High School Diploma or General Education Development (GED) Diploma. Valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with airplane category and multiengine class ratings (Unrestricted) 1500 hours TT, with minimum of 500 hours in fixed wing airplanes.
Bachelor of AviationThe most common type of higher education to pursue when you want to be a pilot is a bachelor's degree in aviation. Some higher education institutions offer this degree as part of a Bachelor of Science (BS) program, and others offer aviation education as part of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) program.
For aspiring flight attendants, Delta Air Lines, ranked by its employees as one of the best places to work, is also one of the most difficult places to get a job. It's harder to get invited to Delta flight attendant training than it is to get into Harvard University.
For those interested in engineering and airport management roles, a bachelor's degree or a diploma in aviation, mechanical, or electrical engineering is a good starting point.
While the typical career progression is to first fly for a regional airline, then advance to a major airline, direct programs allow you to go straight to select major airlines at 1,500 hours.
In the USA, the yearly average airline pilot salary (First Officer) in a major airline is $39,000-$119,000, while Captains in the same type of airline can make $70,000-$257,000. Alaskan Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and others are topping the list of the best-paying carriers in the country.