Youngest Pilots????

[Easy226]

Just out of interest does anyone know what is the youngest age pilot in operation with the major airlines??

[TG910]

Hi there,
I basically asked the same question only yesterday and it seems that nobody wants to answer us!!!!. Come on guys answer the god damn question :) :) :)

[Easy226]

Funny, i was working today and i was thinking of this topic!! I want to know who is the youngest!!!

[ZK-NSJ]

i have a relation who is 23
and is a f/o on 737's with air malta

[Tarek Nor]

When I was at Air Atlantique there was a captain
on the Electra who was 23. Not sure where he is
now, when to fly an A320 somewhere.

A couple of the Metro captains there were pretty
young too.

[Easy226]

I live very near to Coventry Airport and i was considering applying to Air Atlantique once i have completed my a-levels and enough flying experience. Can you give mte the requirements of their sponsorship scheme and also what the training envolves. I think that its a great airline to start off with as you can build up many hours of flight experience. What do you think??

[spoilers yellow]

Got a British Airways short-haul Captain who I think is 23!

[expedite_climb]

I'm a 757 FO and i'm 23 - and i've been on it just over a year now.

I'm sure there has been a topic on this before somewhere - it brought up that there was a Cityflyer trainer on the RJ who was 24 or something ...

[Eff Oh]

I am also 23 flying the B757 for the same company as "expedite climb"! <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> I also have been flying it for over a year now. Before that I was flying a Saab SF340, which I started flying at 21. Got the job at 20.
All the best.

Eff Oh :)

[Georgeablelovehowindia]

Well, nearly a decade ago, we celebrated the 21st. birthday of a certain 757 first officer. This was in Bangor Maine. It suddenly dawned on all of us captains that our young hero had been under-age drinking (in the USA) for over a year!

[TG910]

How could one be a captain on the A320 at 23? .....Which leads me to the next question....how long does it take to progress from second officer to first officer to senior first officer and than to Captain. How could he have done all this by 23?
Also what is the difference between a F/O and a S/O on short to medium haul flights.Also what is the difference between a F/O and a SFO ( apart from experiencce that is). What do the diffenet grades mean and how many bands does a S/O wear ( 1 or 2....or more..?).
As you can see the whole S/O,F/O and SFO roles and duties are confusing me from a differentiation point of view <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

[Easy226]

Yeah good question. Expedite climb, thats the aircraft type i really want to fly when im older!So did you start flying as soon as you left school then??!! Im interested in this as i really want to become a pilot. Im doing a-levels at the moment and im going to start flying for my ppl soon. I dont know weather to go to university or not first before i fly full time?? Can you help me, being a pilot??

[TG910]

I have been monitoring this web site for several years now and I have to say that when the topic of "training to become a pilot" crops up it always seems to be so ambiguous as to how exactly you do become an airline pilot and what route to take. There never appears to be a clearcut route.....why not?
So I ask all the pilots out there with the "majors" : "What steps should one take to become a pilot if one does not get sponsorship?"
I hope you can all agree with me that when this topic comes up over and over again there always seems to be so many options around that one gets a little lost and confused.
What exactly is the best route to take if a person under 20 wants to end up in the right seat of a "major" within the next 5-8 yrs?.What courses should I take? What schools should I go to? How much will it cost? Is it worth it if you really want to be a pilot?
Those are all critical questions that I would love to see answered or comments made to.
Thanks in advance.

[Easy226]

Exactly the same for me!

[shon7]

I don't know the youngest at the majors, but these is this guy at JetBlue who is a full captain and is only 27. There is also a lady at Indian Airlines who became the youngest to pilot a jet at the age of 26.

A lot of these asian airlines take in pilots with just a commercial license. I flew Air India to Chicago once and the first officer was 22. Thats gotta feel good.

[Knold]

I just turned 22 <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[Superpilut]

I started as FO on the Fokker 50 2 months after I turned 22. A few flights I had with a guy who started at age 19 and was my captain by the time he was 23. So he was 23, I 22... Some Cabin attendants were older then our combined age :)
Worse stories than this I never heard yet..

[STN737-200]

db156

the scheme is not on anymore, I was with the last lot in south africa. Great bunch of guys all good drinkers. I visited Atlantic at cov, great setup but hard work you have to wash the planes yourself.

I am 17 now and starting my groundschool at OATS so who knows.

cheers for know

FR514

[Stall4All]

Well with AirBerlin I know of one who is 21 and has just started as F/O on the 737-400/800.

Pff and I thought I was young, 24 when I started on the 737-700.

