Driving Licence and employment

[Speedbird744]

Do you know if most airlines require a valid driving licence to gain employment as a pilot?
Are there any that don't require it?

Thanks

[Bealzebub]

There may be some that do, but I wouldn't have thought that many would make it a prerequisite to employment.

As long as you can report for duty utilising alternative means of transport as and when required it is unlikely to be a concern to them.

In reality of course most people would naturally have passed a driving test for the simple convenience it affords them in their daily lives. It would place you very much in the minority if you hadn't done likewise and undoubtably there might be many times when that proved a significant inconvenience.

[74Freight]

our company requires a driving licence as we spend as much time postioning in hire cars as flying.

[Speedbird744]

Flybe is the only one that states they require one in their selection criteria. Any other turboprop operators require them?

[notdavegorman]

What's the reason you don't have a driving licence?

You will find life very, very tough flying for an airline without a driving licence. Even ignoring 74Freight's comment for now, you will find public transport very inadequate at the times you will have report for/go home after a duty.

[flash8]

Not so... I don't have a driving licence and seem to have done OK for myself.

There are some of us, for various reasons, that have never got around to it. Whilst never a real problem (I'm an expert at Public Transport Systems), it was a vast source of amusement around the instructors whilst doing my PPL etc. They just couldn't grasp the concept of a non car driving Pilot, and I couldn't hide it from them as my G/F always used to drive me to the field.

[Superpilot]

I've met many a pilot, and all drive. Sure you can get by life but think how easy it would be if you did have one. Face it, most flying jobs aren't going to be in the middle of a lush city with clockwork transport systems.

[Turkish777]

Not on a ban now are we flash8...:E

Only joking...get the misses to drive you about, nothing wrong with that....

[flash8]

No, not on a ban... never had that opportunity 777 :)

I mean... with the crew bus, public transport and friends.... who needs a car? :ok:

[Charlie Zulu]

I was a non-driving student pilot and latterly a qualified private pilot without a driving licence. In fact I gained my FAA CPL/IR before deciding to learn to drive.

Started learning to fly when I was 20 (8 years ago), gained my FAA CPL/IR in July 2003.

I took my first driving lesson on the 27th August 2003, ordered my new car from the dealer the very next day (with £3k off the £9.5k price tag as the accountant is also a fellow pilot who put me on her friends and family scheme), took delivery on the 1st October 2003 and got a first time pass at my driving test on the 14th November 2003.

So it didn't take me long. Would have been quicker if I could have got a test at an earlier date.

However I will say that getting to and from work is so much easier and quicker now that I drive. As is getting to and from the airport (it used to take an hour and a half on two buses, or if it was a sunday about 3 hours if I missed the bus connections) and well life in general is so much easier with a car.

I seem to have much more of a social life now as most of my friends live 12 miles away, it would take a bus and a train (ie about an hour and a half each way) to get to their houses. Now I can be there within 20 minutes of leaving my house.

Now I don't have to arrange lifts everywhere and well I feel so much free(er).

Wish I had done it years ago.