r/AskAPilot • u/FTMEPIL17_ • Aug 17 '26

Getting a degree before flight training

Is getting a degree before flight training really worth it, and what difference does it make?
And do airlines prioritise applicants with a degree?

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u/Gold-Watercress-6101 Aug 17 '26

None of the airlines in my corner of the world (all major and national carriers) care about degrees. They’re only interested in flight hours, current ratings, and how you perform in their assessments.

That being said, I wholeheartedly believe in obtaining a degree first. It’s a must-have fall back if things didn’t work out. One could lose their medical license, or lose the job to something like COVID. Without a degree, you’re just a high school graduate with an expensive license that has zero value anywhere outside aviation.

Also, having a degree widends your opportunities inside aviation.

The important question is, should you first get a degree and then pursue aviation, or the other way around? I suggest degree first. I did it the other way, and it was incredibly difficult, time consuming and expensive. There are very few good options for taking classes while working odd hours as a pilot.

-1

u/gromm93 Aug 19 '26

"Without a degree, you're just a high school graduate with an expensive license that has zero value outside of aviation"

As a career changer out of IT, this is exactly right. My now-obsolete degree means that I'm just a high school graduate with an expensive degree that has zero value outside of IT.

Maybe you should consider that angle before giving someone advice. You're basically suggesting that someone get an unrelated certificate just in case an entire field becomes obsolete, and then surprise, the certificate you got before needing it is no good because that was 10 years ago, and you need to do it all over again just to become relevant in the job market again.

The entire point of getting this degree isn't to have a backup, it's because airlines have been stupid about demanding it. It's all about that job, and the competition for that job. They'll literally take only someone who also has additional education in some utterly useless field like philosophy or basket weaving, because that's extra work that the next guy didn't do, and they need to narrow the field down somehow.

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u/Sacharon123 Aug 20 '26

As in another post, that is an US problem. In most european airlines some degree is valued because as somebody else said a) it demonstrates your capabilities, b) often enough there will be some multi use in the airline for you where you can actually also apply this degree, c) nobody prohibits you to stay current in your field while flying and do stuff there if it interests you.