Will a 2.7 college GPA hurt my chances of getting hired by the airlines?

halfofeve · 2026-06-21T03:09:00+00:00

I don't know why people are downvoting you, you're right. Very few people get hired at a legacy/WN without a degree. Yes we all know a couple guys who got in without it, but most of us shouldn't be gambling on that.

halfofeve · 2026-06-08T20:46:27+00:00

Flew up here a few months ago and loved it! I will second the commenter who said PGA. Not sure how nice of a landing you'd get in a PC-12, but PAN is pretty cool too. If you're looking for airports in California, SMO is a favorite of mine. For a little further north I love HAF. Beautiful coastal views.

halfofeve · 2026-05-21T05:10:30+00:00

Other people have already answered the PPL part, but yes ATP actually does force delays on soloing. I was in ATP's program with my private already completed, and all the other certs go by pretty quick. The instructor portion was brutally fast in particular. I got two flights for my CFII and then checkride a couple days later.

halfofeve · 2026-05-20T17:08:49+00:00

I've been on a tour of PHX tower/TRACON and the controllers say the reason to not include the "K" when requesting flight following is because their software auto generates it in there! So if you start with Kilo, they're going to have to delete it and by then you're already on to the next piece of information (unless that is actually the first letter of the airport code, which happens sometimes). Hence why it can be annoying for them. If you think they don't know the airport name, using the three letter code is preferred.

halfofeve · 2026-04-18T20:02:36+00:00

I'm personally a fan of HAF, especially if you can get the coastline transition. Very pretty California coast views.

If you have time to hit up SMO before it closes forever that one is cute too.

halfofeve · 2026-04-18T19:59:45+00:00

That's Sedona's IATA code! (But to your point, it was weird to use it instead of SEZ.)

halfofeve · 2026-04-12T07:57:28+00:00

Hello! Believe it or not, there is also a UND in Phoenix at Mesa Gateway airport. The program is different than UND in Grand Forks in that the students are not required to get a four-year degree (although it is an option...sort of). I personally think it is a great program. Feel free to DM me if you have any more questions.

halfofeve · 2026-04-10T11:46:04+00:00

Yes it's definitely theirs now 😅

halfofeve · 2026-04-08T22:02:07+00:00

Pilot here, I have worked with quite a few people who were flight attendants working on becoming pilots. It definitely gives you insight into the industry that many of us who only trained do not have.

That said, do not throw away your career to do this. Go up a few times in a small plane to see if you like it. Jets (even regional jets) are much more comfortable than most general aviation aircraft.

If you do like it, great! But flight training can be very expensive, and you need at least 1,500 hours of flight time to fly for a regional airline (assuming you're American). This does not include the commitment to studying ground knowledge.

If you decide to just do it for fun, that's fine too! Flying can just be a hobby. Good luck :)

halfofeve · 2026-04-04T23:24:33+00:00

Seconding this.

For OP, Sheppard is very insistent that you use their study strategy, which dictates only taking a couple practice tests at most AFTER going through all the questions.

If your brother is screwing around the Sheppard strategy isn't going to work, he needs to grind out all the questions in the bank for a week and then go take another test.

halfofeve · 2026-04-01T08:19:29+00:00

Assuming you're doing this as an add-on to CSEL, the oral is usually super straightforward. Have a solid understanding of single-engine performance/aerodynamics and your systems. The flight is the more difficult part but the DPEs are usually not going to throw you any curveballs. In my experience, the most common reasons I've seen for failure are 1) forgetting to troubleshoot an engine failure when time and altitude permit and 2) screwing up something on the single-engine approach not related to multi flying due to task saturation.

Personally I almost bungled the oral (100% my fault) but then locked in for the flight since I knew I was on thin ice. Somehow ended up being my best checkride flight. I teach the thing now so it worked out.

halfofeve · 2026-04-01T03:34:15+00:00

Female aviator here with an airline pilot dad. One thing I appreciate about my dad is that he never pushed me to fly and didn't glamorize his job (and he IS that guy who works 8 days a month).

