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An Aviation Journey: From High School to Commercial Pilot
"So what was your path to aviation?" I've embarrassingly {just ask my son!} asked to many a pilot while waiting for flights. If you are wearing a uniform in an airport, I have probably approached you. Mostly because, like all things in parenting, just when you think you have it all figured out, one of your kids throws you a curve ball! Our youngest son Owen has always loved airplanes and aviation. I think his love for flying escalated when his Boy Scout troop had a free discovery flight through the Young Eagles program with an eager pilot when he was nine. The pilot flew over our house and let Owen take the controls. If there's one thing I've learned about flying and aviation, it's that pilots LOVE to talk about airplanes! So asking that question, I often know I'll be able to engage in a pretty interesting conversation! Now as a mom of a pilot, I typically have several conversations weekly {no joke!} about the path to take to aviation and how as a parent you can support your child. This is mostly a way for me to write everything down in one place as we get further removed from the process in an attempt to share our experience. It won't all apply to you or your situation, but it's a good jumping off point. If there's one thing I've learned in the world aviation it's that every path is different! This has been ours...so far!
An Aviation Journey: From High School to Commercial Pilot
Again, this is our aviation journey with our son. We live in the greater Seattle area, so there will be things that won't apply if you are reading this from literally anywhere else. But there will be some similarities and a foundation of knowledge that you can use as you navigate some complicated unchartered waters!
To note: I mention "us" and "our" and "we" a lot during this. I want to note that I mention this in the context of support. This has very much been a journey that our son has been on and he's very much taken ownership of it. I have seen the piles of flashcards he uses for studying for an oral. I've heard the disappointment in his voice after a flight where he felt like he wasn't flying as well as he could. I've watched as he has put in the hours at the airport. I've also seen how he's rearranged his schedule, shown up at the airport, gotten a plane ready, and then been weathered. Or how he's been fully prepared for an exam that only gets cancelled time and time again through no fault of his own. I've also heard the confidence in his voice while talking to tower about his flight plan. And watched his eyes light up while flying. So when I say we or us or our it's only because as parents, we are fully supporting him on this path-the path he has chosen and taken ownership of.
Where Do I Start?
I wrote this a few years ago. Start here: My Teenager Wants to Be a Pilot: Now What?
Did you read that? Ok good. That will be the foundation you need as I take a deeper dive into the more practical aspects of aviation.
First Class Medical & a Discovery Flight
These are the very first thing I always recommend, regardless of age. If your child is really interested in aviation, get them out on a discovery flight. Most FBO's {Fixed Based Operator-basically just a private jet terminal-many of which offer aviation training} offer a discounted discovery flight that allows the curious child to get up in the air in a small airplane.
Sure, most people have flown in a jet on spring break or to visit their grandma, but most people haven't flown in a Cessna 152 {two seater} or 172 {four seater}. They are like the little Power Wheels of the aviation industry perfect for flight training.
Most flight training {even at a university} will be done in a small airplane. There will be years of flying inside a small airplane and you don't want your son or daughter to make it to their freshman year of college, amped up on the possibility of becoming a commercial pilot and then get in the cockpit and feel a) sick or b) claustrophobic or c) all of the above and then some.
Side note: even if you do get sick or feel claustrophobic, doesn't mean you won't be able to overcome that and become an incredible pilot!
An instructor on a discovery flight will also help guide your child through some of the realities of aviation that students might not have thought about. Like showing them how to push the aircraft in and out of the hanger, pre-flight and how checklists work. You don't just get into an airplane and take off. There's a lot of work before you get off the ground!
The second thing I recommend is to find an AME {Aviation Medical Examiner} and get a first class medical. Commercial pilots are required to have a first class medical in order to fly and will continue to meet with an AME throughout their career for exams to make sure they are fit to fly.
Just because your student is healthy doesn't mean they will be able to pass a first class medical exam for aviation. There could have been a medication or diagnosis charted years prior that will raise a red flag and can either make the process of approval take months or even years {yep, that happens}, or your student has an underlying condition or diagnosis that will eliminate them from ever being able obtain a first class medical.
Side note: Just because an individual can't receive a first class medical doesn't mean a career in aviation is over for them. There are other ways a student can be involved in aviation, but it will require a change of plan.
