A few quick things to understand as you’re looking into things:

1) A “commercial” license does not allow you fly for commercial airlines (i.e. delta). It merely allows you to be paid to fly (I.e. anything from a courier to private jets to tourist flights). Many folks see the 250 hour minimums for a “commercial” license and falsely think that’s all it takes to work for the airlines. If he’s wanting to fly something of that nature, any flight school or private training will do.

2) To fly commercial passenger airlines (jumbo jets filled with people), you need an ATP certificate, which generally requires a minimum of 1,500 hours.

3) There are two sets of rules under which flight schools and training operate, and you have to choose one and (for the most part) stick with it. FAA part 141 schools are going to be more structured schedule, with a strict curriculum set by the FAA. Part 61 schools are typically smaller that are more flexible in schedule and curriculum. You can even do entirely private or part-time instruction without a formal “school” under 61. You can think of a 141 school like enrolling in a formal college degree program, vs learning the same material on a your own with a private tutor or a part-time class somewhere.

4) There are a few universities that offer bachelors degrees in aviation science (or similar) along with pilot training. These are all going be part 141 schools. North Dakota State, UVU, and Emery Riddle are going to be the biggest and most prolific schools, but others like USU, SUU are solid options as well.

5) There is a 500-hour exemption for pilots who have gone through an accredited Aviation bachelors degree. So, the aforementioned ATP cert can be obtained with only 1,000 hours. As such, if he’s dead set on passenger airlines, fastest and most direct route (by a good margin) is going to be an accredited aviation degree program. There are many other benefits of this, such as placement programs to airlines and access to much better planes, simulators, etc.

6) If he’s wanting to do something specialized like firefighting, that’s where the military can make sense. Those jobs aren’t plentiful, and they go to the most skilled pilots with the most hours. It seems like former military pilots have a leg up there and tend to get a large portion of those jobs. There are other benefits and requirements exemptions for former military as well, so it’s a whole other topic.

7) Generally speaking the only reliable place to make good money flying is in the airlines. Understand that the airlines operate 100% on tenure. It doesn’t matter if he’s the best hotshot pilot on earth, he's not going to get a job with Delta out of the gate. He’s going to be paying his dues flying crappy routes and schedules at a regional airline for several years first. No way around it. Make sure he can accept that, and can accept the lifestyle implications of an airline pilot. He will miss birthdays and anniversaries. It is possible to get a cushy commuter job where you can be home every night, but it will take some time to work into a job like that and generally that’s going to sacrifice some salary potential. I mention this only because if he goes the degree route and then later decides he doesn’t like that career, he’ll have a useless degree in terms of other careers. It’s somewhat like a Dr, in that there’s a fairly big investment, and some part of the process is a grind, so best to make sure he’s committed.

If not, he could do both by pursuing a practical degree somewhere like BYU as a fallback and then still enroll in a part 61 school and learn to fly on the side part time. Or, a lot of people just buy a cheaper plane and hire a private instructor (CFI). That’s a cheaper way to get to a commercial license. Of course, then you have the extra 500 hours to build for ATP, but that he can accomplish that by being an instructor himself for just means another 9 months or so.

First things first, have him do a discovery or introductory flight. They’re usually cheap <$150 to go meet with an instructor and take a quick 30-min flight and see if he likes it.

If you have more questions on the topic, feel free to BM me. Good luck.

Despite the fear of automation, there is predicted to be a shortage of ATP pilots for the next several years, so it’s a fun field and I’d encourage him to go for it!