Confused About What License To Obtain??

[rahulras1993]

Hello Everyone,

I am finally starting to think about starting my Airline Pilot career. :D

So many of Pilots and other friends said there is no use going with a FAA license now, and to go with an EASA/JAA , which seems reasonable because in India there seems to be a lot of CPL holders with a FAA license and then converted them to DGCA India , and I have lived in the middle east all my life many of the Pilots here tell me to take go for the EASA route because FAA is just too easy and is not worth it.

So I have decided to leave out FAA license and move with the EASA is this a right decision ? I am really confused I just need some clarification if this is a right step to do, and what about licenses in South Africa or Australia ??

Secondly, I know the EASA costs way more than a FAA but if it gives a better job prospect (well does it??? ) , I am ready to take this route. Can someone clarify this?

Thirdly, I have been doing some research and some of the flight schools I have found having an integrated EASA course cost as much as 100,000 GBP is this really the case or am I looking at the wrong school's ? (Includes accommodation) , some pilots who had studied at Oxford Flying School about 1-2 years back told me it should be around 68935.80 GBP and that 100,000 GBP . How has the price shot up so much or am I doing something wrong here?

Fourthly, I would highly appericiate if you could just list a few EASA licenced schools in Europe or the UK so I can look them up , I have done my research as I said but incase I have missed something .

Some people say that it doesn't matter what licence you do because you are finally converting it to a DGCA India CPL so don't bother about it but I want to look at opportunities outside India too. Also what are the minimum hours to convert to a DGCA India license ? 200 hours or 220 hours ? (Without SIM time)

Thank you all , Keep flying high and tailwinds :ok:

[Conan the Vulgarian]

I don't know what countries you have the right to live and work in, so I can't say what license(s) would be useful to you.

It depends on how the market works in the countries you can work in, if people commonly base N-reg aircraft there (which sometimes bizjet operators etc. do because of cost advantages) then an FAA license could be useful, even if you never work in the US. Similarly, if people are operating aircraft that are registered in an EASA state, then you can fly them with an EASA license, whether or not you are in an EASA state at the time - now whether that actually goes on (whether EASA allow it) I don't know.

If you don't know what the minimum hours to convert to a DGCA Indian CPL are, you need to find out before you do anything at all - your authority must publish something that tells you this? In the UK we have CAP804 which outlines how the EASA licensing standards are applied, and when JAA was in effect we had LASORS which did the same.

Perhaps one of the first things to do is to create a list of employers who you'd like to eventually work for, then do some calling and emailing to find out if they will advise you how their pilots normally obtain their licenses and what licenses are useful (or well regarded) in the industry in your part of the world.

If all you need is an Indian CPL (ie. there are no jobs for FAA/EASA licenses), and it doesn't matter how you end up with it, then the best route is going to be the cheapest (as long as you choose quality training providers in whatever country you do the training). In other words, as long as you get good training, whether you convert from FAA, EASA, SA or whatever shouldn't matter.

[rahulras1993]

Thank you for your reply Conan the vulgarian

I have the right to live and work in both India and Kuwait at the moment.

I am told that in the GCC countries , they always take the EASA/JAA and Kuwait only takes from few flight schools (Oxford,Cabair and CTC,Atlantic Flight Training) , as a Kuwait Airways pilot told me so.

But the problem is not being a citizen in Kuwait or the GCC Countries I am told employment is very difficult as a Fresh First Officer , they only hire with experience but if there is demand they could employ. (A big if....)


I will confirm the flight hours, the DGCA India site is a mess, very hard to find anything and too much information at least in my opinion.

Thanks for the heads up I will take this into consideration ;)

I am just worried when I see so many CPL holders in India who are unemployed and think I need to think out of the box (with all due respect to the current struggling Indian CPL holders, hope they get flying soon :ok:)