Would having a PhD be a disadvantage for being a pilot?

[FrankMatt]

I have just started a Phd in Aerospace Engineering (about a month ago) and I plan to train as a commercial pilot. The PhD scholarship was too good to turn down so I took it. I am starting to worry now whether obtaining a PhD, although an admirable achievement, may make me over-qualified or airlines believing that I would be a "know-it-all". Could anyone shed some light?

Thanks in advance.

[FANS]

I wouldn't have thought so, as you seem to recognise the need to be modest.

For me the bigger issue is if you enjoy and are capable of working at a PhD level, do you actually want to be an airline pilot?

[FrankMatt]

Yes I do. For me it is just a means to an end. I did a batchelors degree, then straight into a masters. After I was offered the PhD, I thought it was better to enter that than a graduate scheme as most make you sign a retainer. So If was offered a place on a pilot training scheme it wouldn't be too hard to leave the PhD. I can now spend the next year applying and preparing for any perspective job interviews.

[XanderFly]

I don't think airlines consider it as a disadvantage, because it seems you've got a reasonable explanation. Besides, flying is mostly considered as a passion. People won't compare it as the doctor with a PhD who likes to be a nurse or something, I think.

For myself: I'm a legal cousel with a masters degree. In the interviews I did for flight schools and the British Airways programme, the interviewers did realize that flying is my passion and never wondered themself about the radical switch I'm busy with.

[EZY_FR]

From BA FPP site:

You will need:

5 GCSEs at Grade C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and a Science (single or double award), excluding General Studies.
PLUS

either 3 A-Levels at Grades BBC or above, excluding General Studies.
or an Honours Degree at 2:2 (or higher) or a pass (or above) in a higher degree such as MSc, MA, MPhil, DPhil, PhD, MBA.

I am currently partaking an aerospace engineering degree as well so I asked a student at the CTC open day who had done the course already. He stated that having that degree like that can be good and bad because you will have to stop thinking like an engineer and start to think like pilot I.e. don't over think things. Otherwise you will just gain a better understanding of how aircraft work. Sorry if that doesn't answer your question.

[PURPLE PITOT]

You can take that advice from a CTC checklist monkey, and shove it where it belongs.

It will do you no harm whatsoever, and will be highly useful knowledge.

It will also leave you wondering why type technical training for pilots is so basic these days.

[Turbavykas]

Well if you think that PhD degree can be disadvantage you simply can choose not to tell that

[CookPassBabtridge]

He stated that having that degree like that can be good and bad because you will have to stop thinking like an engineer and start to think like pilot I.e. don't over think things.

Did I really just read that?

[EZY_FR]

CookPassBabtridge

Yep that was what he said. I didn't agree with what he said at all as I truly believe that thinking like an engineer really helps.

[Robert G Mugabe]

[QUOTE]He stated that having that degree like that can be good and bad because you will have to stop thinking like an engineer and start to think like pilot I.e. don't over think things/QUOTE]

It didn't curtail Neil Armstrong

[Dan Dare]

I don't think Dr Jock Lowe felt that his doctorate had hindered his career when he was Chief Concorde Pilot.

[mct777]

Having a PhD may well limit your aviation chances. The P2F schemes (well documented here) may well think you're far too intelligent to pay for a type rating and then work for as much as a donut maker on Hull's beach during December.