Does becoming an airline pilot require raw intelligence, or just hard work?
Posted by Glum_Reply_4886@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 57 comments
I didn't do great in high school, but to be honest, I never really tried or put effort into school. I wasn't the student who would go home and study for hours. I'm pretty sure you guys know that you can't really be successful in your classes if you don't spend time outside of school, and I was never that kid, so I didn't get the best grades. I don't know my full potential. I might not be the naturally smartest person in the room, but I know I'm capable of putting in the hard work and time if I need to.
PencilsAndAirplanes@reddit
It doesn’t hurt to be intelligent. But success will be the result of hard work, motivation, and a lot of mental discipline.
VanDenBroeck@reddit
Do you think you could pass a presidential cognitive test? If so, you’ll be fine. If not, does your insurance cover an assisted living facility?
LearningT0Fly@reddit
I know a lot of airline pilots who are fuckin idiots.
CATIIIDUAL@reddit
I met a guy (am American) who just didn’t believe how packs cools the aircraft. He said there is something else going on and it is impossible for compressed air to be cooled without a fluid involved.
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
Well where else does he think the water goes when you flush the lav
“Hey man can you cool it down it’s hot up here! Give me two flushes”
Ok_Witness179@reddit
Of course I know an airline pilot who are idiots, they're me!
Flagrant_negligence@reddit
Chill you don’t have to come at me so hard that hurts my feelings
Speedymcspeeder@reddit
I feel attacked
OnionDart@reddit
✅ I’m in this post and I don’t like it.
pvdas@reddit
Some of the dumbest people I've ever known have gone on to become CFIs, and then airline pilots, and then captains...
GuppyDriver737@reddit
Idk, as a 121 instructor I think the vast majority are very smart and driven when it comes to aviation. They are passionate and dive in to topics frequently. However, outside of aviation you get a lot of different spectrums of intelligence.
pvdas@reddit
I agree with you 100% - i'm just saying I've personally known multiple people who disprove the idea that it's absolutely a requirement to be smart
Nix_Nivis@reddit
It's kind of a perfect job for both highly intelligent people and ... less so.
The former can delve deep into technicalities, regulations, physics etc. and the latter get a literal list that says "do X, don't do Y and you'll not die".
MrPetter@reddit
Intelligent does not mean smart, and today’s society is far too eager to ignore that.
taycoug@reddit
I don’t understand, which probably means I’m neither
haveanairforceday@reddit
Thats because its a meaningless statement. Webster lists intelligent as a synonym for smart.
What they probably mean is that remembering things does not make you a good critical thinker or problem solver
MiniTab@reddit
Yep. A guy at my airline is an AFA grad, flew F16s, etc. He also believes the earth is flat. His evidence? The “fact” that we aren’t constantly making pitch down corrections as we travel along. Yeah that’s right, he has a toddler’s understanding of physics.
A few months ago I flew with a guy that believes every conspiracy theory imaginable. Vaccines are killing us, fluoridated water is a conspiracy to allow corporations to put toxic waste in the water, etc.
I also work with some of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered, like F35 test pilots, astronauts, etc. I have no clue how some of the idiots make it this far, unless it’s all some kind of elaborate shtick for attention.
Bridgestone14@reddit
An F16 targeting computer adjust for the rotation of the earth. A lot of the conspiracy stuff can be just brain washing though.
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
I remember flying with some ex rotor military dude. The FA asked how long the flight was so I looked at the release and it said something like 0125. So I told the FA “an hour twenty-five”.
The CA made it a point to correct me and say “no that’s in minutes so it’s 2 hours and 5 minutes”. I just looked over at him and said “ok” but after that all I could think about was what an absolute idiot. The flight was from Tennessee to Charlotte. No way is that even close to two hours in a jet lol
02202992@reddit
Hey pvdas knows me
tailwheel307@reddit
Some days I wonder how I managed to get into the seat I’m in. Other days I struggle to understand how some guys passed their first sim ride.
kd_butterballs@reddit
Do I know you?
FlowerGeneral2576@reddit
Half of everything is luck
skunkworks172@reddit
If you could manage good grades in school you’ll be fine. As long as you don’t have a legitimate learning impairment, or you’re a bad test taker (tests will determine your entire career), putting in the work is what makes people successful in this field.
Take it from someone in airline upgrade training now. Was a horrible student in high school, had like a 3.2 weighted GPA, but I effectively locked in during flight training and I really haven’t struggled more than anyone else has.
Just hard work.
javlarm8@reddit
Just adding that ”tests determine your entire career” is sort of untrue in Europe.
I was also to that ”If you get less than 95% average on your ATPL-tests you’re screwed.”
No one has ever glanced at them more than to confirm a fail/pass.
That being said you do get continually tested/graded for the entirety of your career so being a good test-taker certainly helps.
Frosty_Piece7098@reddit
Good grades? Come on man. I was an ACMI 767 captain with a GED, which I got when I was in my 30’s. (Don’t get me started, religious non accredited homeschooling means my diploma/transcripts are worthless). Got a dumbass online bachelors and now I’m at a major. Not one single person has even asked about my grades, ever. I think the Hat is the exception to this.
skunkworks172@reddit
also knowing the right people lol
Bridgestone14@reddit
Yeah, it isn't really about smarts beyond just a baseline of inteligence. I had just finished my Aerospace engineering degree and when I started pilot training. I finished just about last in my class. I am also a somewhat decent athlete, but man, flying did not come easy to me.
Prodagist@reddit
Its Hard work and money. You don't need to be a genius by any means. You'll definitely have to put in the work and study, but if you have a passion for flying that'll come much easier then you'd think. I absolutely hated studying for school related stuff but when it came to flying I never had issues getting myself to study.
