IMM,

As already stated above you DO NOT need a Degree to become a Pilot. The only door a Degree will get you through is the likes of the Cathay Pacific Cadet Programe in Hong Kong which accepts Degrees as an educational entry requirement to the programe but it is not required.

According to your profile your only 20 Years of age, plenty of time ahead of you. If I was you I would go to University and do a Degree completely unrelated to Aviation (Engineering for example).

What you could do is:

1) Go to University, do your Degree, get your Class 2 Medical and start working on your PPL License in your spare time if it isn't an issue.

2) Go to University, complete your Degree, get a good job after graduating then start worrying about the flying when you have a good income to fund it thus avoiding taking out any loans from the bank.

3) Go to University, get your Degree, get a good job as above and save for a few years then take the plunge and go abroad to do all the training when you have sufficient funds saved.


Remember that you will also have the Degree as a back up if the Aviation Industry decided to turn sour again down the line and you were out of a flying job.

That is my 2 cents but you may come up with a better plan to suit yourself.

Good luck with whatever route you decide to take!

Thank you^^^


What if I do get a degree in bussiness.

Electrical / Mechanical / Civil Engineering, Business, Law, Medicine and Dentistry are all good areas to study in not related to aviation.

Aerospace Engineering would be related to the design of new aircraft, though I wouldn't rule it out.

If you like business, get a degree in business. If you dont like business, get your degree in something else. I wouldn't count on strangers in an anonymous forum to make life decisions for you.

When and if you become a pilot, you wont be able to come on Pprune and ask what you should do next during an emergency.

Thank you Davy07

Zodaracer I am not completly depended upon those advises but they were helpful. Before Cryilroy27's advise i thought without a degree in aviation field i wont get a job in airline.

Thank you Zodaracer for your post

It's only USA airlines that require degrees, Europe / Arabia / the rest of the world doesn't care about degrees so much as long as you have a pilot's licence. The problem with USA airlines is that 1) They haven't hired any pilots for the last 10 years and 2) they also require many thousands of hours in small aircraft before they'll employ you. So that will be your next problem even if you did have a degree.

PIA is a real mess from what I understand, I flew with a lot of ex PIA guys in QR and they certainly wouldn't go back there, so why don't you go talk to one of them about it?

My serious advice to you is go up to the Qatar Aviation College - it's round the back of the airfield, go up Ras Abu Aboud Street towards the construction site for the new airport and you'll see it on the right a few hundred yards past the Marriott hotel - go and talk to them about your options. They're a nice bunch of guys and understand the unique Qatari situation a lot better than everyone else on here giving you well meaning advice.

The fact that you are already in Qatar and you appear to like the place, is already a huge tick in the box for you should you apply to Qatar Airways. They do have an ab-initio cadet scheme for hiring pilots fresh from school and you really really really should apply for that since you're already in country. You've obviously got money in your family since you are studying at the American school, so that would indicate to me that the best option for you would be to go study at QAC for your Qatari pilot's licence, it's JAA compliant so you shouldn't have too much trouble converting it to a regular European or Asian one at some future stage should you get offered a job elsewhere in the world.

Go read THIS THREAD for info regarding the QR cadet scheme - although there's a lot of guys talking a lot of crap in there too, like most things with Qatar it's a lot about who you know not what you know.

And don't put silly titles about "left" and "right" on your threads - you would have got better information if you had put something relevant as the title.

i shall throw my 2 cents worth. Getting a degree or not depends on the country or airline culture that you planning to work for.
Its increasingly becoming an unspoken requirement to get a degree to work for some of the major airlines in Asia. To have a better chance, i would recommend that you have a degree to have a better leverage against the competitions in getting that interview. And also for a backup career path when the economy goes bad.

I'm afraid young man that your biggest problem will be finding the cash to finance your training. Your next problem will be finding a airline in a country where you have the right to work. Assuming you have cracked this little nut, actually getting a job might prove to be a challenge as well. So the best advice would be to prepare for what you know for certain you can do with the best qualification you can possibly earn. Then, once earning a living, save to finance your training while you research where you have the right to work. You might even get a PPL in this period, just to see what flying is actually like.

Whichever route you take will not be the easy because of where you want to live (and where you don't), local hiring practices, pilot requirements and... Oh Yes! The minor requirement for cash.

Best of luck!

Luke skytoddler>thanks for comment. I did go to American school just for a year. I know where is Qatar Aero college, I went there. I am not having $140,000 to pay & even though I meet a Yemani guy who just got his CPL with good ratings but he was crying for a job in QA. So it means the job in QA is not gurantted if you got your license through Qatar Aero College. About the title so its not silly I guess. Really few are dragging me on this site & others on that side. I know a co-pilot in QA who got his license from Qatar Aero College. His advise was go out of Qatar.

Piltdown man>thank you alot for your comment. Yeah you are right finacing is a great problem.

Dl_88>thanks for your comment. Yeah I am looking forward to degree. But dont know before or after CPL.