New pilot

[Aiman0092]

Hello everyone, would anyone help me to choose the right flight school to be able to trained and work in Emirates or Etihad. Never done this before and I really need a good advice. Thanks

[Wizofoz]

Unless you go through their own academies (and even then it is not guaranteed), you don't go to a flight school to work for EK or the unmentionable- they employ experienced pilots already working in the industry.

Thus what you need to be thinking about is the path to employment before the ME airlines- and that will depend on where you are, where you can and are willing to go, and, of course, how much money you have to spend.

Your profile says Belfast but I get a sense you are not native Irish- tell us a little about where and who you are, and we will be better able to advise you.

[aeropix]

Check Your Freedom to Fly - AOPA (http://WWW.AOPA.ORG) and click on the tab "you can fly". There is a wealth of information on there. It is the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association website.

Emirates and Etihad will only hire inexperienced pilots who are UAE nationals. All others need Airline experience first.

[Aiman0092]

Unless you go through their own academies (and even then it is not guaranteed), you don't go to a flight school to work for EK or the unmentionable- they employ experienced pilots already working in the industry.

Thus what you need to be thinking about is the path to employment before the ME airlines- and that will depend on where you are, where you can and are willing to go, and, of course, how much money you have to spend.

Your profile says Belfast but I get a sense you are not native Irish- tell us a little about where and who you are, and we will be better able to advise you.
I'm not originally from Irlenad. I was born there my parents from middle east. I hold both nationalities. I lived in the middle east for 16 years and now I'm back to northern Ireland. Currently doing My Alevels but I want ti go furthur and race time to be able to fly

[Wizofoz]

I'm not originally from Irlenad. I was born there my parents from middle east. I hold both nationalities. I lived in the middle east for 16 years and now I'm back to northern Ireland. Currently doing My Alevels but I want ti go furthur and race time to be able to fly

Right, that clears things up. (Well, mainly- I take it "Both nationalities" means an ME nation and Britain? Belfast being in Britain rather than Ireland proper?)

You have some advantages- your ME nationality may give you consideration in one of the cadet programs for the various ME airlines- what nationality is your "other" passport? If it is Bahraini, Omani, or from UAE you can probably apply to do the cadet scheme of the particular state, and, while no walk in the park, means that if you complete successfully you will be employed in that airline.

If it is with a state that DOESN'T have a cadet scheme, or you are unsuccessful in your application, you are in the same well-worn path as any other British guy wanting to fly- options being the RAF, or attending one of the colleges such as Oxford, then gaining employment in the industry, then applying to the ME airlines once you have the requisite experience- I would say that your "second" nationality will probably help somewhat (Unless you are Qatari!!), as it will remove any question of you fitting into Arab culture!!

What you WON'T be able to do is go through a course in Europe, then walk into a job with EK or EY, without gaining industry experience in the interim- it just doesn't work that way.

I've flown in the UK and the ME (I'm ex-Emirates) so please feel free to PM me if you won't any firther advice.

Best of luck with the "A" levels (have a Daughter doing the Australian equivalent as we speak.)

[Aiman0092]

Right, that clears things up. (Well, mainly- I take it "Both nationalities" means an ME nation and Britain? Belfast being in Britain rather than Ireland proper?)

You have some advantages- your ME nationality may give you consideration in one of the cadet programs for the various ME airlines- what nationality is your "other" passport? If it is Bahraini, Omani, or from UAE you can probably apply to do the cadet scheme of the particular state, and, while no walk in the park, means that if you complete successfully you will be employed in that airline.

If it is with a state that DOESN'T have a cadet scheme, or you are unsuccessful in your application, you are in the same well-worn path as any other British guy wanting to fly- options being the RAF, or attending one of the colleges such as Oxford, then gaining employment in the industry, then applying to the ME airlines once you have the requisite experience- I would say that your "second" nationality will probably help somewhat (Unless you are Qatari!!), as it will remove any question of you fitting into Arab culture!!

