Becoming an airline pilot

Caporegime
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Hi all

I'm an accountant and doing ok financially, but I basically hate the job and want to do something else with my life.

I really like the idea of becoming an airline pilot, mainly because of the travel and technical aspects of flying an aircraft with the solid salary when you get to captain.

I'm in good health etc., however I can't afford to pay a company £100k to train me. Are there any routes into this career for people changing tack in life, or is it a case of get a huge loan and hope for the best?
 
Associate
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Aer Lingus were recently recruiting and advertising for new pilots. I am currently training (ATC) out in Spain at FTE Jerez where they have mostly ab initio student pilots. They are all from different backgrounds and here undertaking their training under various arrangements. Some are sponsored by an airline such as Flybe, Vueling, Aer Lingus etc. whereas others are here through bank of mum & dad however there are as many as the others that are self funding through the loans that are available for the necessary training to become an airline pilot.

There is supposedly already a worldwide shortage of airline pilots (& ATCO's for that matter) that it may well be a very good option to explore further especially if i is something you want to do.

Good luck!
 
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Hi all

I'm an accountant and doing ok financially, but I basically hate the job and want to do something else with my life.

I really like the idea of becoming an airline pilot, mainly because of the travel and technical aspects of flying an aircraft with the solid salary when you get to captain.

I'm in good health etc., however I can't afford to pay a company £100k to train me. Are there any routes into this career for people changing tack in life, or is it a case of get a huge loan and hope for the best?

Fly me too the moon and playyyy amongst the stars! Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars!

 
Soldato
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My friend's parents remortgaged their home.

Don't some people start off in the RAF and then convert over to the commercial side?

What makes you think being a pilot is any better than being an accountant?
 
Soldato
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He's got a point. Far more stressful, long periods of time away from home/family, zero potential to work for yourself/work from home, long commutes for a lot depending on where your base is - vs - very little stress (nobody will die), potentially no time away from home/family, lots of potential to work for yourself, and potentially low/zero commute. Salary difference is what you make it (ie you could earn the same as an accountant, if you wanted).

I've a friend who's gone through the training, saved up and had the rest paid for by parents, now flies with easyJet. It's got the 'cool' job title image but literally nothing else appeals to me personally. Each to their own but @TNGL 's post was hardly a ****take.
 
Soldato
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He's got a point. Far more stressful, long periods of time away from home/family, zero potential to work for yourself/work from home, long commutes for a lot depending on where your base is - vs - very little stress (nobody will die), potentially no time away from home/family, lots of potential to work for yourself, and potentially low/zero commute. Salary difference is what you make it (ie you could earn the same as an accountant, if you wanted).

I've a friend who's gone through the training, saved up and had the rest paid for by parents, now flies with easyJet. It's got the 'cool' job title image but literally nothing else appeals to me personally. Each to their own but @TNGL 's post was hardly a ****take.

This is exactly what I was referring to. To take it one step further, my friend has relocated to Turkey in order to be a pilot there because he wasn't able to get onto any other schemes. He is not Turkish and does not speak Turkish either. So not only do you have to invest plenty of money in your training, you still aren't guaranteed a job at the end of it and even if you do get one, it could be far from ideal.

He does not get as much notice as one might think a pilot gets in terms of the flying schedule, which makes it very difficult for him to plan when to visit home from Turkey. I would say he's pretty lonely.

To top it off, he very nearly didn't even get hired by the airline he works for due to a thyroid problem, which I am sure might have been an issue with other airlines too. Thus potentially resulting in £100k+ of sunk costs.

But sure, he gets to take some cool selfies, receives heavily discounted flights and occasionally gets to explore the places he flies to.

I know what I'd rather be doing.
 
Caporegime
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What makes you think being a pilot is any better than being an accountant?



:D

j/k

Anyway - back to being serious:

I'm in good health etc., however I can't afford to pay a company £100k to train me. Are there any routes into this career for people changing tack in life, or is it a case of get a huge loan and hope for the best?

Dunno if it is advised but could you do it in stages - an Aussie mate of mine worked as a commercial pilot for a little bit AFAIK he's never flown any jets, he got like his PPL or something then some commercial license then (IIRC) something else to fly a plane with more than one engine or something... flew in the bush for a bit before he moved to the UK and ended up working in finance. AFAIK he might have been able to carry on up skilling in stages etc.... if he had wanted to eventually become a jet pilot.

