly from India, and am expecting to recieve my Canadian Citizenship anytime within the next 8 months.

I have planed such that the school i attend to can hire me as an instructor giving me anywhere between 1200 to 1500 hrs TT. MY plan also includes me going to India to work with airlines there, gain experience and then applying for Cathay, Singapore, Emirates or something like that.

Keeping all this in mind what would you guys reccomend i do, FAA or JAA or BOTH ? (anyother option welcome)
And Lastly about my degee confusion, should i do an aviatin degree or something else and should i get my degree first or after my training or while i train through dist. education.

Thanks
tj

[redsnail]

You'll only need a JAA ATPL if you want to fly for a European airline, other wise your FAA licence will be fine. It's acceptable at Cathay, SIngapore and Emirates as well. The FAA ATPL is much much cheaper. However, for an American major you'll probably need a degree. You won't need a degree for Cathay but you'll need a fair few hours, ideally in turbines.

Which degree? Not knowing the US scene too well, I would probably look at a science or economics based one versus humanities. So pick a topic you enjoy and study that. You may want to ask those US airlines what they prefer to assist you there.

Every one's situation is different. One idea would be to do the degree full time and get your PPL in the holidays. Then go for it full time when the degree is done.
There's many ways of achieving the licence and your degree.

[Grass strip basher]

Why do an MBA.... do you want to fly for the airline or run it??
If I was you I would save the money you would spend on this to fund your training cos it sure ain't cheap!

[Tanveer]

MBA cause, i wouldn't mind running the company hahah. Well just so that if my degree doesn't get worth much then i have an MBA + if the whole flying thing does down, then an MBA would be my greatest asset.

Later
tj

[scroggs]

There's a great deal of cultural difference at play here, and that makes it difficult for UK-based people to give you sensible advice. You would be well advised to talk to USA or Canadian-based people, really.

To explain a little: in the American pilot employment scene, it seems to be mandatory to have a four-year college degree. An MBA is a definite advantage. In UK, a pilot does not need a degree at all, and an MBA is a far more advanced qualification than it is in the US, only demanded of those who will employ the knowlege gained in the later stages of their business career. MBAs are pretty much totally irrelevant to a UK pilot.

The JAA licence is only a requirement within the countries signatory to the Joint Aviation Authority; basically the EU plus a few other European nations. The JAA licence is recognised elsewhere, but the FAA license is recognised and accepted pretty much worldwide - and, as Redders says, is a lot cheaper.

As for your ambition to work in India, you'll need to talk to some experts there. India currently has a very small airline industry, especially considering its 1.1 billion population. Pilot jobs there are few and far between and, as far as I am aware, pretty much the preserve of ex-military pilots. They used to recognise and accept the CAA(UK) licence; I'm not sure what licences they accept now. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a UK-style process of converting FAA licenses to Indian ones - at great expense!

The Far East is a jobs-rich area for qualified and experienced airline pilots, but not so much these days at Cathay and Singapore who are moving towards locally-trained pilots. China is where there is currently a big deficit of pilots, and there will be many opportunities there over the next twenty or more years. Emirates is currently a big player in the hiring market, but again only for experienced pilots. Etihad and Qatar are also likely to need more and more pilots, as long as the Gulf boom continues, anyway...

Scroggs

[Tanveer]

Hey Scroggs, Thanks for that reply. It has a great deal of information. Like you said there is a big cultural difference, and i see now how that is to play a role.

Thanks
tj

[bear11]

Hi TJ,

not a bad plan - comments as follows:

1: The JAR or EASA licence doesn't sound necessary in your case due to the extra cost and the fact that you don't seem fixated on working in the EU - you would need to have the right to live and work here also. It's a huge issue for many non-JAR/non-EU citizens who would love to fly here, but not for you.

2. India is actually a good bet for work - there is a huge expansion happening currently with both older carriers such as Air India and newer Low Cost carriers like Kingfisher ramping up their activity substantially. The Indian government seems to have realised finally that the business has expanded hugely and foreign carriers were picking up the slack - now we're seeing more protectionism on the government's part to allow local carriers to start up and grow. As an Indian citizen with training and an FAA licence, you should stand a very good chance of picking up a job with one of the Indian airlines - just be sure you don't sell your soul to get a job with them, or you may not be able to move on as you planned.

3. Education- the MBA sounds good, but you really shouldn't do one until you have several years of commercial experience under your belt. Many courses won't take in raw graduates, and if you find one that does, it would be devalued in the eyes of potential employers. It's an incredibly difficult course and will simply eat your time and attention for as long as you do it, so you would need to be very committed. I would question its value these days for many potential employers - it used to be the thing to have, and to some extent it's shot its bolt. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but think about it carefully if you do get around to it!

[Tanveer]

Hey, thanks for posting. The MBA is still a far fetched idea, and like you mentioned not very easy as it is to type about it haha. But my delema education wise is on degrees, how would you guys rate degree ?

Aviation or Non Aviation ?

Online or Campus ?

B'for flt training or After ?

Thanks
tj