What you WON'T be able to do is go through a course in Europe, then walk into a job with EK or EY, without gaining industry experience in the interim- it just doesn't work that way.

I've flown in the UK and the ME (I'm ex-Emirates) so please feel free to PM me if you won't any firther advice.

Best of luck with the "A" levels (have a Daughter doing the Australian equivalent as we speak.)
unfortunately I dont have the british passport
I only have the Irish nationality and the yemeni[I'm sure that would be a problem to some companies]. All what I'm thinking of now is get trained and become an airline pilot with a good company that will allow me to explore the world.on the other hand getting good money. I'm also confused about the licenses I should whether I get the EASA or go to the USA to be trained their to get their license and work there.

[Capn Rex Havoc]

Isn't Yemen and the UAE not too friendly at the moment? If you have a Yemeni passport I reckon you may be up sh.ts creek without a paddle as they say.

[Aiman0092]

I think so but that's why I wont mention that I have it. The most important thing is my passion about flying.

Hopefully I will be able to work with a nice company it doesnt have to be ethiad or Emirates honestly. As long as the company works and have a good salary then I'm happy to work for them.

[vickers vanguard]

I think so but that's why I wont mention that I have it. The most important thing is my passion about flying.

Hopefully I will be able to work with a nice company it doesnt have to be ethiad or Emirates honestly. As long as the company works and have a good salary then I'm happy to work for them.


sorry to say it but I can’t hold it any longer......Irish by birth you say ? And you wanna go work for a nation that has been assisting another nation commit a genocide literally in Yemen ? Are you ok in your head,or people have lost all sense of self esteem and pride ?
I would eat **** before I go work for these guys !! Plus as a Yemeni, they’ll always see you and threat like a third class citizen....

[Wizofoz]

I think so but that's why I wont mention that I have it. The most important thing is my passion about flying.

Hopefully I will be able to work with a nice company it doesnt have to be ethiad or Emirates honestly. As long as the company works and have a good salary then I'm happy to work for them.

Right, then start looking at options for training in Europe- as I mentioned, Oxford as a start, though there are plenty of others. Explore what the likes of Ryanair, easyJet, and Aerlingus are doing in the way of self-sponsored training schemes.

Provided the world economy holds up for the next few years, you are coming in to the industry at an advantageous time.

Best of luck.

[Wizofoz]

unfortunately I dont have the british passport
I only have the Irish nationality and the yemeni[I'm sure that would be a problem to some companies]. All what I'm thinking of now is get trained and become an airline pilot with a good company that will allow me to explore the world.on the other hand getting good money. I'm also confused about the licenses I should whether I get the EASA or go to the USA to be trained their to get their license and work there.

Oh, and I wouldn go EASA rather than US unless you have the right (and desire) to live and work there- there are schools, however, bith in the US and in Australia that train you for EASA, but at a lower cost- certainly another option.

[Aiman0092]

sorry to say it but I can’t hold it any longer......Irish by birth you say ? And you wanna go work for a nation that has been assisting another nation commit a genocide literally in Yemen ? Are you ok in your head,or people have lost all sense of self esteem and pride ?
I would eat **** before I go work for these guys !! Plus as a Yemeni, they’ll always see you and threat like a third class citizen....
Take it easy big man. I'm proud to be Yemeni and also I'm Proud to be born in Irleand. This country gave me a lot of opportunities to develop myself and I'm have to appreciate that. Idk if you are racist or not but your opinion reflect you and has nothing to do with me or what I do. Take care

[Ilyushin76]

I think so but that's why I wont mention that I have it. The most important thing is my passion about flying.

Hopefully I will be able to work with a nice company it doesnt have to be ethiad or Emirates honestly. As long as the company works and have a good salary then I'm happy to work for them.

Let me be blunt with you. Passports matter ALOT in the ME airlines. No one will admit it, but it matters. Your Irish passport covers that part. Yemeni - don't bother mentioning it at all !

