Airline Sponsorship Schemes

[Stud3]

Does anyone know if any airlines in the U.K still do the sponsorship scheme?

I've just recently started my 'A' levels and i've wanted to be a pilot since i was about 6 years old when coming back from Orlando i visited the flight deck of a Britannia B757 and i've been hooked ever since.

Flying is all i've ever wanted to do in life, but i'm just wondering if there is another way of being able to fly other than joining the Armed Forces.

I'm 16 years old, in the Air Training Corps and have recently completed my Gliding Scholarship to solo standard. I have many hours of flying on the Grob Tutor and Scottish Aviation Bulldog Aircraft. I'm currently studying Psychology, Physics, Human Biology and Geography for AS/A level.

What would probobly be best for my circumstances?

Appreciate any replies....

Andy Thompson

[monkeyboy]

Stud3, two airlines so far this year have done sponsorships but both are part sponsorship schemes.

You've just missed Britannia's scheme for this year and flyBE are still taking application forms but I think their age limit is 18, not 16 I'm afraid.

Wait til your 18 and they'll be all yours!

Good luck!

[liquidhockey]

mate

i was hooked on flying at the age of about 7.

I did my a-levels and am now focused on financing my training myself as i dont feel i have a chance of getting a sponsorship. At the moment i am currently working my arse off to pay for my PPL and the rest up until half way through my licenses (IR onwards ETC) at which point i will be getting a bank loan to pay for it.

If you wait around for sponsorship then you may never become a pilot. Try the sponsorships when you are old enough whilst saving to pay for it yourself anyway. This may seem harsh to you in light of the cost of training but i promise you that there are hundreds of pilots (captains included) who went about their trainin this way and look where they are now.

You just have to want it.

Dave

But please do your A-Levels first and try and do pretty well in them.
This isnt compulsary but will give you a better fall back if things go wrong, and mate they do sometimes.

I did and now i can go onwards knowing i can go to uni if i fail a medical etc

Dave

[Select Zone Five]

Stud3

Good luck buddy, I have wanted to fly for as long as I can remember...I got a bit sidetracked in another industry (which I went into with a view to making enough money to take flying lessons). I recently passed my PPL, with some of the money I saved, and am more determined than ever to get my fATPL. I cannot go back to an office job!

My point? Oh yes, it's follow your dream. That is the point. You know what you want to do; move Heaven and Earth to make it happen. If it's sponsorship then all the better but if you truly want to fly for a living, make it happen!

All the best and I'll see you there! :D

[5150]

Depends wether Mummy and Daddy are going to stump up 40+ grand for your training.

If they don't, join one of the biggest wannabe clubs in the world!

You're too young to get sponsored at this stage, and you normally have to be pretty exceptional to get sponsored on the back of A levels, as you'll normally be up against older/mature people with a degree under their belts.

The forces do like to take people on young and is certainly a good way to go about getting free flying if you can hack the military bull****. Don't get blinkered by glossary paraphenalia about becoming a pilot (anywhere!), but especially military flying, as you've got a looong road ahead of you before you'll be sitting in any aircraft.

If you want to fly: join the RAF. Forget the Royal Navy or Army Air Corps as they are primarily rotary and only the absolute cream get onto JJ's (with RN).

I, like all those above, have wanted to fly since knee high. I started learning at the earliest possible stage, worked 7 days a week (whilst still going to school) and took 4 years to get my PPL. I then ****d around for a good few years trying to get sponsored, but got nowhere. Re-assessing the situation, I went away from flying, and got some good credentials to arm myself with: Army Commission, Degree, Red Cross experience, Voluntary work, travelled, plus the odd rating for the PPL.

Six YEARS after gaining my PPL, I got sponsored. Two years later, I've just finished and am waiting for a vacancy at work (around xmas.........).

This amounts to 12 years to get to the best possible position I can be - bearing in mind I still haven't started flying yet.

If you don't want to join the forces, you're looking at something pretty similar to what you've just read. However, I was fortunate enough to get sponsored, tens of thousands don't and it takes them even longer.

Continue to work hard, be grateful for anything you get offered and don't get too disheartened if things don't go your way..

Hope this helps and good luck!

[The African Dude]

Hey folks,

I'm not sure if it helps, I'm in your position too.

The way I've decided to hack it out is like this. Bite the bullet. Do a degree. Basically, what that means is, you will ALWAYS have money earning potential - depending on the degree of course.

I decided on Mechanical Engineering with Aeronautics at Brunel. Now I never wanted to join the RAF, as military bull**** (as someone else said!) never floated my personal boat... so to speak. However, a 6 year Engineering Officer commission when I graduate will leave me with reasonable (+/-50K!) savings upon de-commission (or whatever). And if my bursary aplication is successful then they will give me 4K a year for the remainder of my degree which means I can do a PPL and IR before I go in.

So you could leave the RAF with C.Eng after your name and have enough money to finance ALL your training at the age of 29... it all sounds a bit idealistic, but I'm willing to give it my best shot. I understand that I can't predict what may happen after I leave the RAF. Let's just hope Saddam goes away, or else I might be tangled up in war, damnit.

All I can say is, although I'm only 19, what goes around always comes around. There is no substitute for perseverance. You dream to fly. You will fly. You are prepared to work for it and you will make it eventually.

Stick with it mate!!!

Andy.

[Luke Wingwalker]

Do as well as you can in your A-Levels, go to Uni and join the UAS. It works, within a month of graduating I got my PPL and an Airline Sponsorship, all before my 20th. It can happen at an early age if you really pull out all the stops. Good luck.

[jonathang]

There are rumours that British Midland may be offering a Sponsorship scheme in the near future,


Not sure I am confident about the source