University after fATPL
 

Hey, so I have an EASA fATPL with all the ratings and courses for an airline job. Since covid pretty much stopped aviation. Is it useful to do a degree now to pass the time? Will it make me more employable or just waste time? I'm thinking of taking one of those Air Transport Management with fATPL but skip the module that requirement to do the fATPL since I have it already, assuming my fATPL is credited. I heard the uni have some connection with UK airline or something like that. I know FlyBe had a special relationship with Buck's new uni.

Will it help you get a job as a pilot? Probably not. Is it a good idea to have a backup career? Definitely. Personally (if I had money to burn) I'd do a few practical courses. Plumbing, Electrician, HGV driving. You know - stuff that pays more than being a pilot 😜

You'd probably know a good deal of an electrician's course anyway, and it's less messy than being a plumber. If you do up your house, you can sign for your own work, which is why I looked at it myself. You can do a course for around £2K in some places.

I've done the undergrad degree with Bucks while doing my ATPL training and it does carry some decent benefits or at least it will keep you busy! It's a good foundation to the inner workings of a lot of the industry and especially certain airlines that most of the literature focuses on. The bucks course also offers some presentation/team building work as part of the degree which im sure reflects well when looking for a potential pilot job.

rudestuff

This!

A degree is a poor backup, and those management courses aren't much use until you've substantial flying experience and are moving into airline management, or you're giving up on flying as a career (and your soul can handle staying in aviation). Get some immediately saleable skills. Right now an HGV licence seems like a good choice, although if I had to go that way, I think I'd train as a chef, simply because I'd enjoy it. The debt you'll run up on practical courses like those will be vastly less than a degree course.

I think the only management course you need in Flight Ops is to learn how to cut costs to the bone. If you cut too far, well, no worries, you will have moved on by then anyway.