And if they are dead set on flying airplanes, a student pilot only needs a third class medical in order to receive their PPL {Private Pilots License}, so while a career as a commercial pilot may not be in their future, they can still fly.
Most aviation programs at colleges will require a first class medical exam before starting instruction. If you are under 40 years old, a first class medical downgrades to a third class medical after 12 months and a third class medical is good for 48 months.
How to Find an AME
I found an AME through this database. He was literally the only one in a 15 mile radius. We also have the name of another one through a recommendation in the aviation industry. There is an AME shortage, and many don't work regular hours, at least for pilot exams, only accepting one or two exams monthly, so make the appointment as soon as you can because it might take a few months to get in.
You will be required to pay the exam fee out of pocket. It won't be covered by insurance. I believe the exam fee was around $150. We left the exam with the results in hand, however, like I mentioned earlier, if there are any red flags, any non FAA approved medications being taken, any diagnosis that are on the flagged list for the FAA, then you will likely have a more uphill process.
Side note: The process for approval was very easy for our son. However, I know this isn't the case for everyone. There are resources like the AOPA {aircraft owners and pilot association} that can help with advocacy. And some families need to consult aviation or an aerospace attorney that can help them navigate the process.
After You Get Your Medical
I have navigated the process of being the one in charge of all of my children's medical care and appointments. I was the one who would call to set them up, and I was almost always in the room for every single exam. As kids get older, they start navigating these appointments on their own.
One thing I've learned as a mom that I have made sure that our son now knows is that every time he enters a medical office, he needs to be very vocal about his career path. He needs to express that he's a pilot anytime a treatment plan is discussed. You can get your medical, but keeping it, especially with extremely strict FAA guidelines, can be a bit trickier. There are lists of approved medications, and medications that can go on your record and disqualify you from passing an FAA medical exam in the future.
This is a medication database that can help you decide what meds are approved and which aren't before being prescribed anything.
Immerse Yourself in Aviation Opportunities
Now friends, this is where I share a bit more of our specific path and what is available in the Seattle area and how we were able to seek out opportunities that were beneficial to our son's future. Some of these will be Seattle specific. But there will be things that will be jumping off points for other locations around the US that might be helpful for your specific situation. At the end of this section, I'll include some other paths to explore that are available all over the US, not just here in Seattle.
Raisbeck Aviation High School
I honestly don't remember how Owen even heard about Raisbeck Aviation High School {RAHS}, but I remember he came to us as a middle schooler, asking to look into it as an option. RAHS is a public high school in King Country that is part of Highline School District. They share a campus with the Boeing Museum of Flight, creating endless opportunities for aviation education.
There is a lottery for admissions, and only 100 students allowed in to the incoming grade. RAHS encourages students who want to attend, to commit to four years at the school. Admission is open for incoming freshman, though I have heard that they are allowing some sophomores to apply again. But if you don't make it in freshman or sophomore year, there really isn't an opportunity for admission.
The school allows a certain number of students from in the district as part of the lottery, and an even smaller amount {25 students} are admitted out of district students. We were out of district. As part of the application, you do have to complete a form as well as include any disciplinary actions you've incurred at your current or past schools.
Because it is a choice school, there is limited bus service, and since we were out of district, no bus service. The school was 50 miles round trip {in Seattle traffic!}, so it was a commitment for us as a family.
Our son choosing Raisbeck, and our family making the commitment for him to go, really was one of the best choices we made for Owen's future in aviation. The school has incredible connections in the aviation world and it's nationally well known making "best of" lists often. Beyond that, they also offer incredibly generous scholarships. And as I already pointed out, the school graduating class is very small, so the odds are good!
Remember how I mentioned that RAHS shared a campus with the Museum of Flight? Well, that was step two in Owen's success with aviation in high school. For those of you non-Seattle people, the Museum of Flight is the largest air and space museum in the world. Beyond just being a really cool museum, they also offer incredible educational opportunities, not just for aviation, but for aerospace and STEM.
The educational programs are a great for students of all ages k-12, with most of the programs focusing on students 6-12th grade. Many are no cost!
