Need a serious help

[noman.rasheed]

Hi!

I am seriously confused with where to go now. Please help me out!

After high school in computer science in 2007 I went for Commercial Pilot License - Airplane course from Pakistan in 2009 and joined my dad's business till now as to put myself busy till the vacancies. But now, I have to do something seriously. I was thinking of to do Multi-Engine rating or Flight Instructor course to gain some hours but the those who have this are already unemployed.
Now, I have some options like Flying Instructor or Multi-Engine course from abroad like China. It's cheap and have future market for pilots. (SOURCE: AVIATION WEEK).
Or, joining a university for an Aviation Management program. Bachelor 3/4 years or Associate 2 years, I am confused with that ...
And third to apply for some computer science degree and then Masters in Aviation Computer Science from US.
Yea, I do have a plan for Masters from Australia or from USA and then Phd in Aviation definitely from USA.

P.S. I can't go for Engineering degree in Aviation because in high school I chose the computer science and not engineering. And there wasn't chemistry in my high school that was replaced by a computer science subject.

Please, sort out the things.

Thank you!

[dewisant]

Commercial before Multi-engine? Is that usual? Flying can be a lot of fun, but if you are going to do it you need to be in a union of some sort. A flexible degree works best and saying you can't do something now because you didn't do something in high school is just wrong headed.

[noman.rasheed]

Commercial before Multi-engine? Is that usual? Flying can be a lot of fun, but if you are going to do it you need to be in a union of some sort. A flexible degree works best and saying you can't do something now because you didn't do something in high school is just wrong headed.

Multi engine is just a rating and not a license so one gets cpl before it or may do ur all flying on multi that would cost a lot much.
I am thinking of to go for a 2 years associate degree in China then will go for a multi engine rating after the conversion. Hope that works.

[dewisant]

I know a bit about aircraft having been in the USAF and I've worked for Boeing since 1987.

[dewisant]

And, I've owned over forty flight simulators!!

[Yanji]

I'm probably one of the few actual pilots here (hold a commercial licence in Canada and the USA) so I'll try to chip in a bit.

This board is very US-centric and makes only occasional forays into the rest of the Anglosphere, mainly Canada and the UK. If you're interested in education in China or India, you're probably best served asking your question on a forum which specializes in those countries. From what I've seen, the main demand for foreign pilots in Asia tends to be for Canada/USA/JAA/Australia licenced pilots. I could be wrong, but that's what I always saw when I looked for any sort of foreign pilot positions in Asia. Americans usually fly in the US sphere of influence (Japan, Korea, etc.) and British/Canadian/Australian pilots tend to fly in the British sphere of influence (Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.) Australia, however, does seem to have a shortage of pilots at the moment due partly to the mining boom, but I doubt an instructor could get a job in Australia and I'm not sure how easy it is to convert a Pakistani CPL into an Australian CPL/ATPL to get a "real" flying job. (It will, at the very least, require some sort of local Australian training) If you can get an 8 on IELTS, one of the state governments in Australia may sponsor an immigrant visa for you, even on a foreign licence.

I'm not really sure I understand what you're trying to say regarding your course of study. Nobody can decide what to study for you; you should make those kinds of important life-changing decisions on your own. Degrees are useful for pilots, especially if you want to work abroad, but it doesn't really matter what you study or where you get it if you just want to be a pilot. In fact, I'd advise studying anything but "professional aviation/aeronautics" so that you can have a way out in case something goes wrong with your flying career. Even sociology or American studies is better than professional aviation. If you want to work in aviation management, business is obviously the way to go but arts/science majors have a shot as well. Assuming you can convert your CPL to another country, I'll try to make my reply mainly about the distance learning options I've found (so far) for licenced pilots getting their training recognized for credit at other universities.

Embry-Riddle (USA, private): This is usually one of the go-to place for licenced pilots and former USAF guys to get a degree. It's very expensive but they recognize all major FAA certificates. Very respected in aviation circles, completely anonymous outside them. I think a plain CPL is worth about 15-18 credits there.

Utah Valley (USA, public): Cheaper alternative to Embry-Riddle to get a "professional aviation"/aviation management type degree. Less respected in the aviation world, and to my knowledge only accepts FAA certificates.

Athabasca (Canada): Grants a whopping 30 credits of block transfer credit towards a general science B.Sc. or 12 credits towards a general B.Comm degree for Canadian licence holders only. (Canadian CPLs require more meteorology/aviation science training than average) FAA licences are easily convertible to Canadian licences, and vice versa, so if you can get an FAA commercial certificate, you can get a Canadian CPL. As a bonus, they're also accredited in the US.

TESC (USA, public): 15 free elective credits for a base CPL plus 8 for MIFR and 4 for CFI towards most degrees, although they have aviation-related degrees available for those with CPL/MIFR where you can get more area of study credit.

