Originally Posted by
nadz
You must have started your TP job mid to late thirties. You could probably draw a line at 40 as the approximate cutoff age for a realistic chance to start an airline career, it does happen after 40 but it gets more unlikely, of the 50 plus year olds undergoing training, maybe only 1:50 will get any interview/assessment
and the older that you are, you better have a good pre flying career background story such as a good technical degree or something impressive to prove your competence, this applies to guys over 30 also, it doesn't look good on the cv if you are over 30 and have not achieved much professionally up to now apart from a fATPL licence.
There is no such thing as a fATPL. When you graduate ATO (CTC/L3/OAAA et al) you have, hopefully, a CPL/IR/MCC[JOC]. The CAA does not recognise anything called a fATPL it doesn't exist. You get ATPL stamped on your licence after:
1500hrs of which 500 hrs is jet time on type
You have passed your airlines' line proficiency check/skill test after 1500 hrs
By this time you probably will be bumped up to a senior first officer
For some reason, which eludes me, people on this site seem to think that by passing the 14 ATPL theory exams they somehow become ATPL's or fATPL's.
In my profession, you do become a doctor until you are fully registered by the GMC after 6 months post graduate house physician/house surgeon posts in a recognised teaching hospital, even though you have passed all the pre-clinical and three-year post clinical exams