F/O at 18-20 HOW????????

[mr.tos]

The UK market is also very different to Australia. As you say, you will need to work your way up to the airlines, here you can get in with 300hrs straight on to a jet (i.e. 737) although I suspect that those days are numbered for the time being. Can also be a jet captain with only around 3-3500hrs if you're lucky and good enough.

3500tt might get you command in OZ........


on a nice big SAAB earning 60k a year!!!

[kev2002]

HOW.......................do you manage to find anything to talk about on those long sectors?? Hardly much life experience to call on not to mention the boring flying stories.

"One time I was coming in to land and there was like a 15kt crosswind and I was like totally stooging it in and had to go around. It was killer. I'll never forget that day!!"

[CABUS]

I believe cadet schemes can be a good idea as long as the initial screening process is any good. I am sure that there are excellent cadets and some questionable ones, being a mere f/o I have yet to fly with any but my company seems to enjoy taking them on. I also feel that being a flying instructor is priceless and allows the chance to learn pilot monitoring skills. However, I also feel that SOME, not all, instructors can get into bad habbits which COULD possibly be seen by airlines as being a SMALL problem, hence cadets. I do feel though that having high hours in a single burning holes in the sky could have an adverse affects on your cv becuase it would be easy to get into a position where bad habbits start to occur and there is a very limited amount of experience which can be gained in a single that has any relationship to the airlines.

[pablo2973]

Dont worry

Dont worry young fellow,at the age of 23 you are doing well above average ,those people flying an airliner at 18 or 20 ,are the "lucky ones " found in all aspects of life ,but I bet they did not have to pay for the training they did not learn a second language , they dont have a university degree,and of course they did not have to build flight time in remote places risking their lives ,they just pay ,and pay and pay .
So dont worry whatsoever ,you have all your life to make your dream come true ,and will enjoy much more than the younger colleages .

[turboV1]

I would like to point out that it's not really fair to compare an ab initio 200h pilot vs a GA pilot with 1000h+ during supervision on their first airline job.
Say you give the former the same line flight time it took the GA pilot to get these 1000h, how do the two of them compare now?

I think the point is not on who is better prepared during supervision, but after a similar amount of total flight time.

Anyhow, if these schemes are in place, and working, and no accidents have resulted from them, the system is probably not so bad.

A different issue is what expectations has each and everyone of us about their flying career. That differs clearly from pilot to pilot.

[Ell85]

Hi guys. I know this is a late but I wanted to say thanks for all the replies. I don't really know if airlines are actually the way I want to go at least straight away but getting in the right hand seat that young just seems so totally unbelievable for someone flying in regional Australia. Again thanks for all the replies... and it's young lady not young fellow .

[CirrusF]

I feel sorry for cadets who start that young. Some of my friends who started that young and are now in their mid-forties are totally bored with flying but have no skills to try anything else. All they've got in front of them is another twenty years of the same. I didn't start professional flying until 40 and am still loving every minute of it. I also have forty years of very varied and interesting life to look back on and draw on in the future should I decide to stop flying one day.

[tiger2411]

so you dont think its too late to start at 38?

[CABUS]

Its never too late to start buddy and its well worth it!! You would still have over 20 years flying and depending what airline probably well over 10 in command, go for it!

[Toasty]

Cirrus,
im very suprised ot hear u have friends who started out as young cadet and are bored of flying now and have no other skills. Being a pilot is the perfect job to get involved with all sorts of other duties within the airline, recruitment, management, operations, get to know the company inside out! and start your own if your bored!
With a decent salary there's money to play with! They could invest, start companys, play the stock market, the possibilities are endless.

[Sabre1987]

I dont think you can negate experience, as long as it doesn't make the pilot bigheaded and pompus.
However the new pilots willingness to learn cant be sniffed at either.