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Information about what i should take in High School in order to become an airline pilot

Hello,
I'm a 10th-grade student here in Morocco but studies in an American school. I would love to know what AP's and courses I should take in my following years of High School in order to become an Airline Pilot. Also at the moment, I'm taking AP world history as well as AP English and would like to know if this is a good start to reach my goal. Also, I'm going to start private license but was wondering if there are other things I could do after school to boost my opportunities and possibilities. Also if I could get any useful information about piloting that would be amazing. Thank you for you're responses and have a great day. #pilot #aviation #college

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Ken’s Answer


Congratulations on being interested in becoming an airline pilot. It takes a special person to enter this field and meet the demands which this career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make airline pilots successful. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow airline pilots to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.  


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Andrei’s Answer

Hello Nourhane,

Mr. Simmons has some very good advice for you in his answer.

To become an airline pilot, you need to fly a lot. Most companies, due to insurance purposes, will have a minimum requirement of 1500 flight hours experience. Some companies will require more experience and various ratings, like turbine or multi engine. All this experience could be very expensive.

In the United States, there are various schools that offer the flight training. Some of these schools are strictly flight schools, and some are accredited schools where you can also work on a college degree. Of course there is always the military option. Only you can decide which option is best suited for you. There are pluses and minuses to each option, there is no one size fits all.

One of my friends chose the flight school option, where he took a sizable bank loan, made a deal with the flight school, and flew every day until he achieved his Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) rating. At that point he started working with the flight school training and building flight hours. He also networked with people around the airport and stated flying with people that needed a copilot or ferrying aircraft between different airports. For this option, there are not any classes that will help you advance any quicker. Here the classes would be more for the future. As you get older and your health or family needs change, you may want to move into management, which would benefit some business and management courses. Pilots interact with passengers and contractors in a customer service role, which could benefit from some psychology courses.

Another friend of mine chose the military way. He attended one of the military academies, and was lucky enough to become a pilot. The military way has its own challenges, because you don't control your own faith there. You have commanding officers that control what you fly, where you fly or if you fly at all. Not to mention that you may end up flying in hostile environments where individuals are trying to destroy your aircraft.

The bottom line is, to be a pilot, you need to fly. All the other courses and education, is an insurance policy for the future. A college degree will give you options, when flying is not the number 1 priority, or when flying is not an option anymore.

Due to security protocols, it will be very difficult to find an internship program or a way to shadow and walk in those shoes. Start visiting your local airports, network and get to know people.

Good luck with your journey.
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