Any commercial airline pilots on the forum?

[Dynamic Turtle]

Just interested in learing more about this career path, i.e. going from zero hours to first officer. I've seen some horrific training costs from the likes of CTC (£90k!) for intensive courses (bit like a harvard mba i guess) followed by 7 year lock-ins with an airline, and far more reasonably priced modular courses stateside from £35k which have lower chances of leading to a job.

 

Anyone experienced or recently qualified pilots care to provide some opinion?

 

cheers,

DT

[WhackyWill]

Done my PPL..!! That was expensive enough, I was going to do choppers but again it was the cost.

 

A friend of mine is s commercial pilot with Easy Jet I'm sure he did most of his training with them as well.

 

I can ask him, if it helps .

[370Ad]

Had a friend spend 60k learning to become a pilot, he has 250+ hours and hasn't had any luck so far.

 

He became an air traffic controller for the time being.

Edited January 21, 2014 by 350Ad

[docwra]

I recruit for them, I wouldnt personally recommend it as a career unless youve got some contacts or are prepared to relocate somewhere weird

[Arkwright]

I have a friend whose son is a pilot. Although I can no longer remember the figures I know it cost him many many £K's to qualify and with no guaranteed prospects of a job. He was then several years unemployed by that industry despite loads of job applications plus he had to keep up his flying hours, retests and medicals, all of which he has had to pay for. He is now employed as a pilot but not by a major airline.

 

I think it would be a big financial risk for you with no guarantee of work despite any qualifications you may gain.

[Dynamic Turtle]

Had a friend spend 60k learning to become a pilot, he has 250+ hours and hasn't had any luck so far.

 

He became an air traffic controller for the time being.

 

ouch, thats a lot of money and cockpit time. Still, I assume that ATC pays very well and keeps him in the loop, so to speak? must still be frustrating for him...

[Dynamic Turtle]

Done my PPL..!! That was expensive enough, I was going to do choppers but again it was the cost.

 

A friend of mine is s commercial pilot with Easy Jet I'm sure he did most of his training with them as well.

 

I can ask him, if it helps .

 

I'm not really interested in just the PPL and am looking into the career aspects beyond that. Even the easyjet routes require massive training costs and no guarantee of a job (from what I've read). And the starting salaries don't seem to correlate with those costs. If you spent £90k on top MBA you'd likely walk into a £90k+ job. First officers seem to make <30k in their first year. Even a "cheapo" modular course at £60k still seems like a lot...

[Dynamic Turtle]

I recruit for them, I wouldnt personally recommend it as a career unless youve got some contacts or are prepared to relocate somewhere weird

 

no contacts whatsoever, but i can relocate (committed bachelor). care to expand on your comment?

[Dynamic Turtle]

I have a friend whose son is a pilot. Although I can no longer remember the figures I know it cost him many many £K's to qualify and with no guaranteed prospects of a job. He was then several years unemployed by that industry despite loads of job applications plus he had to keep up his flying hours, retests and medicals, all of which he has had to pay for. He is now employed as a pilot but not by a major airline.

 

I think it would be a big financial risk for you with no guarantee of work despite any qualifications you may gain.

 

This is my chief concern. Having spent two of the last three years unemployed or on very low pay contracts I'd hate to go through it again. I am surprised it's so hard to find work given the upfront costs, which must be a significant barrier to entry? strange...

Edited January 21, 2014 by Dynamic Turtle

[docwra]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

[Dynamic Turtle]

And those figures i've quoted obviouly don't include living expenses, like running a zed and less important things like food and shelter

[350 Russ]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

[Commander]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

 

Do you know many people that enjoy sitting bored stiff in a cabin looking at a bright sky with nothing to do for 10 hours at a time, getting irradiated by increased cosmic ray exposure, spending a night away from everybody they know and love, just to repeat it all again the next day? Airline pilot career is an overrated taxi driver IMHO.

[370Ad]

Had a friend spend 60k learning to become a pilot, he has 250+ hours and hasn't had any luck so far.

 

He became an air traffic controller for the time being.

 

ouch, thats a lot of money and cockpit time. Still, I assume that ATC pays very well and keeps him in the loop, so to speak? must still be frustrating for him...

 

Yeah thats the problem, now he has a career with NATS it pays quite well and I imagine it would be a drop to get into the pilot game. But yes as you say they are a close nit circle so if he can find the right company it might be worth the drop in the long run.

[350 Russ]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

 

Do you know many people that enjoy sitting bored stiff in a cabin looking at a bright sky with nothing to do for 10 hours at a time, getting irradiated by increased cosmic ray exposure, spending a night away from everybody they know and love, just to repeat it all again the next day? Airline pilot career is an overrated taxi driver IMHO.

 

It still sounds better than plumbing imo

[Dynamic Turtle]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

 

Do you know many people that enjoy sitting bored stiff in a cabin looking at a bright sky with nothing to do for 10 hours at a time, getting irradiated by increased cosmic ray exposure, spending a night away from everybody they know and love, just to repeat it all again the next day? Airline pilot career is an overrated taxi driver IMHO.

 

Any worse than spending 50hours a week in an office non-job with people you cant stand?

[Cragus]

My mate was a tornado pilot with the RAF and now flies for Logan air. He got trained for the most part by the RAF but still had to jump through some hoops to fly commercially and I don't think it was cheap. He managed to get a job relatively quickly due to his background but told me that jobs in the UK are pretty few and far between.

