I would post this in the General Discussion, but it seems to have dissapeared. :-hmmm Well I'm in High School and I have great interest in becoming an Airline Pilot. I would like to know, what steps to take in high school to have a better chance of getting hired (colleges, military, etc.). Anyone can reply, but I live in the USA, so I'm specifically interested in US carriers. Thanks!

Education, education, education!! No seriously, probably the most important thing is EDUCATION. Sure you can go straight into a flying school, get your PPL, get some hours, get your IFR ticket, get some more hours, get your commercial ticket, get some more hours, get your CFI, CFII, get more hours, then start looking at a regional carrier. But, that's a lot, lot, lot of money. But to be competitive for any sort of airline job (majors) you need an education. I'm not an airline pilot, though I do strive to be one someday. But, I am a military pilot. I fly C-130's in the Air Force. The military is a great way to go, but it's a lot of hard, hard work. Tell you what though, my PPL, type ratings, Commercial and instrument tickets cost me a whopping $100. 'Course that's not counting the year of intense studying, heartache, fear, tears, laughter, and more tears it also took to get my wings. The military won't even look at you without a college degree, even then it's still competitive to get in. With the job market as it is, it's going to be competitive everywhere. Not to dissuade you, if you want it badly enough, being an airline pilot is definetly attainable.I've noticed there are a couple of airline pilots that frequent this forum, they could probably help you much better than I, kinda tell you how they did it.If you want to know how to become a pilot in the military, I can help you there and let you know what you need to do.LobaeuxPlus, there are websites out there with forums dedicated to airline pilots, wannabe airline pilots and military pilots. I'll see if I can find some and let you know where there at.

Hey Kevin,just as Joe said, education education.....and again education!! I know this is not a very popular answer but it surely will help you a great deal when considering flying commercially.I'm currently making a career change with Comair Aviation Academy and the things I heard the most (besides "please give us your money first" ;-) ) was what is your educational background!! Fortunately I already have an MBA and that is what many students here have (or any other degree), so competition is stiff!If you have the patience and time, finish high school and college (minimum bachelors degree). If you can, start flying while you're in school, that'll save you a bunch of time.oops, forgot to add some links. Some of these forums may be useful:http://forums.flightinfo.com/http://www.pprune.org/Hope this helps,Petehttp://home.neo.rr.com/zaehringer/pipersignature.jpgPIII600,512MB,Win98SE,DirectX8.1,Geforce32DDR(Det.22.80),SBlive(4.06.703)