Having a career as a commercial pilot is attractive for a lot of reasons. Not only do you get paid generously, but you also receive excellent benefits like health insurance and a retirement plan. More importantly, you also get to travel the world while commanding a massive aircraft. Indeed, being a pilot is a dream job for globetrotting adventurers as you are paid to visit countries you’ve never been to before.
However, before you can start a career in the aviation industry, there are several requirements you need to meet. Obviously, you have to complete a flight training course and pass knowledge and skill tests to earn a commercial pilot license. But what about the type of college degree you need to have? Do you need to have a college degree before going to pilot training school?
The straightforward answer is, no. Your college course doesn’t really affect your eligibility to enroll in a flight school. Having a college degree isn’t even technically required to be a student pilot, private pilot, or commercial pilot in the Philippines. Nevertheless, if your goal is to have a successful career in the aviation industry and work for the biggest airline companies in the country, expect recruiters to ask about your college degree.
Fortunately, commercial airlines aren’t particular about the type of degree you have, so majoring in any course will do. However, there are some bachelor’s degree programs that can give you a good head start during your flight training, and make you a more desirable candidate when applying to commercial airlines. Let’s take a look at the five college courses that can propel your piloting career further.
Aviation
One of the most common degrees aspiring pilots take is a BA or BS in Aviation. This course aims to help you get a solid grasp of the academic and theoretical aspects of aviation safety and management. You’ll also have classes that will teach you all you need to know about the electronics and engineering of an airplane. What’s more, you’ll learn the basic procedures and principles of flying an aircraft, giving you the knowledge of how to fly a plane properly and safely.
Overall, earning a degree in aviation will give you a competitive edge. You’ll also stand out among your fellow student pilots because you have a broader understanding of what’s expected of a commercial pilot.
Aeronautical Science
An aeronautical science course might not teach you how to fly a plane, but it will show you how a plane operates. It gives you a more detailed perspective on how an aircraft works, so you’ll be able to get a better understanding of the mechanical aspects of an aircraft. The subjects you’ll touch upon in this course include aircraft engines, aviation law, and jet transport systems. You’ll also learn flight safety to prepare you for the moment you take to the skies.
A great thing about taking aeronautical science is that it opens other aviation-related career opportunities should you decide that becoming a pilot isn’t for you. Some of the aviation jobs you can pursue with this degree include aircraft designer, aircraft technician, and air traffic controller.
Aerospace Engineering
If you want to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how a plane works, then taking an aerospace engineering course will give you what you seek. You’ll take various math and physics subjects, and aviation courses such as introduction to engineering, dynamics and control, and space mechanics.
The difficulty with aerospace engineering, however, is that there aren’t a lot of accredited schools that offer this degree. It’s also a more rigorous course compared to the other examples on this list since aerospace engineering takes a deeper dive into the mechanical and aerospace aspects of flight. However, if you attain a degree in aerospace engineering, it’ll look impressive on your resume and make you a more viable candidate for the pilot position.
Air Traffic Management
Even though air traffic management is a degree people take to land a job in the aircraft control team, aspiring pilots can learn a great deal about aviation meteorology from taking this course. In air traffic management, you’ll learn how to use the different state-of-the-art tools that are used in monitoring weather conditions and the motion of the aircraft in the skies. You’ll also be taught how to read the data provided by these instruments, so you can spot the warning signs of bad weather earlier and avoid causing congestion in air traffic. Having the skills and knowledge in proper air traffic management will widen your perspective and aid in your flight training and piloting career.
Computer Science
Some non-aviation-related courses can also help in your aviation career. Computer science, for example, may not give you the experience of flying a plane, but it will cultivate your logical thinking skills. Moreover, the course exposes you to different programming languages and advanced technologies. It provides an in-depth view of how software and hardware are integrated for practical applications in different industries, including the aviation sector.
Although having a college degree isn’t a technical requirement to sign up for a private or commercial pilot license program, it gives you an advantage in your pursuit of a successful career as an airline pilot. After all, major airline companies require aspiring pilots to have at least a graduate degree from any course. To get ahead of the competition, consider the suggested courses above to stand out and be prepared to fly.
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