cargo pilot

[iwish4aatpl]

hi what are the qulifications to becoming a cargo pilot please help.

regards
michael 17
kent uk

[Intruder]

Same qualifications as any other airline pilot.

[coopervane]

I am sorry Micheal for my less thsn serious answer to your perfectly good question. I see the moderator has removed it and quite rightly so. I was just having a laugh!

Seriously, like the reply above, a freight pilot has to have the same qualifications as any airline pilot. An ATPL in the UK.

If you are serious about a career in aviation, it is perhaps a good thing to make a bold decision when you are young. Most airlines like to get as many years out of their pilots in return for their investment.

Ways of doing it can vary but the best way to start is to get involved in some aviation activity.I see from your previous post the you are about to get your PPL. Thats a good start and well done for doing it at 17!


I am a Flight Engineer and wish I had made a decision when I was your age to be an airline pilot!
If you are ever in the Manchester area and want to go flying,send me a PM and I would be more than happy to do a few hours in the old Cessna.

Hope this answers some of your questions!

Coop & Bear

[Coleman Myers]

Hi Michael,

As per Coop. and Int. your qualifications are exactly the same as any other fixed wing civil pilot. The flying is certainly different and "self loading baggage" and cargo each have their own pros and cons.

Getting basic experince in cargo flying is best done in southern Africa and the Middle east where companies like DHL and FEDEX operate smaller equipment with lower minimum hours (sometimes 200 hours and a type rating) but you will need a license or validation of the country of registration and a work permit (which can be hard come by).

Flight schools often help young people with enthusiasm in exchange for a bit of slavery in the office.Or learn with the CCF/RAF if you make their grades.Get your PPL and basic CPL under your belt.Commit to it long term now and it is not unlikely that you will have your command on a heavy cargo jet before you are thirty. Many of my peers are in their late twenties with DC8 and B747 commands.

Good luck

[Coastrider26]

After being furloughed by a BA franchise I ended up with a fedex feeder in the middle east flying small cargo planes in the middle east. We hire most people or all people with a valid type and min. 500 hrs from which 300 hrs multi.

Working permit is arranged by the company nothing to worry about. Guess DHL in bahrain has a similair kind of requirement.

Should say cargo operations are a total different ballgame then I was used to back in Europe.

[fights on]

Mike;
If you can Eat off of a tray that's been sitting in a hotel's hallway all night. Then maybe you've got the RIGHT STUFF to be a trash hauler.
GIVE ME MY D@#E BOXES
:ok:

[Onan the Clumsy]

Same qualifications as any other airline pilot. I suppose that's correct essentially, but in terms of gaining experience and getting paid, there's quite a range. I saw 1000 hrs for a commuter airline the other day and I've seen 2500 for a major. It's possible you could get to fly freight VFR with less than 1000 too.

Of course, "getting paid" has a wide range of meanings too :(

[Flyboy_jan]

Hi Coastrider26,

Please check your personal messages, I've sent you an urgent one. Hope you'll find the time to read it and reply!?

I'm trying to find my way to the feeder companies in the Middle East to launch my career.

Thanx for any and all help guyz, I can't convert to Euro-licenses since they took my medical (perfect vision with contacts, not sufficient for JAA without them!) and I don't have a US work permit, so I'm in a MAJOR jam here!

Thanx again! - Jan - Belgium.