Bonus: The Museum of Flight has generous scholarships for students. One aspect of the eligibility is participation in a MoF program. Even if you don't live in the Seattle area, many of the programs are during the summer, and a fun summer trip could be worked into and around the programs.
The second thing that set Owen up for success for aviation, was his dedication to Aeronautical Science Pathways. ASP is a free program for juniors and seniors that meets M-Th from 3:45-6 following the school calendar September-June. There are six college level courses each year with the ability to earn 3 high school credits and 30 college credits. There are also mentorship opportunities with leaders in the aviation industry. It really is an incredible opportunity.
And did I mention that those credits are transferrable to a university? Owen easily had more than a semester of credits he was able to transfer in to University of North Dakota {who heavily recruits at the school}.
Beyond receiving credits that are helpful for college {and one less semester of college to pay for!}, those credits allowed Owen upperclassman privilege's which allowed him to sign up for classes before his peers. So while some were waitlisted, he was able to get first crack at the schedule.
More Aviation Education Opportunities
Seek out programs with generous scholarships because flying is expensive! Here are a few nationwide programs that have chapters in many locations:
EAA Young EaglesCivil Air PatrolWomen in Aviation {Aviation for Girls}Red-Tailed Hawks Flying ClubEmbry Riddle Aviation CampsUND Aviation CampsFAA List of Joint Programs {that may not have been mentioned!}
Should I Get my PPL in High School or Wait?
This one I'm on the fence about. There are pros and cons. Some college aviation programs are asking that students NOT come in with any flight training, and some programs are having such an influx of students with their PPL {private pilots license} that they are creating new courses to ease the transition.
My husband and son both got their PPL in high school and I think that there are benefits. Here are a few of them to note. There is no age limit for a student to fly, but they can't solo until they are 16 and they can't get their PPL until they turn 17.
To note: If a student completes their PPL in high school and wants to continue on to an RATP university, they can NOT proceed further in their training {ie don't start instrument rating}, because it will not be accepted at the college due to FAA guidelines. If they want, they can continue to rent aircraft to build hours or maybe they want to look into a Seaplane or tail dragger rating.
Pros of Getting PPL in High School
Flight training is a very different kind of training than most students have been exposed to. There's a different knowledge base and studying that needs to happen as well as proficiency flights and standards to learn. There was a lot of cheerleading we did from the sidelines as Owen learned to advocate for himself with his flight training. Which is a LOT of what flight training is.
There are a lot of things that will take your attention away in college, and having come in with his PPL helped our son realize that he needed to prioritize flights in order to progress. This meant turning down late night hang outs in exchange for early morning flights.
Showing that you can commit to getting your PPL can look favorably on a scholarship or even college application.
As a parent, working through flight training can be frustrating. Sometimes it feels like it's dragging on and just when it feels like your student is close to a check ride there's a set back with weather. For me, learning the bumps in the road for aviation while he was in high school, helped chill me out a bit once he was in college. I knew there would be weather delays. I knew that there would be times a CFI would cancel or an aircraft would be in maintenance. The stakes are high when you are paying college tuition, so having that understanding before he got there was helpful for me.
While we aren't to this point yet, the hope would be that a pilot can obtain their CFI {certified flight instructor} earlier and then get paid to fly and log hours. CFI is the next course so I'll keep you posted if that works out, but UND has a very competitive program and many students don't get hired as a CFI while they are students.
Some universities give credit for coming into college with a PPL.
There was an added benefit that the most convenient {though not the cheapest!} airport was Boeing Field, which is an international airport that happened to be right in front of his high school. This is a very busy airspace with SeaTac nearby. And on top of that, it's a tower controlled airport. All that to say, there were a lot of things he was exposed to and learned by getting his PPL at his home airport versus doing all of his flying at college.
Cons of Getting PPL in High School
It can cost more! For us, it cost about three times more than the estimated cost of getting his PPL at the university. University programs are well-oiled machines with the intent of getting through flight training. There are things that can get in the way {scheduling conflicts and weather to name a few}, but if a student follows the lessons plans, they can get their PPL for less money at their university.
Side note: it can also cost more than your local flight school. You just never know!
Obtaining a PPL can take a lot of time. If your student enjoys doing literally anything else, adding in flying might take more time than it's worth! In order to not slow down the progress of flying, a student should schedule about three flights a week as they work on their PPL. This can be very time consuming.