Dunno if there are as many opportunities in the UK for say working commercially on smaller, easier to qualify on planes - or what the salary might be... perhaps it might be better to carry on being employed as an accountant if qualifying in stages if your salary is significantly higher.

For example those small prop planes that say fly to the Channel Islands or Isle of Mann or some England to Scotland routes etc...

I mean if you're young/single then perhaps moving overseas to somewhere like Asia, Australia (if under 30) might be a way to work commercially and on smaller, easier/quicker to qualify on planes etc... before taking the next step. Might also give you a better indication of whether you like the career?

I mean if you end up hating ferrying people back and forth to say the Isle of Mann in a prop plane then at least you might not have splashed out as much as you might have had to to become a jet pilot (presumably?).

I dunno, I mean that's the sort of thing I'd be looking at - especially if you're going from no flying experience at all - the point made by @TNGL is a valid one, how do you know you'd enjoy it?

I mean most people I knew who wanted to be pilots dreamed of doing it from a young age, people at my school who wanted to join the RAF made sure to get flying time in first in gliders, then in the air experience flights with RAF cadets, most of them applied for RAF flying scholarships and some of them got a PPL before they even got their driving license. I'd say that most people who even considered it would have had some flying lessons at some point - even I did, I only very briefly considered it but for one year of my life as a teenager I switched from army cadets to RAF cadets and got in some flying time in a "Bulldog" aircraft - never went as far as getting a PPL, but I learned the basics.

Have you been for any flying lessons or gliding lessons etc..? Do you use Microsoft flight simulator etc..? Keep in mind that there are people out there who have been flying since they were say 12 or 13 and could have been glider instructors in their cadet force unit teaching other teenagers at age 16 and/or being able to fly solo in a regular light aircraft at that point. Not that it is an essential requirement but the super enthusiastic types probably have a head start, know the theory and when faced with some commercial course with practical assessments and written exams, well they've probably got a bit of a big edge in terms of passing everything first time and getting high scores - if you're going in on a whim, thinking the grass is greener then it might be worth keeping in mind that some of your fellow students might be people that have been dreaming about this job for years and have invested plenty of time towards that goal already.
 
Caporegime
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Thanks all. Certainly some food for thought.

I have a young family, so my only workable outcome would be to get something training out of Birmingham airport. I have zero practical flying experience.

Sounds like I need to get real.
 
Associate
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This idea sounds far-fetched, how old are you?.

Most pilots are ex-military, who have had years of training funded by the military. I bet they have over a thousand hours of flying time under their belt before they are given a commercial airliner to fly...Also I imagine you would need more than 100k to train to be a pilot.

If you like the idea of flying its far easier to just buy a flight simulator.
 
Soldato
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The problem comes at the end of all this training, in that the salary is absolute ***** to start with and will remain ***** for many many years. We are talking sub 30k for some airlines.

It is such a joke, the industry has such a shortage but the only people who tend to be able afford it are people who remortgage their homes or who have the money already.
Its rough out there.
 
Soldato
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The problem comes at the end of all this training, in that the salary is absolute ***** to start with and will remain ***** for many many years. We are talking sub 30k for some airlines.

It is such a joke, the industry has such a shortage but the only people who tend to be able afford it are people who remortgage their homes or who have the money already.
Its rough out there.

Was told the same by a guy whose both sons are pilots. One for EastJey other for BA. They both wanted to be pilots from when they were kids and had been playing flight sims since they had been 14.

Its good on paper and the experience is great but the barrier for entry is so stupid high you have to have your heart 100% set on it from a teen. That's why they have a shortage, many want to be pilots but the cost, training and the crap start on pay kills it.
 
Associate
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Thanks all. Certainly some food for thought.

I have a young family, so my only workable outcome would be to get something training out of Birmingham airport. I have zero practical flying experience.

Sounds like I need to get real.

I wouldn't be so quick to listen to the naysayers, there are trainee pilots out here of all ages, experience, educational standards and backgrounds all training under a varity of arrangements. They offer ab initio training, requiring no previous experience or knowledge. If it is something you are interested in there are certainly avenues available however as with most aspirational things it often comes down to how bad you want it and what you are willing to compromise, time away from home, initial costs, time etc.
 
Caporegime
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The problem comes at the end of all this training, in that the salary is absolute ***** to start with and will remain ***** for many many years. We are talking sub 30k for some airlines.

It is such a joke, the industry has such a shortage but the only people who tend to be able afford it are people who remortgage their homes or who have the money already.
Its rough out there.