Grtz Stall

[Sir_Fly-a-Lot]

I started flying at 23, made captain at 25, and was given command of a wide-body jet at 28. Maybe not one of the youngest, but certainly one of the fastest. :) :) :)

[TG910]

Hi all,
What does "fixed wing " mean. I saw it on Ryanairs website that they required 300 hours fixed wing.
Also were would 12700 EURO get me regards to flying as a career ?....not very far....?
Also please see my last post on this thread and answer the bit in bold....if you can that is!!!!! :) :) :)

[Wireless]

TG910:-

Rotary wing is the generic term for Helicopters. Fixed wing refers to aircraft with "fixed" wings, such as a Cessna or 747, i.e they don't spin around!

Dan156

I spoke to Atlantic Airlines (Air Atlantique is now only the name of the holding company apparantly) only the other day, they said cadetships were on hold and had not stopped. They reckoned they'd start again this year sometime. Requirements:-

UK PPL with approx 100 hours TT.
JAR Class 1 medical.
Clean Driving licence <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> ?!?!

Someone will probably chastise me for being wrong. Ah ya know how quickly this industry moves :)

[Kamil]

lol

If money is not much of a problem, and airline pilot is your major goal, like me :)
then just after A Level, commense on the "Integrated route", wich is full time and intensive. This is good as it keeps your skills sharp all the timne unlike the loooong modular way. It should take you only around 12-18 months to complete take you from no experience - to the CPL/IR frozen ATPL license -the one that takes you to the left seats of the majors...

Im at school at the mo...but hoping to do A levels an then take the Integrated route
I had the ambition to become an airline pilot since...well
ever since i cud remember :)

currently 16
two years A Levels thats 18
Integrate flight training, around below 20
and then the job at 21!! or maybe younger
see, it is possible

[IceViper]

Ok, British Airways flight about 3 weeks ago, combined age of the flight crew (2 Pilots & 4 Cabin Crew) was 118. <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">

[Easy226]

Thanks a lot polestar! Im still studying A-Levels at school, but ive been for a few flights at Coventry as i live right next to it! I dont know when to actually start to train for my ppl as ive got loads of school work on the moment. I might just wait till i've finished my education??.. WHere do you do the class one medical??

[Kamil]

Hmmmmmmmm

They do it at gatwick airport
im sure someone can give yu the details...
i think they also started doing it @ stapleford flight centre/

u r so luky to have a flight school besides you... my ones tens of miles away.....

oh yeah, confirm that ur school is JAA approved...

i recommend u buy these manuals, there brillieant.....www.becomeapilot.com

[ElNino]

Ryanair and Aer Lingus have some 19 and 20 yo FO's.

[few@two]

Yeah and I trained with many of them, I'm 21 (almost) and still waiting for my first opportunity to get into the business with them! <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[ 16 January 2002: Message edited by: few@two ]</p>

[Wino]

My wife transitioned to the right seat of the DC-10 at 6 months pregnant and flew till the end of her 8 month.

My son there for at 1 month before birth is the youngest airline pilot. :)

Cheers
Wino

[Easy226]

F/O 19/20 at ryanair-does this mean they started their training very young or they received sponsorship from one of the airlines???

[Wireless]

Dan156

You lucky bastar...er person, was the flight in a DC3? :) God I love them planes being a tailwheel type of Pilot myself.

Anyway, the number I have for the CAA that is printed in my Licence is 01293 567171. This is not a direct line to the Medical division, you have to ask for those guys. The number might be out of date by now though, so please forgive me if it is. You have been pre warned so no moaning on the back seats about giving out faulty information <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

When I made enquiries in the Summer about a class 1, the price was circa 400 squid <img src="eek.gif" border="0"> <img src="eek.gif" border="0"> <img src="eek.gif" border="0"> . It has probably gone up now. Apparantly it involves a morning at Gatwick. Any concerns re. the medical then ring the Medical Division as they are very helpful.

Anyway do tell about those lovely DC3s/Electras etc.

Regards, Pstar <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[gumbi]

we had a 26 y/o Captain on the L1011, he even flew with his own dad as an f/o...probably the youngest heavy Capt. ever? <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[hvassk]

We had an 18 year old newhire on the regional jet in our company. Upgrade time was running 12 months prior to 9-11 and those 18,19,20, and 21 year olds had to wait till their 23rd birthday to upgrade to captain. Lucky bastards.

[Easy226]

Thats young -18 for a f/o???!! Thanks polestar for the info, is the class one medical hard??? Well i dont see much of the DC-3's flying over anymore, but those electras are always flying over. They sometimes do several circuits of tyhe airfield, i guess for training purposes and they are noisy!! They seem like good planes though for their age.

