Eventually the market will pick up and return to the pre Covid 19 rhythm. A brief background about me, I have been through the modular route from 2013-2016, September 2016 was my last session if I remember correctly on my MCC course, in November I was called for an interview by 3 airlines, one major low cost airline the other a flag carrier of a Southern EU country and a small ACMI operator in the Balkans.
Decided to go all in with the flag carrier, learned the profile, had covered my ATPLs already(this should be a continuous process after you are done with the course) and I was already fresh with my IR flying. While abroad going through the interview process of the Southern EU flag carrier I was called by the other 2 carriers for an assessment, I had to close the doors to the other 2 which was a foolish and risky move but I was very short of money, couldn't learn the profiles that they have sent in a week and did not even have the money to travel there and stay in a hotel for 2 nights just to go through the interview process which I knew I wasn't gonna pass as I was unprepared and needed at least 2 sim sessions just to get familiar with the scanning of that aircraft but also with the profiles(gone through a generic MCC course)
Needless to say the only reason it took me 3 years to get the CPL was because I did not have the money from the beginning, had to interrupt my training several times, but I though if I stick to one flight school then I could at least continue my training without delays when I had the funds to continue and to control the only variable which I could which was consistency.
Bear in mind that my school did not offer integrated training at all, and it only received the approval for the CPL and IR right when I finished my hour building there. So I was the first student pilot to have done all the training at that school and was the first to obtain a CPL/IR in that country from a local school.
So I have done my PPL Night Rating Hour Building MEP CPL IR and MCC at that school (outside the UK but within EU) no one knew the school apart from the locals and I only did my ATPLs in UK specifically at a school which has been bought over by CTC back in 2015.
In December 2016 I began my type rating on the A320 and I have been flying ever since( Although I am on unpaid leave now for almost a month...)
The reason I briefly discussed my training background is to make everyone both experienced and aspiring pilots understand that there is hope. It's not about how much money you have, nor at which school you did your flight training or how smart or stupid someone is.
Employment in aviation has never been easy and it might be at it's worst now, but for the aspiring pilots, if you got the aviation bug inside you, if you know that this is what you want to do for the rest of your life then go for it. Ignore what other people say, once someone makes it on the seat they start discouraging other people forgetting that before they managed to get their first job, they have been hearing the same BS from others.
Important points that you should keep in mind which I wish someone has told me before I even started my training.
1) Confirm with your self first of all that this is indeed what you want to do for most of your career.
2) Confirm that you or your family can finance the training, it's only gonna make it harder if you don't have the money from the start and will stress you and demotivate you.
3) Obtain a Class 1 Medical before you do anything else.
4) Preferably start your training after you have finished school, regarding going to Uni for a degree, I tend to believe that this is unnecessary, reason being that you will waste 3 years of your time and money for something that you are not planning to do for the rest of your life as your goal eventually is to sit to the right hand seat of an airliner. Having a degree with no experience it's the same as not having a degree. You always have the option to do a top up degree or even a masters after you start flying, plenty of Uni's out there who offer descend courses online, much cheaper for experienced professionals.
5) Stay on top of things, always study hard, read the books and manuals you paid for, never leave anything behind and if helpful always have a note book for each subject which will help you save time in revising for an exam or an interview for that matter. Question banks should be referred to after you have covered the syllabus for each subject, aim is to learn something along the way not memorize, pass the exams then forget.
6) Be punctual and act professionally from a young age, refrain from acting childish, or exhibiting a risky behavior, keep fit, eat well and chase girls.....
7) Do a research on what each school offers, number of sittings for the exams, experience of the instructors, type of aircraft they use weigh the pros and cons and compare them to what you thing it's best for you (everyone has different abilities and capacity, don't do what others do, do what's best for you), an integrated course might be good for someone who has a truck full of money, or isn't a punctual or disciplined enough, modular schools on the other hand offer this and this but not this.. it's up to you to decide, just do not get in the trap and choosing a school purely because they advertise that they will get you a job eventually once you finish your training, if it's one thing I hate about the aviation industry is that training organizations just want your money and they are masters in marketing, you need facts and guarantees which no one will give you unfortunately. Chase quality and consistency, find one school that offers all modules if you decide to go modular or at least most of them.
8) If it takes you longer to complete your training as it happened to me, use this to your advantage, if it's one thing I believe has helped me during my training was the bad weather, and lack of funds to continues plus a few other things. These setbacks gave me the time to revise, stay at home read ahead of the syllabus, and keep my knowledge up to standard and fresh both for my skills tests, and interview in the long run, nothing goes wasted, the more effort you put the more the chances are to succeed. Success might not come immediately, but eventually will come, after you are done with your training, and it's time to to apply for an airlines for a job, keep revising, if you have the money invest into other books which will help you in passing the technical assessment of an airline. I recommend "Handling the big jets", "Get a Head for the sky" and "EASA Professional Pilot Studies"
Also some other books I found useful particularly for my IR training are "Air Pilot't Manual Radio Nav and Instrument flying" , " Never get Lost" and ICAO DOC 8168 Vol 1
9) Last but not least, do not expect any instructor whether in theory or actual flying to spoon feed you. You need to be prepare on your own, they will teach you the bear minimum, it's your job to revise at home before and be prepared for the next day, once you star training, it's always nice to know that until you get the first type rating on your cpl, you got no life...(It really helps if you start training with that mind set, these should clear the lamb from the sheep)... Also, one you get your CPL, consider saving money to keep all of your rating valid, and interview might come days, months or years after you obtained your CPL, and usually it comes in a very short notice with people panicking and going for an assessment totally unprepared, so plan your training wisely from the start and be prepared for the long run(validations) .
Now I know I keep repeating what other people have said in this forum, but I felt the need to contribute into this matter as now it's the worst time in history for someone to get involved in aviation and still no one should discourage others, this is my personal view, and I believe all the points I mentioned above plus my past experience will greatly help people who really want to fly some day.
I apologize if the order of my post is confusing, I did the best I could to make it as clear and as understandable as possible.
Last edited by gpiper; 7th Dec 2020 at 11:39.