DanSHM
3rd Oct 2015, 09:49
Hello! I am planning to start a career as a pilot and since the cost of training is so high here in Israel, I've checking options abroad.
I've received offers and info from Calif. Flight Academy, ADRIA flight school in Slovenia, CTC UK, Accademia del Volo in Italy and Toronto Airways Flight Schoolin Canada.
The problem with US flight schools is that I need a M-1 student visa, which could take a long time to get and does not allow me to work after ATPL as instructor to gather flight hours.
There are big differences in cost for the different schools and an important question is which school offer the best opportunities for employment after ATPL in order to accumulate flight hours.
Is there any other school some of you can recommend? (Especially in Europe) I will appreciate any advise you can provide me. I know I'm asking questions asked thousands of times but this is an excellent forum and I'm sure you can help me take the correct decisions! Thanks!
mavisbacon
3rd Oct 2015, 18:27
Flyby in Spain are very competitive on price. Their integrated course is 58,000 euro, whether they can offer employment post training I don't know?
DanSHM
4th Oct 2015, 12:20
Thank you mavisbacon i will check it out!
s_nawfal
21st Dec 2018, 18:47
Hi Dan,
Your question above was posted 3 yrs ago, I hope you have started working at sea by now. I work on a cruise ship as a secretary to the captain and I can tell you that the Merchant Navy job pays very well and will enable you to save enough money in just a few years to fund your flight training (PPL, CPL, ME, IR) that costs on average $50,000.
The Junior Officer / Deck Cadet makes around 2k per month, 2nd Officer 4k/month, and 1st Officer 6-7k/month. They work 4 months and 3 months vacation, that means in one year they work on average 8 months.
From my personal experience, when you work on the ship you don't have any expense, food, shelter, some entertainment are all provided, if you don't buy fancy stuff you can save all your salary, this is impossible on any other line of work. I'm also still considering between Maritime Career or Aviation, as I don't have an OOW (Navigation) license I need to go to Maritime academy for about 3 yrs to get one, yet if I go to Flight School I can get (PPL, CPL, ME, IR) in about one year. But the cost of flight training is almost double the cost of Merchant Navy education despite the shorter length.
Since I am already working in one of the biggest Cruise Ship company in the world I can stick here and get a managerial position in a few years, with 5k/month I can see myself start flying the Cessna in a few years ahead if my career progressed as planned.
I do think Merchant Navy is very interesting but it is very different from airline pilot, when you are a Marine Officer you are not only driving the ship but you are responsible for the overall maintenance, housekeeping, governance (safety, security) of the ship, this is even more demanding on Cruise Vessel. Working very close to the Captains I can see that they are not just drivers (like the airline pilots), their everyday schedule is full of meetings about the maintenance, audit, master hearing, cruise revenue, meeting the passengers, etc, the captain spends very little time on the Bridge, . typically only about 15-30 minutes during arrival and departure maneuvering at the port. the rest is taken care by the junior officers. they are less a driver and more like a Governor or President.
On the other hand airline pilot is not bothered by maintenance of the plane, they just need to come to the cockpit and fly the plane, the rest is taken care by ground engineers/handlers, it might be slightly different for cargo pilots though, but it will never even close to what the Ship Masters/Captains are doing in terms of maintenance of the vessel.