 

On the other hand if you are open minded about where you will work I think there are more options available. One of his mates is based in Dubai and is the pilot of a private jet for some mega rich businessman. They were recently advertising in his work for pilots to fly sea otters ferrying people to the Maldives too.

 

All depends what you are prepared and want to do.

[Dynamic Turtle]

My mate was a tornado pilot with the RAF and now flies for Logan air. He got trained for the most part by the RAF but still had to jump through some hoops to fly commercially and I don't think it was cheap. He managed to get a job relatively quickly due to his background but told me that jobs in the UK are pretty few and far between.

 

On the other hand if you are open minded about where you will work I think there are more options available. One of his mates is based in Dubai and is the pilot of a private jet for some mega rich businessman. They were recently advertising in his work for pilots to fly sea otters ferrying people to the Maldives too.

 

All depends what you are prepared and want to do.

 

Thanks for the insight. If tornado pilots find it hard getting a placement then obviously a newbie is going to find it tough. Must be like driving a bus for him! I am happy to work internationally and have family or good friends in some useful locations like ft lauderdale, singapore, dubai and san fran.

 

If i keep getting a torrent of "avoids" then i might just do the ppl for fun and pursue a different career path instead.

[ATTAK Z]

From this thread

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/78302-curious-to-what-people-do-as-a-job-in-relation-to-having-a-zed/page__st__220#entry1199441

 

airline pilot... have owned the zed for 2 years now and love coming back to drive it every time!

 

C'mon, surely an Airline Pilot can stretch easily to a GTR, what are you doing in a zed?!

 

haha, I do have a rather large training loan still to pay off still! Another 4 years and then it's either a GTR or Nismo 370z. In the meantime I will just enjoy what I do have, and that's a hell of a car!

 

On another note I am contemplating the FI route but a bit worried about ruining the 'driveability' of the car!

[wizurd]

Getting on to the kind of tin cans people take on holiday can be hard. But it can be easier if your looking to be a commercial pilot on smaller aircraft. I've looked at it over and over. Done some of the ppl training a while back. 37 now though so I'd struggle to find anywhere that would train me up. On the plus side Cathy Pacific apparently do have a more open hiring policy. Have a look on the pprune forum.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

 

[HARMLU]

If your aim is to get get in to an airline, intergrated course is the way for you. It's not unheard of for modular to people getting in to airlines but the way things work at the moment it is very unlikely.

 

If going the flight instructor route, then I would say save the dosh and go modular.

 

I know it seems a lot of money (and it is at the price of a new GTR), but once you're in an airline it does pay off to go intergrated.

 

No, you don't get your money's worth flight time wise (flying time) but you do have a far better prospect of getting an airline job. That's my overall take on it anyway.

 

Feel free to pm me if you want more specifics and I'll do my best to help

Edited January 21, 2014 by HARMLU

[Ekona]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

 

Oi, I resemble that comment!

 

I mostly sit in a warm office these days, being sarcastic on the internet whilst eating donuts and telling other people what to do. Works for me!

[350 Russ]

See what Arkwright said, thats exactly what happens to most. Pay large amounts of money for license, pay more money for type rating, fail to find work (youve got no experience), pay to keep up currency, medicals, pay for companies to even look at your CV ............. and if youre really, really lucky you'll get a job paying half what a plumber earns.

 

If youre not ex Forces with flight experience, or a graduate thats been taken on by an airline then its a hell of a risk to take.

 

But nobody wants to be a plumber! I don't know anyone who enjoys it as a career.

Oi, I resemble that comment!

 

I mostly sit in a warm office these days, being sarcastic on the internet whilst eating donuts and telling other people what to do. Works for me!

 

 

 

Thats why you don't mind it, your an office bod nowadays then

[Dynamic Turtle]

Getting on to the kind of tin cans people take on holiday can be hard. But it can be easier if your looking to be a commercial pilot on smaller aircraft. I've looked at it over and over. Done some of the ppl training a while back. 37 now though so I'd struggle to find anywhere that would train me up. On the plus side Cathy Pacific apparently do have a more open hiring policy. Have a look on the pprune forum.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

Interesting. I'm not that bothered about flying jumbos and would quite happily work on short haul turboprops or small jets.

[Dynamic Turtle]

If your aim is to get get in to an airline, intergrated course is the way for you. It's not unheard of for modular to people getting in to airlines but the way things work at the moment it is very unlikely.

 

If going the flight instructor route, then I would say save the dosh and go modular.

 

I know it seems a lot of money (and it is at the price of a new GTR), but once you're in an airline it does pay off to go intergrated.

 

No, you don't get your money's worth flight time wise (flying time) but you do have a far better prospect of getting an airline job. That's my overall take on it anyway.

 

Feel free to pm me if you want more specifics and I'll do my best to help

 

"very unlikely"? is that because the get some form of rebate / baksheesh from the likes of CTC to net off some of the cost of hiring a new FO in the first few years? It looks like there's room for a £20k+ rebate in the £90k price which airlines would no doubt find attractive so I see where you're coming from. I have heard of "mods" landing jobs with major airlines although it hardly appears to be a cinch as you say.

 

Been spending more time on PPrune and the overall tone is very anti-integrated.