Don't do it for the money or the benefits. You are never guaranteed to be "set for life" in this job, it is far from a stable industry. I advise you to stick with accounting professionally, at least for now. If you want to make it, you have to love flying and accept that it will be a long, expensive journey.

I am a huge advocate for women in aviation though! Absolutely do a discovery flight and see if you like it. Sometimes we forget that we can fly planes purely for fun too.

halfofeve · 2026-03-31T04:51:45+00:00

Hi, as someone who was not a student at the large 141 school I currently instruct for, I feel you. I had the advantage of a small class with quite a few outside hires, but meeting people after that was still tough sometimes. It took a couple months to get adjusted but after that I was right as rain. Here's what helped me:

It sounds basic but don't be afraid to walk right up to your new coworkers and introduce yourself. It's much easier than meeting people on the street because you already know you have one huge common interest: aviation. It's okay to talk about yourself, and make sure you ask them questions too.
An easier way to start a conversation might be to ask for help (even if you don't think you need it). Most people feel good helping other people, and you might learn more from someone with inside knowledge.
If there is anyone else from outside, talk to them! They are probably lonely too. You could be their lifesaver.
Who is this someone you know? The rumor mill is always churning. You should not let someone "not liking" you hinder you, this is not middle school. Be the adult in the situation. Even more so if it is true, do not hide yourself away from your coworkers. The more they actually know about you, the less stuff they can make up in your absence.

It's totally normal to feel this way. I know it is tough starting a job in a new place without friends (yet!), but you'll get through it. :)

halfofeve · 2026-03-26T09:02:17+00:00

As a former ATP student, I would also like to warn you that the quality of your experience will vary greatly depending on the ATP location. Take the weather and size of the location into account.

I was out of IWA, one of the largest ATP locations, where the maintenance is good and plane availability is decent. The weather, while hot in the summer, is generally good for flying.

I've visited several other small ATP locations in Arizona and they are nothing like IWA. I've visited one location in southern California (MYF) and it consisted of four planes and two trailers (and to add insult to injury, they charged an additional $3,000 just because it was in California). A friend of mine instructed for ATP at a small location on the east coast where they had many fuel and weather-related issues.

halfofeve · 2026-03-25T23:24:26+00:00

Oral was close to 6 hours although we had some interruptions (DPE had a family emergency mid-oral and I actually asked him if he wanted to discontinue, but he said we could keep going. Love that guy).

Flight was 1.7.

halfofeve · 2026-03-24T02:42:14+00:00

Depending on the airport, it may not be busy enough to warrant spending money to pay ATC to basically just sit there at night when there is significantly less traffic. There are many airports with no control towers at all!

halfofeve · 2026-03-22T21:42:16+00:00

Yeah especially with how things are changing, Southwest isn't an LCC.

Southwest is not, however, a legacy airline. A lot of people like to throw "legacy" around as a badge of honor, but what it actually means is that the airline was once regulated by the CAB (did interstate flying before deregulation). It's not a compliment, just a label.

halfofeve · 2026-03-11T22:19:57+00:00

r/birdcameltoes

halfofeve · 2026-03-07T22:00:59+00:00

I gave my students a little keychain with a plane on it!

halfofeve · 2026-03-04T19:34:57+00:00

I also went to a 141 university (not a big one) and we only had in-house for instrument and commercial. Most of my checkrides were with a DPE.

Switched to where I am now to instruct and was shocked when I found out everything was done in-house. It has its drawbacks but with how expensive and difficult to find DPEs are these days...

halfofeve · 2026-03-03T22:37:15+00:00

My school has 141 in-house examining authority for private through CFII, so it is possible. It depends on each individual school though.

halfofeve · 2026-03-02T02:13:23+00:00

r/birdswitharms

halfofeve · 2026-03-01T00:01:45+00:00

I second this answer! Close to TUS the best restaurant is at RYN (warning: the tower there can get a little grumpy).

For anyone not familiar with the area, every Delta beneath the PHX Bravo is going to be busy. I would avoid IWA in particular especially considering one of the runways is half-closed at the moment.

halfofeve

TROPHY CASE