PPL costs while our son was in high school were all out of pocket. Parents who have saved money for education via a 529 can use those funds in college, but they can't use them while their student is in high school.
To note: there are more and more students coming in with their PPL's. One thing I didn't realize is that it matters when the PPL is completed if you want to register for the next class session and make a seamless transition to college. Most universities are scheduling incoming students for their freshman year in April. At UND, the completed certificate number for his PPL was required to sign up for the next flight training. I thought he'd have all summer to complete his PPL before he went to college, and I was wrong! He got his PPL in mid April and was put on a wait list for the next class since there was already a class full of students who had their PPL in hand. Just keep that in mind during flight training.
To Go to College or Not
I could do a deep dive into this topic, but I'm not going to. We are parents who believe strongly in education. There have been changes in the aviation industry that say that a college degree is no longer a requirement for hiring for commercial aviation. Aviation is a very slow to change industry. If there is a hiring manager looking at qualified candidates a resume with a college degree will rise to the top. Beyond that, a college degree from a top aviation university will also rise to the top. While it is not required it is preferred.
There are a lot of flight schools out there. From what I have gathered, it's like drinking from a fire hose to get the information. Can they save you years of training? Possibly. There are still age and hour minimums that need to be met, so getting there faster may not make a difference.
There are things I won't get into because I don't have a deep enough understanding outside of knowing what path our son is currently on. But you can google part 141 school, part 61 program, RATP and ATP as well as the minimum number of hours required for both. Hopefully it's as clear as mud for you!
Should I Get a Backup Degree?
I hear this all.the.time. The question being, if I just need a college degree, why not just get a backup degree in something else "just in case" this aviation thing doesn't work out. Can pilots lose their medical? Yes. And that will mean that they need a career change. Two things though, if a pilot loses their medical while working at a commercial airline, because of the unions pilots are part of, they will continue to receive pay. It might be a fraction of their pay, but it's pay. The second, if you have never used a degree, and instead fly airplanes for a dozen {or more} years, is that "just in case" degree still worthwhile with zero experience?
Many pilots are able to seek employment in the aviation industry with their experience flying airplanes. Flight training is a lot. To try to balance flight training that isn't part of a college commercial aviation degree is difficult, though not impossible.
I say all this, and Owen is getting a minor in biology. Mostly because he has scholarships that require him to be a full time student with 14 hours {those credits he came in with really sped him along!}, and because he would like to combine his love for biology and the outdoors with aviation in some capacity if possible.
Some More College Things to Note
There are 105 FAA certified universities. You can find the list here. The three you will hear about most often are Embry Riddle, Purdue University and University of North Dakota. There are others that rise to the top, but these three are most often mentioned. As a proud Purdue grad, their aviation program is kept very small and is one of the hardest programs to get into. They only allow around 100 students a year into their program. Embry Riddle has two campuses, one in Prescott, Arizona {much smaller}, the other in Daytona Beach, Florida. And finally, UND, where our son chose to go.
UND is a top notch aviation university and probably the most affordable of all the aviation colleges since you are able to apply for in state tuition after your freshman year. Currently, they open admissions in early August, and it's first come, first served, allowing the first 450 students admission regardless of test scores or GPA, though there are minimum requirements that need to be met for admittance. Again, this has changed since our son applied. He was one of the last classes they accepted based on high GPA requirements.
Side note: if I was a mom with a daughter in aviation, I would look closely at how many female students were in the commercial aviation major at the college being considered. Aviation is still very much a male dominated industry. It's important to find a school that celebrates the diversity and change that needs to happen in the industry and represents that in the student population.Scholarships
If you just scrolled down to the section on scholarships, you've missed the four hundred other times I've mentioned them in the rest of this. Aviation is expensive! Like, hope you've got a wheelbarrow full of money, expensive!
The general estimate to receive the required ratings for commercial aviation is around $120,000. This is on TOP of college tuition. Applying for scholarships is something a lot of people ask us about. Owen applied for dozens of scholarships his junior year as he started his flight training and he received NONE of them. Not one.