NoConsideration6532@reddit
Hard work 100%. Half the pilots I know including myself are idiots lol
That being said, I’ve seen a couple (literally only 2 at my school in 3 years of instructing) who can’t seem to conceptualize the simplest of topics and truly don’t possess the intangibles to be a pilot. One of which still made it to commercial! You will really struggle if you fall into that very small category and you should avoid it if so. May be undiagnosed learning disabilities.
Gold-Weather_69@reddit
Timing. Right now it’s not a pilot market. Waiting for the table to turn.
Specific_Gas4322@reddit
Let’s put it this way. My buddy flies for a legacy. He told me”I’m an idiot, and I can do it”. Hard work is required.
First-Length6323@reddit
There are low iq pilots who work hard, very smart but lazy pilots, and stupid lazy pilots who cant make it into the airlines and fall somewhere short.
There are tons of crash documentaries about kingair pilots that couldnt pass an airline initial for their life
Frosty_Piece7098@reddit
Hard work. Being able to memorize things, and a decent amount of hand eye coordination. Able to make risk assessments and make/execute a contingency plan.
You don’t have to be exceptionally brainy, in fact some of the dumbest mother fuckers I’ve ever met were old captains. But they could fly the shit out of the airplane, and that’s what matters.
AutothrustBlue@reddit
They don’t pay me to think they pay me to follow SOP.
But also: don’t be a dumbass.
It’s kind of a fine line between “smart enough” and “too smart” in this industry.
tailwheel307@reddit
Sometimes I have to think because the SOP is a dumbass. Right bleed MEL secured closed. Left bleed fails in flight. Go through the checklist and at no point does it say turn on the APU or descend. But I can see the cabin coming up and I know what’s going to happen so pause the checklist and get at least some bleed air going through the packs so we can do a leisurely descent.
There’s a lot of those things on the plane I fly right now. They tell us everything possible is checklist driven, but don’t take into account ANY MEL status.
Diver_Driver@reddit
My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.
Dbeaves@reddit
Money, dedication, sacrifice, but mostly money.
Just_Another_Pilot@reddit
In the absence of money, you can substitute additional dedication and sacrifice by joining the military.
dogbreath67@reddit
It definitely doesn’t require intelligence
JT-Av8or@reddit
We don’t need intelligence, but we do need decisiveness, speed, and balls. You have to make decisions with sometimes limited information, and then live with it. You also have to know the rules but that’s more just memory than intelligence.
The bigger thing you need is speed. Planes don’t stop to let you think about it.
jhj0604@reddit
Pilots are retarded and autistic
You just need to put in the effort
ta456243216849651325@reddit
with the exception of landing on the moon, someone dumber and weaker than you has already done it
Ok-Money2811@reddit
You can have average intelligence to become an airline pilot, it’s not rocket science.
Common sense is what separates a safe pilot that will have a largely incident free career from one that is an accident waiting to happen over most things.
Jrnation8988@reddit
It requires patience and money. A lot of money
nwmountaintroll@reddit
1.8 GPA when I graduated high school.
prex10@reddit
I know a guy with a 2.1 college at Fedex now
astral__monk@reddit
Neither.
It requires money, the ability to hold an aviation medical, and a fair bit of good timing.
Hard work is just an honorable mention.
mass_marauder@reddit
For obtaining your ratings and certifications you’ll need to have the ability to study, understand, and memorize large quantities of information that will be totally new to you. You’ll also need good motor skills and the ability to multi-task to actually fly planes. Once you get to the major leagues (aka your career job) it’s one of the easiest jobs in the world as long as you don’t lie, bend metal, or steal from the company.
WoodDragonIT@reddit
I'm just a private pilot, but more than IQ or hard work, you need patience and resolve. Average intelligence is needed, and hard work is too, after all you're learning new skills. But, all the setbacks along the journey, and the wait times due to schedules, weather, maintenance, etc, wear on your soul. But that does make the goal that much sweeter in the end, right up until you realize you have to start over again for the next certification, and the next, and the next... Good luck.
Raccoon_Ratatouille@reddit
The only people who think airline pilots are inherently smart are the pilots themselves and people who have never talked to one about stuff other than flying.
Curious-Owl6098@reddit
It requires some intellect, a lot of hard work, and alot of money. The biggest determining factor and by far the most important aspect is money. The biggest things I’ve seen that cause people to drop out of training is 1) lack of money #1 2) lack of discipline to study and 3) just overall bad decision making and situational awareness. These people generally can’t look at the big picture and be flexible and adaptable, it’s the bucket that “flying isn’t for everyone” that these people fall into
shortfinal@reddit
Neither. it requires being able to understand and incorporate feedback when you're doing things improperly/unsafe.
Many pilots that have been killed in this line of work was, in part, because of their inability to accept feedback.
Excepting mechanical failures of course.
So if you can learn and don't become combative when you mess up, you'll be fine.
It's a skill. like riding a bike.
carl-swagan@reddit
I’ve met some extremely intelligent and hardworking people who were terrible at flying. And I’ve met some absolute dumbasses who are natural born pilots.
In my experience it comes down to aptitude and work ethic. You need to have both to be successful in this industry.
RaidenMonster@reddit
Maybe once I’ve flown with someone who I thought, not very bright.
Plenty of wild opinions, but in terms of raw horsepower/IQ, usually above average.
kyleth3pil0t@reddit
Timing.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I didn't do great in high school, but to be honest, I never really tried or put effort into school. I wasn't the student who would go home and study for hours. I'm pretty sure you guys know that you can't really be successful in your classes if you don't spend time outside of school, and I was never that kid, so I didn't get the best grades. I don't know my full potential. I might not be the naturally smartest person in the room, but I know I'm capable of putting in the hard work and time if I need to.
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