First, a disclaimer: the aviation industry is very large and surprisingly diverse. Different practices exist in different parts of it (engines, airframers, rotar winged aircraft, etc), so it's hard to give general advice. Everything below is based on my personal experience with only the engine subset of the industry.
At the moment it seems like a pretty good time to get into the industry. Hiring is very cyclical, but the companies I follow are generally hiring now. If you know somebody at the company, or even a contractor with the company, that would help of course. With the larger companies, contractors often do a lot of the actual technical work while the primary company manages various projects and contractors, with some of the more ambitious research-y projects conducted in-house (often by M.S. or PhD holders).
Aerospace companies did not begin as software companies, so even though many of their competitive advantages today depend on the quality of their software, a lot of people at these companies--especially older ones who pursued a management path--will not be able to assess your specific technical capabilities (nor will they try). If you have any code on Github, you can mention it as a plus, but some of the people you talk to won't know what a Github is. Some people will understand how desperately their company needs competent software developers, while others will be more interested in how you solve problems in a general sense, communicate & interact with groups, and function in an environment with complex processes and high standards.
You will generally be expected to have a B.S. degree in some form of engineering, though physics and mathematics majors are also hired in smaller numbers, depending on the company. A graduate degree doesn't hurt either. At my company and the companies I work with, there is currently a bias towards more traditional engineering degrees: mechanical, electrical, obviously aerospace; but CS majors are hired as well. The latter are needed most urgently in my opinion, as the former group often ends up writing software that doesn't really require their skills or background, but which could be better written by someone with a CS background who had a strong interest in the application area.
First, a disclaimer: the aviation industry is very large and surprisingly diverse. Different practices exist in different parts of it (engines, airframers, rotar winged aircraft, etc), so it's hard to give general advice. Everything below is based on my personal experience with only the engine subset of the industry.
At the moment it seems like a pretty good time to get into the industry. Hiring is very cyclical, but the companies I follow are generally hiring now. If you know somebody at the company, or even a contractor with the company, that would help of course. With the larger companies, contractors often do a lot of the actual technical work while the primary company manages various projects and contractors, with some of the more ambitious research-y projects conducted in-house (often by M.S. or PhD holders).
Aerospace companies did not begin as software companies, so even though many of their competitive advantages today depend on the quality of their software, a lot of people at these companies--especially older ones who pursued a management path--will not be able to assess your specific technical capabilities (nor will they try). If you have any code on Github, you can mention it as a plus, but some of the people you talk to won't know what a Github is. Some people will understand how desperately their company needs competent software developers, while others will be more interested in how you solve problems in a general sense, communicate & interact with groups, and function in an environment with complex processes and high standards.
You will generally be expected to have a B.S. degree in some form of engineering, though physics and mathematics majors are also hired in smaller numbers, depending on the company. A graduate degree doesn't hurt either. At my company and the companies I work with, there is currently a bias towards more traditional engineering degrees: mechanical, electrical, obviously aerospace; but CS majors are hired as well. The latter are needed most urgently in my opinion, as the former group often ends up writing software that doesn't really require their skills or background, but which could be better written by someone with a CS background who had a strong interest in the application area.