Your best bet would be to go to a flight school and then pick up one of the reputed pay 2 fly programs ( I know to some it sounds bad / unethical but that's how things are these days ) , build jet time and then make your way to the major ME carriers.

Also, if you end up on the A320s, with the Irish passport you have, airlines in Vietnam will pick you up instantly. They restrict some nationalities and Yemen I think is also on that list.

China is another market you can penetrate with the Irish passport. Lots and lots of flying there.

Turkish carriers (Pegasus, THY etc) are not far behind if you have enough experience on their required type of aircraft.

Good Luck !!

[Aiman0092]

Let me be blunt with you. Passports matter ALOT in the ME airlines. No one will admit it, but it matters. Your Irish passport covers that part. Yemeni - don't bother mentioning it at all !

Your best bet would be to go to a flight school and then pick up one of the reputed pay 2 fly programs ( I know to some it sounds bad / unethical but that's how things are these days ) , build jet time and then make your way to the major ME carriers.

Also, if you end up on the A320s, with the Irish passport you have, airlines in Vietnam will pick you up instantly. They restrict some nationalities and Yemen I think is also on that list.

China is another market you can penetrate with the Irish passport. Lots and lots of flying there.

Turkish carriers (Pegasus, THY etc) are not far behind if you have enough experience on their required type of aircraft.

Good Luck !!
Thank you very much. I do appreciate it a lot. I hope it goes well for me.

[Smoke mountain]

Let me be blunt with you. Passports matter ALOT in the ME airlines. No one will admit it, but it matters. Your Irish passport covers that part. Yemeni - don't bother mentioning it at all !

Your best bet would be to go to a flight school and then pick up one of the reputed pay 2 fly programs ( I know to some it sounds bad / unethical but that's how things are these days ) , build jet time and then make your way to the major ME carriers.

Also, if you end up on the A320s, with the Irish passport you have, airlines in Vietnam will pick you up instantly. They restrict some nationalities and Yemen I think is also on that list.

China is another market you can penetrate with the Irish passport. Lots and lots of flying there.

Turkish carriers (Pegasus, THY etc) are not far behind if you have enough experience on their required type of aircraft.

Good Luck !!
Pay 2 fly is what is damaging this industry! We shouldn't encourage people to do it! We need airlines to get back to the old days bonding pilots to work for couple of years.. All this pilots shortage in the world because airlines prefer Direct entry pilots which is unfair in my opinion.

@airman Get an EASA license from any european country and work your way from there ..

[MaverickPrime]

What you WON'T be able to do is go through a course in Europe, then walk into a job with EK or EY, without gaining industry experience in the interim- it just doesn't work that way.

What if he has family working in said airlines or know a senior Emirati employee, can they not ''recommend'' him once he has a fATPL?

[fatbus]

That's not how it works !

[MaverickPrime]

That's not how it works !
Really? I’m surprised that can’t pull strings, they do in just about everything else!

[fatbus]

At the present time , subject to change, the cadet program is for emirati nationals only. other than that's an individual would have to meet the minimum entry requirements and pass the selection.

[MaverickPrime]

At the present time , subject to change, the cadet program is for emirati nationals only. other than that's an individual would have to meet the minimum entry requirements and pass the selection.

Hate to bring up an old thread, but my sources tell me that they spotted non Emirati nationals on the cadet course, I'm lead to believe the non nationals were at type rating stage along with Emirati cadets? Maybe some expats have a lot of wasta?

[donpizmeov]

They can pay for and do the course. But they have to go find a job when it's done . They do not get flow into EK .

[Officer Kite]

At the present time , subject to change, the cadet program is for emirati nationals only. other than that's an individual would have to meet the minimum entry requirements and pass the selection.

Are you totally sure about that? I myself met a young English bloke at Oxford among the Emiratis wearing an Emirates lanyard when I went for an assessment 2 years ago. He stood out from the other Emirates trainees (for obvious reasons) so I had a chat with him to see how he was training on the Emirates programme. It turned out his father was a captain in the airline and was very senior so managed to negotiate it. Emirates agreed that if he paid for his own training and supported himself throughout, they would allow him to join the other funded cadets. There was to be a bond for the 777 rating at the end.