I haven't done too much research into aviation degrees in Australia, but I do know that Australian education is very expensive for international students, (and even domestic students who aren't Commonwealth-supported) even more so than the rest of the Commonwealth or the USA. This has become even more pronounced with the sky-high Australian dollar. I think Massey in NZ have something which may be suitable but their external degrees generally require NZ citizenship/residency.

[noman.rasheed]

I'm probably one of the few actual pilots here (hold a commercial licence in Canada and the USA) so I'll try to chip in a bit.

This board is very US-centric and makes only occasional forays into the rest of the Anglosphere, mainly Canada and the UK. If you're interested in education in China or India, you're probably best served asking your question on a forum which specializes in those countries. From what I've seen, the main demand for foreign pilots in Asia tends to be for Canada/USA/JAA/Australia licenced pilots. I could be wrong, but that's what I always saw when I looked for any sort of foreign pilot positions in Asia. Americans usually fly in the US sphere of influence (Japan, Korea, etc.) and British/Canadian/Australian pilots tend to fly in the British sphere of influence (Hong Kong, Malaysia, etc.) Australia, however, does seem to have a shortage of pilots at the moment due partly to the mining boom, but I doubt an instructor could get a job in Australia and I'm not sure how easy it is to convert a Pakistani CPL into an Australian CPL/ATPL to get a "real" flying job. (It will, at the very least, require some sort of local Australian training) If you can get an 8 on IELTS, one of the state governments in Australia may sponsor an immigrant visa for you, even on a foreign licence.

I'm not really sure I understand what you're trying to say regarding your course of study. Nobody can decide what to study for you; you should make those kinds of important life-changing decisions on your own. Degrees are useful for pilots, especially if you want to work abroad, but it doesn't really matter what you study or where you get it if you just want to be a pilot. In fact, I'd advise studying anything but "professional aviation/aeronautics" so that you can have a way out in case something goes wrong with your flying career. Even sociology or American studies is better than professional aviation. If you want to work in aviation management, business is obviously the way to go but arts/science majors have a shot as well. Assuming you can convert your CPL to another country, I'll try to make my reply mainly about the distance learning options I've found (so far) for licenced pilots getting their training recognized for credit at other universities.

Embry-Riddle (USA, private): This is usually one of the go-to place for licenced pilots and former USAF guys to get a degree. It's very expensive but they recognize all major FAA certificates. Very respected in aviation circles, completely anonymous outside them. I think a plain CPL is worth about 15-18 credits there.

Utah Valley (USA, public): Cheaper alternative to Embry-Riddle to get a "professional aviation"/aviation management type degree. Less respected in the aviation world, and to my knowledge only accepts FAA certificates.

Athabasca (Canada): Grants a whopping 30 credits of block transfer credit towards a general science B.Sc. or 12 credits towards a general B.Comm degree for Canadian licence holders only. (Canadian CPLs require more meteorology/aviation science training than average) FAA licences are easily convertible to Canadian licences, and vice versa, so if you can get an FAA commercial certificate, you can get a Canadian CPL. As a bonus, they're also accredited in the US.

TESC (USA, public): 15 free elective credits for a base CPL plus 8 for MIFR and 4 for CFI towards most degrees, although they have aviation-related degrees available for those with CPL/MIFR where you can get more area of study credit.

I haven't done too much research into aviation degrees in Australia, but I do know that Australian education is very expensive for international students, (and even domestic students who aren't Commonwealth-supported) even more so than the rest of the Commonwealth or the USA. This has become even more pronounced with the sky-high Australian dollar. I think Massey in NZ have something which may be suitable but their external degrees generally require NZ citizenship/residency.

That was a complete answer. Thank you, I got a lot and have made my mind. But still one thing I want to ask you.
How would the state government sponsor me an immigrant visa if I score 8 in IELTS?

[Yanji]

That was a complete answer. Thank you, I got a lot and have made my mind. But still one thing I want to ask you.
How would the state government sponsor me an immigrant visa if I score 8 in IELTS?

Each state government in Australia has an immigration website (just google for them) with a list of shortage occupations. This list changes all the time but if you can find one which sponsors aeroplane pilots, you can calculate the number of points you can get and see if you are eligible for state sponsored immigration. If you go that route, you'll at least know that the job prospects for pilots in that state is decent and you'll also be eligible for Commonwealth-supported places at Australian universities, although they are not guaranteed. I mention IELTS because I doubt it's possible to get the required number of points to immigrate without a job offer for a job on the shortage list without at least a Bachelor degree or maximum language points, which requires 8 on IELTS. When I checked Australian immigration a few years ago, I think the pilot demand was mainly in Queensland and Western Australia but I have no idea which states are sponsoring pilots right now or whether they're sponsoring them at all.