I think the problem will be once the trainign is done and you've done some years at BS salary planes will be fiully autonomous.

IN fact planes mostly fly themselves as it is. The funny thing is the pilots tend to only fly when its easy. If you have a very foggy airport then landings are done automatically in many planes. Pilots are also showing themselves to be problematic with modern planes, e..g boeing MAX. Hard to have autonomous safety systems that then get overidden by pilots when then don;t actually have the abilty to handle the unstable aerodynamics.




If you like to fly then just take flying lessons and join a club where you can rent a small plane for a few hours. I know loads of people who regularly fly. that way instead of flying some boring easjey flight form luton to geneva endlessly you go fly where you want, can start learning to do aerobatics as well. I'm not sure on UK prices but in the US you can buy a plane for much less than commercial airline training.
 
Associate
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I went down the self sponsered route to become an airline pilot 20 odd years ago and now work for one of the european locos.

Just a few points..

Some are sponsored by an airline such as Flybe, Vueling, Aer Lingus etc.
Good luck!

As I understand it their entry to the training is sponsered by those airlines but the cash to pay for that training has to be stumped up by the student - somewhere in the region of £100k. The simple fact of the matter is, in todays world, if you wish to become a pilot you will have to pay for the training at least upto the issue of an fAPTL (the basic license you need to fly for an airline). Unless you join the military or are eligible for the very few schemes of fully sponsered training availible to nationals of certain countries, Quatar, for instance.

There is supposedly already a worldwide shortage of airline pilots (& ATCO's for that matter) that it may well be a very good option to explore further especially if i is something you want to do.
Good luck!

That's what I was hearing 20 years ago, as well. There never has been and (in my opinion) never will be a shortage of inexperienced FO's with no time on type.

I have a young family, so my only workable outcome would be to get something training out of Birmingham airport. I have zero practical flying experience.

Sounds like I need to get real.

In order to build a sucessfull career as a pilot starting out, you would almost certainly have to move, probably overseas. It's not impossible to get something out of Birmingham, but you are greatly reduceing your chances of getting that first job (and experience) by limiting yourself to a particular airport.

My friend's parents remortgaged their home.

For God's sake, don't do this.

I think the problem will be once the trainign is done and you've done some years at BS salary planes will be fiully autonomous.

This is decades away, if at all - its one thing to have a fully autononmous plane but the massive upgrade to air transport control and communications infrastructure (as well as the regulatory approvals) would render the whole exercise eye watering expensive, with no demonstrable improvement in safety (in fact most likely a decline). Its not something that worries me for the remainder of my career.

IN fact planes mostly fly themselves as it is. The funny thing is the pilots tend to only fly when its easy. If you have a very foggy airport then landings are done automatically in many planes. Pilots are also showing themselves to be problematic with modern planes, e..g boeing MAX. Hard to have autonomous safety systems that then get overidden by pilots when then don;t actually have the abilty to handle the unstable aerodynamics.

I'm afraid you haven't really understood the issues with the B737 MAX, and it is true that some aircraft can make automatic approaches and landings (sort of), I can guarantee that you want a pilot onboard when making a lo viz approach. What no aircraft can do and will be decades away from being able to do, is take the decision to discontinue to approach and try again, at the same field or elsewhere, when things don't go according to plan.


In all honesty, I'm not sure being an airline pilot is better than being an accountant, maybe finanically after you've paid off the loans - I don't know what an accountant earns. It's relatively fun for the first few years but starts to grind you down after a while.

Maybe flying as a hobby would be more appropriate, have you considered learning to fly a glider - its a relatively cheap way of learning all the fun bits about flying without the hassle of all the (many) boring bits. Check out Youtube for videos of people gliding in the U.K. and see if you think its for you.
 
Caporegime
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Hi again! We'll it's lucky I didn't quit my job to become an airline pilot!

Anyway my journey to the skies begins on Saturday 3rd October, when I'll be going up in a small single prop from a local airfield for an hour, thanks to an experience voucher that someone got me for my birthday.

If I love it, I'll aim to move through the qualifications, and stop whenever I feel like it's enough, whilst carrying on as an accountant.

Enough might be PPL, light commercial, or who knows...heavy jets when the industry recovers and is recruiting again.

In the meantime, it would be pretty cool to be able to fly my family to France for the weekend in a rented prop.

As long as I don't stack it into the channel, of course.
 
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