[General Dogsbody]

Might have been spinning U a Yarn

[Officer Kite]

Potentially, but unlikely. We didn't meet on the street, it was at OAA itself and unless they too were in on the act he was very clearly part of the emirates cadets there.

[MaverickPrime]

Potentially, but unlikely. We didn't meet on the street, it was at OAA itself and unless they too were in on the act he was very clearly part of the emirates cadets there.

I'm hearing similar stories to that one.

[General Dogsbody]

EK Doesn't work that way, and expats do not get into the EK ab intio program regardless of who their Father Was..

Nice story to spin to the gullible

[Officer Kite]

Guess I fell for a pack of lies then :} , it makes little difference to me anyway i suppose, maverickprime what have you seen?

[Ilyushin76]

Pay 2 fly is what is damaging this industry! We shouldn't encourage people to do it! We need airlines to get back to the old days bonding pilots to work for couple of years.. All this pilots shortage in the world because airlines prefer Direct entry pilots which is unfair in my opinion.

@airman Get an EASA license from any european country and work your way from there ..

I 100% agree with what you have to say regarding the p2f programs. Unfortunately, many pilots (especially South / East Asians) have no other choice. A lot of people continue to get milked out of their hard earned money to this day and its very sad.

Where I come from, either you get picked up by the state carrier (that too if you have amazing links or are someone who can ace the exam and the "interview") or just continue flying in flight schools as a flight instructor and eventually just wither away. The private carriers would go for someone who has excess hours on multi engine turbines or are " ex - men in uniform".
The only option some fortunate pilots have had in the past is via the p2f programs offered by the private carriers. Inside I am sure none of these pilots are happy about the choice they made, due to the financial hit they took.

[MaverickPrime]

Guess I fell for a pack of lies then :} , it makes little difference to me anyway i suppose, maverickprime what have you seen?

I’m not so sure you were told lies.

Anyhow, I never understood why EK don’t have a SO programme like CX for fATPL holders.

[Wizofoz]

Are you totally sure about that? I myself met a young English bloke at Oxford among the Emiratis wearing an Emirates lanyard when I went for an assessment 2 years ago. He stood out from the other Emirates trainees (for obvious reasons) so I had a chat with him to see how he was training on the Emirates programme. It turned out his father was a captain in the airline and was very senior so managed to negotiate it. Emirates agreed that if he paid for his own training and supported himself throughout, they would allow him to join the other funded cadets. There was to be a bond for the 777 rating at the end.

Then it's an exception made for an individual with connection- it's not the rule.

[MaverickPrime]

Then it's an exception made for an individual with connection- it's not the rule.

Maybe we didn't make ourselves very clear, but I think we were fishing to find out if there are, or were, exceptions made? However, I can imagine that people would maybe not want to make those exceptions public knowledge.

I was fully aware that its not the rule and understand that you need to be an Emirati national to join the cadet scheme officially.

[donpizmeov]

Anyone can pay and join the EK training college, and come out with a licence and instrument rating and ATPL subjects completed . You just have to find your own job as you don't make the min requirements for EK.

[Officer Kite]

Anyone can pay and join the EK training college, and come out with a licence and instrument rating and ATPL subjects completed . You just have to find your own job as you don't make the min requirements for EK.
Yes but we were talking about joining the EK cadet programme specifically, who funny enough themselves don't even use the emirates aviation college

[Emma Royds]

Aiman0092

I would suggest checking out the cadet program with Aer Lingus. It will give you a path to a job in a decent company and not far from where your home is either.

You could still move to the Gulf later in your career if you still wanted.

[donpizmeov]

Actually Kite they do . Do try and keep up .

[Officer Kite]

Only recently it seems, but well done champ :D :rolleyes:

[handsome goafer]

Only recently it seems, but well done champ :D :rolleyes:
Good old champ