Originally Posted by
nathd54
Hi all,
I've been looking into the best/fastest way to becoming an airline pilot
Those two things are not necessarily the same
How long would it be before i get my first airline job after flight school.
How long is a piece of string? No-one will be able to give you a definitive answer for this... for some people, it'll be days to their first job... for some people, it'll be years. For an "airline" job specifically, most likely measured in years... as your chances of landing a job with an airline on a fresh CPL is close to zero unless you were in one of these cadetships. Most airlines will require several hundreds of hours more experience than a fresh CPL will have.
I'm open to moving overseas for an airline job.
Unless you have the legal right to live and work in another country, getting jobs overseas can be very problematic. Most companies will file "visa sponsorship" into the "too hard" basket. So, unless you're willing to go somewhere like Susi in Indonesia or maybe Botswana where they have a lot of flying, but a real dearth of "local" pilots... your chances of finding any flying job, let alone an "airline" one, overseas will be somewhat slim.
Is it worth the extra money for the guaranteed job. Just want to know the best way really.
IMHO, that depends a lot on what you want from aviation. If you just want to fly for an airline and don't want to experience the "fun and adventure" that is GA, then sure... Just remember, if you're going to need FEE-HELP, you will also need to factor in the 25% loan fee to work out how much the true costs are.
Also how hard is it to get into a cadetship. Are there any numbers on the acceptance rates. ATAR / mark requirements?
Each cadetship generally has their own
minimum requirements. For instance, you can see
the Jetstar ones here:
- Australian citizen or permanent resident
- Aged over 18 years on commencement of training
- Capable of holding a CASA Class 1 Medical Certificate
- Capable of holding an Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC)
- Completed Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or equivalent
- VCE Units 3 & 4 - a study score of at least 20 in English (any) and Further Mathematics or equivalent
- Successful completion of CAE’s Skills Assessment
Most, if not all, of the selection processes for the various cadetships will then involve interviews, sim ride and other aptitude tests to try to assess an applicants suitability. The results of these assessments is generally more of a deciding factor than your academic performance at school. As long as you meet the minimum requirements to apply, they'll probably give you a shot at the assessment. I've even heard that some of them make you pay for the assessment:
Originally Posted by http://www.cae.com/civil-aviation/aviation-professionals/become-a-pilot/our-pilot-training-programmes/jetstar-cadet-pilot-program/
Please note: An assessment fee of approximately $150 will apply.
As for acceptance rates... The answer is definitely low... By their own admission, the cadetships get a high volume of applications and they have limited spaces.
At the end of the day, if you sole goal is "Airlines"... then applying for cadetships probably won't hurt (except for the assessment fees) and at the very least you'll get some interview experience. The extra upfront costs will probably be recouped assuming you get that "guaranteed" job. Additionally, if you aren't successful with getting a cadetship spot, you can then try the "old-fashioned" way and complete your flight training at the flight school of your choice and work your way up to an airline gig through GA.