[Bendy Lady]

am 21 and started flying commercially at 20 on jets! was extremely lucky. my base captain thinks i can expect command in 1 to 2 years but may have to wear a fake mostache as most pax look startled and one guy who came for a cockpit visit (before sept 11th) had a ppl with more hours than me! (i started with 200). One of our training captains was a twin otter skipper at 19, apparently at the time the CAA said he was the youngest in europe!

[Knold]

Skipper at 19??? Isn't 21 the lowest for ATPL? Was it for a commercial airline or for a private company?

I thought I was early starting my MD80 training at the age of 21.

[ 17 January 2002: Message edited by: Knold ]</p>

[Easy226]

Bendy Lady, 20 as a F/O! I hope im that old when i start to fly commercially!!-does that mean you started to fly when you were very young or didnt you go to uni?? I would reall ylike some guidance from a pilot in what to do! Im currently studying A-Levels.

[neil armstrong]

years ago UPS had a 24 year old 747 captain (right place right time)
Martinair Holland has a MD11 captain who is 27 years old i think.
When we added up the age of my f/o,f/e and my self some months ago ,we came to 160 years of experience ,of which i contributed 30(made me feel young)

Neil

[ 17 January 2002: Message edited by: neil armstrong ]</p>

[BmPilot21]

Some of our training Captain's were 18 when they joined as Boeing/Airbus jet F/Os.

Second officers don't normally exist in the UK for short haul, they are mostly long haul 'cruise pilots', although I think it may be different elsewhere. I started as an F/O with only 200+ hours on a short haul jet.

SFO criteria varies from company to company. It can either mean you have a ATPL eg)1500 hrs, or that you have completed your command assessment and are waiting to be promoted. Obviously there is a big difference between these two (around 3 years + for short haul).

[Trislander]

Hi there I am at college studying A levels in my final year at the moment. I have almost completed my PPL. (39 hrs) and my ambition is to be in the right hand seat as soon as possible. I have been trying to decide whether to go to uni or not. I have applied but I am not sure whether to spend all the money on going to uni and seeing what sponsorships I get after or work to save up for the CPL/IR and ME. If Ryanair are recruiting pilots with 300 hrs then surely it would be better for me to do that?

DB159 I think I am in a similar situation to yourself. Did u go to the Flyer training exhibition in November?

Cheers, Tri

[Sir_Fly-a-Lot]

Neil,
So both your F/O and F/E were 65 then ??? Or was one of them even older ?? It seems the Irish law works in mysterious ways.... <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[TG910]

Just what is "the Irish status " by any chance?
Must all BA and EI pilots go at 55?....or can they stay on longer? Does the "age 60 rule" apply in Ireland and England?
What are the oldest pilots out there by any chance? 59 year old S/O's perhaps ...?

[mattince]

I know someone who flies long-haul for BA who is only about 24 years old at the moment. When he was made captain, he was the youngest ever to have been made so by an airline anywhere in the World. I'm not sure of the age but he was about 20/21. He must have been fast-tracked by BA or something like that. He's also openly gay.

[Fogbound]

Ok I started training at oxford age 18. If it wasn't for a nasty out of ill health i would have been up for parole when i was 19. As it is I'm 20 with a Frozen ATPL, If someone would give me a job, I would be a 20 year old FO with some airline somewhere!!!!
go on, gis' a job!!!! :) <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> :)

[Flying_Tuur]

Well, I started at 20, F/O B737. Afterwards at my 23 F/O A330, and since a few months Capt Bae146. I'm 27 and 4000 Hrs...
Not too bad I guess... <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[Easy226]

Trislander, i am in exactly the same sitution as you. Im still at school and im thinking about going to america to do my ppl this year. I dont really want to go to university, i just want to fly!! I saw Ryanair's entry requirements and i think the same about applying asap.(when ive gathered enough exerience). So does anyone know if there are any young pilots for ryanair???!!

[GJB]

I Captained Thunderbird 5 from an armchair, with 2 wooden spoons for control, at the age of 4.

[ 23 January 2002: Message edited by: GJB ]</p>

[neil armstrong]

In Ireland you can be a captain till your 60 a co till your 65 and they just put in a reg.that f/e also have to stop at 65 ,but at the moment they have a waiver till the end of the year.. .My last trip was with a 67 year old(verrry experienced) F/E

Neil

[C Harrison]

Well....errr...mmmm

I am just starting a JAA ATPL modular course and I am err... 18 years old (19 in March). Add some years for the course about two maximum and I'll be about 20.

