BALPA (British Airline Pilots Association) says the way to become a pilot is either learn to fly with the Armed Services (become a trainee pilot if 17-24) or learn to fly privately and get your Private Pilot’s License (PPL).
Once you have a PPL, you can fly for fun or work, but not commercially for 'hire and reward'. For this you need a CPL (Commercial Pilot's License), which you obtain by:
- Moving from the Forces to an airline;
- Or taking a training course at an approved school;
- Or obtaining full or partial sponsorship from an airline.
To become a co-pilot in a commercial airliner you have to demonstrate knowledge of theory at the Airline Transport Pilots License (ATPL) level.
To be a captain of an airliner you must actually hold an ATPL by passing an exam and flying 1,500 hours.
Cost
Marie Barlow, Course Administrator at Caber College of Air Training, says that their general course costs £45,000 plus accommodation and exam fees. Occasionally, airlines will part sponsor a trainee - perhaps offering £10,000 or £20,000. Watch out for announcements in the Caber ads in Flight International or Pilot Magazine. You will be competing against a lot of people for sponsorship, but don't despair. Marie says 'one chap tried 10 times before he made it. Now he is up there flying.'
Tip!
If you are going to university, or live near a university town, ask if they have an air squadron, as this could be a cheaper way to obtain training.
Career development loan (CDL)
Most would-be pilots bite the bullet and take out a loan to pay for training. The government offers CDLs up to £8,000 - you need savings or another loan to top this up. See details at end of this book. You can use a CDL to pay for CPL (not private flying) training abroad, but you must be a British citizen and guarantee to be based in the UK until the loan is paid off.
Tip!
Training is often cheaper in the US, even after playing for flight accommodation. One reason is because the weather is usually reliable, so you get in more flying time.
Britannia Airlines' requirements
Britannia, the world's largest charter airline, asks for a minimum of 200 hours logged flying time before it will even consider your application to start as a second officer. You have to hold a CPL/IR (Commercial Pilot's License/Instrument Rating). First officers have to have a minimum of 1,500 flying hours, of which 500 are on jets or 1,000 on Turbines, plus a UK ATPL. Other airlines ask for a minimum 1,500 hours flying experience.
Tip!
If you are going to pay for training, Zoe from the CAA says that before signing up for a flying course, it is worth checking out if you are fit enough to pass an airline's medical test. All prospective pilots (and current ones) have to pass very stringent medical tests, and it would be a shame to spend a lot of money on a course only to find out that you are not fit for flying. Ask your doctor about obtaining a Class 1 Medical Certificate, and have an eye check for visual acuity corrected to 20/20.
Sponsored training scheme
Some airlines have trainee schemes. One is the British Airways Sponsored Pilot Training Scheme. The airline knows that the huge cost of learning to fly has tended to put a career in commercial aviation beyond the reach of many young men and women, but now BA says 'Not only does our sponsored training scheme bring the career of a commercial airline pilot within the reach of everyone, regardless of background; those who successfully complete it have learnt to fly to the very highest standards.' As you can imagine, there are thousands of applicants for any sponsored pilot training. However, if you are lucky enough to be accepted for training, most schemes last around 18 months.
During training, part of your costs will be met, including board and lodging. However, once qualified you are expected to repay these costs by deductions from your salary. To be eligible you must:
- Be aged 18-26;
- Possess a passport allowing unrestricted worldwide travel;
- Be entitled to live and work in the EU without restrictions;
- Have five GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and a Science subject;
- Have two or more GCSE A Levels (or equivalent) in core academic subjects (except General Studies and some other subjects) at Grade C or above, or Hons Degree Class 2:2 or above or equivalent;
- Have evidence of setting and achieving high standards;
- Be between 5 feet 2 inch and 6 feet 3 inch with weight in proportion;
- Be physically fit and able to satisfy JAA/UK CAA License Medical (Class 1) and 13A medical requirements (stricter than CAA);
- Have distance visual acuity of not less than 6/9 (20/30 or 0.7) in each eye separately, with or without use of correcting lenses;
- Have fluent English;
- Have a clear speaking voice;
- Have confident communication skills.
If you satisfy these criteria, and are chosen to go on the scheme, BA's training is a 70-week training program.
The first 56 weeks are spent acquiring basic flying skills and working for a frozen Airline Transport Pilots License (ATPL).
A frozen ATPL is when you have done the ATPL exams at the outset and just need the hours in flying experience to convert. Carolyn Evans from the BALPA says Stage 1 is the CPL; you cannot hold an ATPL until you have 1,500 hours. To upgrade when you have the required hours you then have to do the ATPL theory exams.
This is followed by the Jet Conversion Course to convert from piston to jets, and from single pilot to multi-crew ops. Once you finish this, you are then eligible for employment.
During the course you visit BA's operational and business areas, and take part in BA's charity functions providing support for the local community.
Lufthansa also offers pilot training for EU citizens. First, you must take a medical (at your own expense) at one of its approved centers in Germany. The next hurdle to pass is a two-and-a-half-day exam and assessment in Hamburg (at Lufthansa's expense). If you are then accepted on the course for training, Lufthansa part-sponsors this; you pay around 80,000 DM (£26,000, or approximately 40,000 euros) spread over 10 or 15 years.
Lufthansa offers an interesting degree in Aviation Systems Engineering and Management plus an ATPL. This is an eight-term course, with training in English and German. Studies take place at Bremen Polytechnic, with flying training in the US.
Salary
Pilots working for major airlines earn between £50,000 and £120,000 a year. Recent articles in the Telegraph and Daily Mail quoted Michael O'Leary, boss of Ryanair, saying he is to boost the pay of his 220 pilots to over £80,000 a year - and give share options!
Career progression
You progress from second officer, first officer then captain. Once you have had experience in this senior post, you could become a line training captain, training others in the flight simulator a machine that accurately duplicates everything that a genuine aircraft does, or can do, but is cheaper to run.
Or you could become involved in flight operations management, or develop training programs for other staff.
Case Study
Mike Evans, pilot.
Yes, there are frustrations even for captains! Mike Evans says that currently their worst problems are delays, which are escalating, especially across Europe. 'We are only allowed to fly 900 hours a year, and a lot of this time is spent waiting around as ATC has not been able to give us the slot we want.
Then delays on the ground add to problems. The other day I was so angry when my plane was held up at Rome that I went on the public address system to apologize to passengers telling them the delay was due to the fact that the airport still hadn't enough baggage handlers.
My roster always seems to take in all the important events in the kid's lives. Every other captain seems to have kids of the same age! So unless I want to be across the other side of the world, I have to think six months ahead to put in for time off for school sports days every summer.
But there is something magical about flying over the great mountain ranges of the world. I always think of Hannibal climbing slowly up across the Alps and wonder how the elephants coped. Then every time the Rockies come into view I am awestruck to think that to cross this massive mountain range that passes beneath my plane in a few minutes, took the early settlers weeks, if not months.'
Helicopter pilots
The British Helicopter Advisory Board has a Web site (www.bhab.demon.co.uk) on which it has a training section: 'I want to be a helicopter pilot'.
More and more companies are offering commercial balloon flights, for which they need qualified pilots. The best way to find out more is when you see a balloon in the sky, follow it to the landing (don't get in the way when they are landing) and ask questions - once the equipment is safely stowed.
Balloon flight companies may need staff to help inflate the balloon, follow the flight path on the ground, tether the balloon when it lands and stow it away.
