How to become an Airline Pilot or Air Force Pilot ?

You need to realize a few facts. First for any US airline or the Air force you will need a college degree. Second for a US Airline you need at least PPL,Multiengine, IFR, CPL and lots of hours preferably twin turbine time. You will need 1500 hours for your ATP. To become an Air force Pilot you need to be in AFROTC or better still attend the AF Academy and be very near the top of your college class, then if you're lucky be chosen for OCS and pilot training. In either case it will be 10 or more years before you have any chance at an "airline pilots position". To even get into a regional airline as a co-pilot at 22 you need lots of flight time. If you go the civilian route you will need about $70-90 K for just flight training and the money for your college degree. Get a degree in a field you like, education, engineering, accounting, etc. At some point you will need it to earn a living.

You need to finish high school (believe me, you need to sort out your spelling and grammar). The cheapest option is probably getting your training in the Air Force, but you are required to stay there for 10 years, which means you'd be 27/28 when you leave the air force. Even if you take the route of getting your PPL, then your CPL, and most likely your ATPL (which you will definitely need if you intend to become an airline Captain), you're likely to be 25 or 26 before you have enough hours to join an airline - they all have different requirements, but you need a few thousand hours before you can even get a job with a regional airline, as a first officer - and a lot of regional airlines generally operate smaller jets, like the A320 family and B737 (and often smaller, such as Bombardier Dash 8/Q series - I know that's the case for a couple of airlines both in the UK and Australia). For example, Emirates require a minimum of 4000 hours for a First Officer (flying A330 or B777) - that's a lot of money and a LOT of hours (I can't find United Airlines requirements, but I can imagine they'd be around the same). So unless you do really intense training for your CPL, you're still unlikely to be able to join a good airline before you're 35. And you might not be flying the larger aircraft until you're about 40. Maybe even 45. Just finish high school first, then see if you still want to fly. I wanted to fly up until about four years ago, when I realised how much it would cost and how long it would take me to get my licenses and my ratings. I suggest you start saving up now if it's what you really want to do.

Study. Study! Study!! Don't be lazy. If this is really what you want; you can do all that is necessary. Put aside all other dreams and concentrate on Math and Science. By the time you finish High School with honors you will find many Companies looking for you. There are millions of people wanting what you want but only a few hundred are successful because it takes more work than dreams.

Finish High School, Join the Air Force. Do pilots training. You're going to have to be very smart. Make sure to do well in school..

1) By the time you are eligible to fly for Delta or another major airline, all the 777's are likely to be retired. Don't plan on being eligible with the requisite amount of education, training and flying experience until you are over age 30. 2) In order to be an Air Force pilot or major airline pilot you need a 4 year degree. Any subject is sufficient, although something in the sciences has more sway with the military. The airlines do not really care, so study something you would enjoy that might employ you happily and profitably if your dreams of becoming an airline pilot don't work out. 3) The commitment to the Air Force, if you're selected for pilot training, is 10 years from the date of receiving your wings, so a total of about 11.5 years. Add in 4 years of college (including ROTC) and you wouldn't be eligible to join an airline as a civilian until you're almost 34. 4) There is no way you can become an airline pilot by age 22 except possibly for a regional airline. Even then it won't be easy. You will still need at least a 2 year college degree (4 is preferred), you'll need all your pilot ratings, plus about 1,500 total hours of flight time and 300 multi-engine hours to be reasonably competitive for a job. This means you will need to have a couple years of professional flying experience after graduating flight school. Therefore it would be advantageous if you earned your PPL sooner than later and started building flight time toward a CPL. 5) The average age of "new hires" at the regional airlines is 25, and at the major airlines it is 34. Very, very few pilots are hired bu major airlines such as Delta under the age of 30. Competitive minimums at the "majors" is a 4 year degree, 4,500 hours of total flight time, and at least 1,000 hours of captain time in charge of a multi-engine, multi-crew, turbine-powered airplane. That could easily take you 10 years to achieve. 6) Plan on civilian flight training to cost $50k to $80k (today's prices) depending on where you train, what you fly, and which ratings you get. You'll need at least the commercial pilot certificate, a multi engine rating and an instrument rating, and preferably you should earn the flight instructor ratings (CFI, CFII and MEI) so that you will have the best chance of getting a job after finishing flight school. The vast majority of flight school grads end up teaching people to fly for a few years until they have enough flight experience to obtain an ATP (airline transport pilot rating) to be seriously considered by a regional airline. Virtually no one is hired straight out of flight school into a regional airline. 7) When you add in the cost of a college education with the cost of flight training, plan on spending at least $150,000. Unfortunately, you can only borrow about half of that in undergraduate student loans, and your folks will have to kick in the other half, either by taking out PLUS loans (if they have sufficient credit) or by forking over the cash from savings. Ion other words, your folks are going to have to pay for your flight training if the military doesn't accept you 8) Your realistic chances of becoming a military pilot aren't very good unless you are physically and academically in the top 5% of your peers and you pass all the aptitude tests. Then your chances would be about 15% of being selected for pilot training. If you are in the top 1% of your peers, your chances rise to about 25% at best. 9) Sorry kid. Those are the true facts, like it or not. Ity is neither a quick nor easy road into the cockpit of an aircraft like the B777.

Hi Gurshawn, I am an Air Force Major and an F-15 pilot. I did ROTC at a school called Embry-Riddle. Be sure to take a look at it if you want to be a pilot. If your real goal is to become an airline pilot I would not go the Air Force route. The Air Force is great if you have an interest in the military and becoming a pilot but not if you just want to fly 777s. It is not going to be an easy road no matter which way you go. It takes a long time to get to where they will let you fly 777s but it is great to have a dream and you should follow it. If I were you I would start with getting a ppl and see if you really like it. You will need to get a degree somewhere. That is why I would consider Embry-Riddle. Most guys build time by instructing at a local FBO. Like I said, it takes years to work your way up. Best of luck!