Not willing to get discouraged, {and also because I nagged a LOT!}, he applied again his senior year and received over $100,000 in scholarships! His biggest scholarship {essentially a full tuition scholarship to UND} was from his high school. The others were from the Museum of Flight.
With money we saved for our kids college, in conjunction with his scholarships, he will be able to graduate debt free as a pilot. This is very rare in the industry, but because of a lot of those initial decisions he made for seeking out educational opportunities in aviation, he positioned himself well for the future. He made a lot of sacrifices for years-driving hours extra every day to and from school. Taking on hours of extra classes and course load to complete college credits all while juggling flight training for his private pilots license. He also chose a college that not only offers incredible flight training, but it also offered him the largest scholarship and the least out of pocket. Otherwise, we are pretty sure no one would choose to go to Grand Forks, ND willingly for any other reason!
I can't speak on loans since we haven't had to take them out for his education, but I know that many universities are well versed in how to walk their students and their parents through the process.
Ratings
There are a LONG list of ratings pilots need to get and it's a long journey to becoming a commercial pilot with a legacy carrier. Any pilot will know better than I would what these are {this is my dumbed down understanding}, but what I do know is that the FAA sets a list of lessons that need to be completed and worked through with a CFI as a student proceeds through the ratings. Most ratings require an oral and flying check ride completed with a DPE. A school {even an FBO} is evaluated on their pass rate, so most won't push a student through to a check ride without feeling entirely confident that a pilot can pass that particular rating.
All of the ratings have minimums and will also have requirements {cross country, under the hood time, etc..} that go with it.
Every pilot will start out as a student pilot working on their Private Pilot License. Once they receive their license they are a pilot! They don't become a pilot after they graduate college or a program with all their ratings, they are a pilot from the beginning.
After PPL comes Instrument Rating, which allows your pilot to fly in clouds and different weather conditions. I mean, I'm guessing there's more to it than that, but that's my general understanding.
After Instrument Rating comes Commercial Rating. And just because you are a commercial pilot, doesn't mean now you are ready to head to United or Delta! Nope. It just means that you can be paid to fly. A pilot needs this rating for things like crop dusting or flying a plane for skydivers. That kind of thing.
After Commercial {or during} there is a rating called Complex Systems. It's very complex, I can't go into it.
Then pilots head into a Multi-Engine Rating. This is the latest rating under our son's belt and I am told there is a distinction between Commercial Multi-Engine and Private Pilot Multi-Engine. It's just flying more complex systems with multiple engines {imagine that!}.
Then there is Flight Instructor Certification. Most pilots choose to do this to build hours because airlines require a certain amount of hours to be hired. And if you are a CFI {certified flight instructor} or CFII {certified flight instrument instructor} or MEI {multi engine instructor}, you can have someone pay you to fly with them while building hours.
Not everyone is a born teacher, so that path isn't for everyone. There are other ways to get flight hours like flying banners, crop dusting, weather seeding, and more!
The ultimate rating pilots who want to fly for the legacy carriers will be working towards is an Airline Transport Pilot, or if you go to college and graduate, you'll be getting a R-ATP {restricted airline transport pilot}. There is no specific timeline for this. No magic number of years or hours that a pilot has to get hired {though there are minimum hours and age specifications for an ATP and R-ATP rating}.
When our oldest son graduated from Baylor University, he had his degree in hand. Our daughter, the same. Though since she had a BSN, she needed to take her NCLEX to become a registered nurse {RN}.
As for hiring, the aviation industry is very cyclical. There are waves to hiring and there is no magic ball to figure out when the best time is to get into the industry. It's always a hope that your pilot gets lucky with hiring, but you never know.
The Sky is Not the Limit
I'll leave you with this tagline that is kind of cringe, I know. Owen's aviation high school had that line on every e-mail sent, and it was all around the school as a reminder. The path to aviation is unique for every single pilot. Every journey is different and every path will have a unique set of circumstances that will lead to an end goal. I really hope I have been able to lay out our experience as we have navigated this very new to us world. Heck, I guess it's new in all kinds of ways as a career. I mean, there have been scientists and teachers for hundreds even thousands of years, but this is an industry that is relatively new. As you navigate through, I really hope this has been a helpful start as you start dipping your toes in!
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