I am currently a freshman at Embry Riddle. I am in the Aeronautical Science (professional pilot) degree program. I am looking for a little advice. I feel like this degree is almost a “waste”. I have heard the airlines and corporations really do not care what type of degree you have. Is that true? I eventually want to fly corporate and get into the business side of aviation…eventually a desk job(maybe). Should I switch majors and start a business degree with a flight minor? I will still earn all of my ratings upon graduation. Basically, I am asking if you think I will be okay without all the extra meteorology, crew resource management, FMS programming e.t.c. courses. Thank you very much!!!
The airlines seem to care the most about what kind of and how much flying experience you have. If you have a degree in flying, and you lose your medical, what do you have to fall back on? If you fly on the side, or as a minor, get your ratings, and have a 4 year degree in something else, you are doing a huge favor to yourself, especially since the airlines aren’t hiring now (who knows if they will be in 4 years? Then what will you do?).
Besides not caring what your degree is in, WHERE is also pretty unimportant to the airlines . . . just in case you’re looking to save some money, too.
You can try an open university… do the degree (most likely not aviation related) online, part time, loads cheaper than regular colleges. 
It depends on the employer, but predominantly the answer to the question is yes.
Yes! And an engineering major would be an even better choice.
I too am looking at obtaining a degree in Aeronautics (professional pilot) at either ERAU or KSU… my neighbor though, is a 777 f/o for American Airlines… and he got his degree in math at the University of Arkansas, so I don’t think the airlines have a problem with you not having a degree associating in aviation.
Trite as it may sound, your best bet — regardless of where you expect to try to find work — is to major in something you’re good at. Read that: something you already find interesting, that you don’t mind spending long hours eating/sleeping/breathing. You’ll enjoy the process more, and likely have a better GPA by the time you’re finished.
Choosing this major or that simply because the student rumor mill has it that some anticipated employer prefers it isn’t the reason you should be choosing a subject.
But what does a dumb biology major boning up for certification as an aerospace physiologist know? 8)
Good luck with your endeavours.
Don’t plan on using a degree for aviation. Unless you get a engineering degree. Most of the line guys I know have varied degrees, all of which are non-aviation related. One friend has a degree in Russian studies, I have an MBA. So I would suggest something that would be a plan B. If you really want to go into the business side of aviation get a business or marketing degree.
Good Luck
Go to a real school and get a real degree, not an aviation degree! Trust me, you’re better off going to a school that has an aviation degree program (Purdue, UND, LA Tech, FIT, etc…) but is not primarily focused on aviation. Get a degree that has some real world use outside of aviation and do your ratings through the school. Or find a good college near a good part 141 flight school and do your flight training separately. Aviation schools may have some intern positions that could be beneficial, but you’re not going to get a job because you tell someone you have a degree from Embry Riddle. Best of luck.
Agree 10000000% My degree is in Human Resources and I’ve gotten ALL my flying jobs because of it. It has allowed me to work the business side of corporate aviation also. Of course I stay up to date on HR related information too.
It has severed me well outside aviation. There was a period of time in the early 90’s when I couldn’t pass a 2nd class medical and worked as a Asst. HR Director for a large company in NY.
If you look at most airline job posts (well, when there were airline job posts) you will often find lately that they are “preferring” applicants with aviation-type degrees. This goes complete against what has been the norm in the past, but with as many pilots as there are on the streets, they have been wanting them to have as much aviation experience as possible. They have some room to pick and choose right now. Overall, I don’t believe it plays a huge factor, but it has started playing a factor as of late. DO NOT take this to mean you have to have a degree in aviation. Many more do lately, but it’s not a requirement, just a preference.
Believe me, once you get past the 250 hour regional pilot jobs, it’s all about flight experience, quality of experience, and personality. Sure, there are some folks out there who might prefer an aviation degree, but for the most part, it’s about your experience and what type of person you are.
Believe me, you’re preaching to the choir on that, but Skywest (yes still a “regional”) has always been 1,000tt/100me and they have no problem telling people about major preferences. I agree thought that ultimately, all they care about is the flight experience.
Colgan, whom is now hiring again, is also the same at 1,000/100, but I wouldn’t think too much about them…before now if you had a pulse and a pilot’s license they’d hire you. If you don’t have a pulse, they’d at least work with you on it if you have a good personality.
truest post ever… thats why I didnt go to FL. instead I picked Dowling College in L.I.
[quote=“CDWOPS”]
Go to a real school and get a real degree
[quote=“wazzu90”]
I is a english major
[quote=“flyboy97222”]
Me two.
I was Aviation Flight Technology Major w/ Aviation Manangement & Air Traffic Controll ATC-SII
as a back up, any degree you have can be used if all else fails, to join the military, possibly talk to a military recruiter and see if there is any preference, if you want to be a military pilot and they dont care what kind of degree you have, as long as its a BS degree not a BA degree, then maybe go for a degree thats easy to obtain.
But to be honest, id rather hire someone with a degree from MIT with a 2.0 gpa than ASU with a 4.0 gpa.
basically look at yoru final goal and there maybe several ways to get there, so i would choose the option that has the most flexibility.
I must admit it was nice getting my nursing degree at a school that focused more on nursing than english and politics. Our english teacher ran our final essay thru Microsoft grammer and spell checker, yoru grade was based on the readability statistics reguardless of what you typed.
Apparently you failed miserably, as you’ve shown by the above run-on sentence filled with errors. Not to mention the rest of your post(s)… 
But you must be one hell of a nurse! 