[email protected]

[rebeccadblake]

One of my good friends is 20 and he is a fully qualifed FO on FRA (flys falcons)

[Grandad Flyer]

OK guys, first, the system is very different in the USA and UK.. .In the UK you can start flying whenever you can afford to do your licence. Its very very expensive but if you have rich parents you could in theory get your CPL/IR when you are 18.. .BA takes cadet pilots at a young age.. .Over here the usual career progression is:. .FO with Regional carrier. .Captain with Regional carrier once you have enough hours/ experience (usually a couple of years). .Then get a job with a major carrier as FO. .Then Captain with major carrier once you have required experience (usually as little as 3-4000 hours TT).. .So it doesn't necessarily take that long if you have the money and also are in the right place at the right time.. .Command at many of the UK airlines, up until Sep, was pretty fast, could be within a year or two.. .Some airlines have different categories of FO, like Second Officer (usually cruise pilot) and senior FO (been there a while).. .But most companies start you as an FO. In the UK FO's do almost exactly the same job as the Captain albeit the Captain has ultimate responsibility. . .Also, when you do a type rating here you are rated for PIC/ P1 as well as Co-Pilot.. .However in theory you still have to pass a command course with your airline.. .FO's are, at most airlines, treated as "Captains in waiting".. .Hope that helps.

[Shanwick Shanwick]

I had a Citation command at 18.

[wysiwyg]

Shanwick, was that a single crew operation?

[DontSink]

Hi!

I got a job flying 733/4 just 2 months after turning 21. I`m almost turning 24 and have 2200 TT on the 737.

Cheers

[GreasedItOn!]

Started flying FO on Beech 1900 at 20, now 22.

[MANFLEXSRS]

Started as F/O 737 at 20.. .Airbus A320 conversion course at 23.. .Company went bankrupt at 23!!!. .Now I'm 24 and I just found a new job on A320.

[Easy226]

MANFLEXSRS, Which is the better plane to fly, the airbus or the boeing?? Theres some young pilots out there, hopefully ill be that age when i becom professional!

[Captain Numpty]

Heard that some guy who qualified from CabAir nicked named "PAMPERS" was 18 when he got his first F/O job on a BAC 1-11....think it may have been with European Air Charter, but don't quote me.

Lucky "B".....wonder where he is now?

Well done in any event.

C.N.

[BUDGIE]

I believe "Pampers" was sponsored by British World Airlines and qualified on BAC 1-11 at 19. The req's of the part-sponsorship was eighteen when training began.. .I do believe BA in the past offered sponsorships on the basis of predicted A-levels and Highers - not anymore - youngest command quoted to me by BA HR was 23. That'd mean Scottish students could qualify earlier than English cause they do their Highers at sixteen, normally shortly before they turn seventeen when training can begin.

BUDGIE

[Dimitri]

Im 17, hope to start training in the next 3 months. No idea what the hell i'll do afterwards, but im still looking at which integrated course to take (gotta way up costs/quality of training).

[Captain Numpty]

Thanks Budgie

I knew someone out there knew "Pampers".

Cheers. .C.N.

[ColdnFoggy]

Got a good briefing the other day on JAR-FCL. .To get a PPL: 16 yrs old. .CPL/IR : 18 yrs. .ATPL : 21 yrs (+1500 hrs i believe)

For the Twin Otter Capt at 19: No problem. Its below 5700kgs. So a CPL would do. ( at least in the old days)

[Firm Touchdown]

B737 F/O at 22. .B737 Capt at 26. .Training Capt (TRI/TRE) at 27. .Now Training Capt on A320/321

Heard of a 26 year old Capt on 747.

Age is of little importance. Experience, safe conduct and overall ability are the real important factors.

Someone starts flying at 20. Command at 25.. .His friend starts flying at 30. Command at 35.

1) Who is the better pilot?. .2) Who has achieved more?

Neither of these questions can be answered with referal to age.

[islandhopper]

Pilots assistant on emb110 @17. .F/O DHC6 @19. .Capt on Sd360@23. .now flying airbuse's at the ancient age of 30!!!

[Easy226]

Whats a pilot assistant??!! -AT 17!!

[BlenderPilot]

Here in Mexico we have Pepe Messer who started flying LearJets when he was 17, he was captain of every Lear in the 20, 30 series by 19, then he went to the airlines, and by 23 he was 757 Captain, by 25 became 757 crew team chief and gave instruction at Boeing.

It is not uncommon for 19 or 20 y.o. to go into heavy jets with 190 hrs and a brand new license here in mexico. The neat thing is that there seems to be no effect on safety since we have a pretty good safety record over here given the conditions.