Cadet Programs
 

My son is considering an Emirati cadet program, he has dual citizenship.
I have read several posts on your site and although there is great demand for the program I do not see any posts as to the outcome after training.
I know he will be guaranteed a job, however, I'm wondering if he would be better off attending college in the US and coming back with a degree/pilots license.

Shouldn't your son be carrying out his own research at such an age?

There is no black and white, right and wrong answer to your question. He could go to the cadet program, and continue to fly until the end of a long and fruitful career. Or the aviation industry could collapse within a decade and your son be without a job, and with not much experience in another sector could be up a stream without a paddle.

He could go to college, get a fantastic degree, and come out to find the cadet schemes have closes after the industry has collapsed. Or he could go, flunk it, and end up worse off.

The real options are (probably) somewhere in the middle of the above options. Personally, I would suggest that your son looks at all of the information available to him, reaches his own conclusion, and stands by it. A college education is a valuable thing, and will allow your son to mature greatly. As he is young, he has no reason to get into flying straight away, and should gain some life experience first.

Just my two cents.

there is no guaranty in this profession. Your son can have an accident, break a finger by playing pool...
and he will not touch a plane forever!
he can fail a sim, a check ride, a flight test, and he will be out.
I would say 30% fail the last test, and must leave.

If you are sure that your son will get sponsored then dont miss it, many years ago I was offered full sponsorship by my airline and those of us who got the chance didn't miss it nor regretting it. Now we are flying and many are doing their degree through online, which I am going to start soon.

Getting fully sponsored for a pilot course is rare, extremely rare...its a life time opportunity so tell your son to get it asap. You can do a degree later also.

Thanks for the feedback.

My son is actually looking at this himself, but as a mother I obviously want to do my own research. The school makes it all sound so wonderful but they do not talk about how many drop out, or for that matter whether they are respected by fellow flight crew upon graduation.

He has a very unique opportunity, but I'm still trying to teach him that sometimes its better to do things for yourself.