help

[stuharri]

Hiya. .I am doing an aviation degree and am currently doing a year at Rolls-Royce designind jet engines. Do you think that doing my PPL would enable more success in getting a job as a commercial pilot?. .Also am think about doing my PPl in america.. .any thoughts?

[Matthewjharvey]

Obviously if you want to become a commercial pilot then the first step is to get a PPL. I'm not going to go into the pros and cons of where to do it - there are hundreds of threads which give those arguments, read them.

[regor]

If you want to work as a commercial pilot for a major airline, then you will need to gain more than just a PPL at the moment.. .. .Most pilots self fund to get to the frozen ATPL stage before airlines will seriously consider them for employment. This is especially true in the current climate, where there is a glut of pilots.

[Chesty Morgan]

Probably your best bet is to try and get sponsorship from a major airline. Sponsorships vary but the most common one is for you to pay half up front while the airline covers the rest. Once you've finished and started working they'll take the rest out of your salary. Also you're pretty much gauranteed a job. Don't know if any of these are running at the moment. Look in Flight. . .. .The way I did it was to chat up my bank manager and borrow about 50K, and then did an integrated course at CABAIR. Took just over a year.. .. .Places like CABAIR and Oxford do seminars every month, might be worth going to one of those.. .. .I don't know if doing a PPL is the best way as the integrated courses take you from zero to Frozen ATPL, and under JAR you are then entitled to the benefits of a PPL anyway.. .. .Best of British.