West Atlantic Cadetship / Sponsorship

[leedspotter]

Cant get a loan, cant find a job!
Well, West Atlantic Cargo Airlines is looking for Cadet Pilots.

You need a PPL(A) to apply to the scheme.
The airline provide the Hours Building/ ATPL GS/ CPL/ MEP/ IR/ MCC/ Type Rating and Line training and In return you are bonded for 5 years.
The company operates many different aircraft types.
At the moment its a Coventry base in the UK.

To find out more info click here Inter Airlines Remembered

here Two European cargo airlines to merge | Eye For Transport | News, Analysis & Events

Cadet scheme Atlantic Airlines Cadet Pilot Flight Training Scheme | Multiflight

Application form http://www.multiflight.com/pdfs/cade...ation_form.pdf

Some helpful inside tips and advice for applying http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-365614.html

[leedspotter]

Free training, Job at the end...No! Its waaaay more fun to be in debt and licking stamps for CV's!!!

Come on guys, People with CPL's can apply to this scheme also....

[BigNumber]

Ahh My Spotter friend, we are not interested in flying cargo in an older turbo prop.

No; we want to fly Big Jets with Cabin Crew and Pax to impress!

[TheBeak]

And what's the point in bothering to be selected and have the training paid for when it is so easy to just attach and secure the debt to your parents home and then buy the job flying something bigger, faster and more exotic - it really is so much easier.

[Bealzebub]

Having flown with a few graduates of this programme, I would make the following comments. These people have top quality flying skills as well as a rounded mature, searching attitude to their day to day operation. The end product (if you will,) is so good that either the apprenticeship and training is stunning, or the initial selection process is very streamlined and thorough. I don't know, but I suspect it is an intricate combination of both. I also suspect that this scheme attracts candidates who have a real desire and ability to work their way up.

In my experience, the only disappointment with the pilots who have graduated from this scheme is that you don't get to fly with them for very long, because they are usually early candidates for the left hand seat.

I admit to not having a single clue what this programme looks for in its applicants. However my observations of the end result would suggest that it is somebody who is bright, versatile, hard working, adaptable, determined, knowledgeable, well spoken, polite, and has a broad level of general education and knowledge, such that their interests and conversation go well beyond simply themselves. They are also likely to be the first people volunteering for something that others might simply see as hard work. To that end they are fast learning pilots, who are interesting, good company, likely to keep you on your toes, valuable, and an absolute pleasure to work with.

I don't think it is so much a case of whether this scheme is of interest to you, more than whether you are the right sort of calibre of person for this scheme. I would suspect that few people are, and of those few, you would be lucky to be selected for such a good apprenticeship.

I am not in the general habit of endorsing things, or of blowing smoke simply to spare peoples feelings, and it may be that the limited degree of my experience skewers the result. However I can only comment on what I have seen, and that is that the pilots I have flown with from this programme have been very good and very successful.

[TheBeak]

I'd like to point out that I was being sarcastic and I think it is absurd that they aren't inundated with applications. The reason they aren't is because in most cases, todays pilot wouldn't meet the standard and even if he/she did, he/she probably couldn't be bothered with the process.

[leedspotter]

BigNumber : West Atlantic Operate the Lockheed L188 Electra which is a classic turboprop.
The other aircraft, the BAe ATP( Which is about to have a brand new avionics upgrade ), the ATR-72/500, the CRJ-200's, the BAe 146 and the Boeing 737 are in my view, a very modern fleet.

[corsair]

This is the reason they aren't exactly inundated with applications.

After six months of seven-day-a-week cadet duties, e.g. driving pilots around, sweeping the hangar floor and working on aircraft, I was given new ATPL ground school books (I had to start all over again as I’d not managed to take any previous exams) and two days off mid-week as study days. The rest of the week was taken up with normal cadet duties. At one point I also worked in ‘Operations’ while the company were short-staffed, more evidence of the value of cadets, and more valuable involvement for me, experiencing additional ‘ins and outs’ of the airline.

The 'Fuglys' as they call themselves earn their ratings. That is not what many people who see themselves as potential airline pilots want to experience. No, they're more interested in the supposed prestige to be gained from flying jets and wearing big watches. Sweeping the hangar? Good lord, that's beneath their dignity. Another flaw for the shiny jet brigade is the turboprops and probably the fact of them being based in Coventry. But it's better that way as Bealzebub's testimonial shows. Leave it to the young guys who want to fly and are prepared to really work for it.

If it was around when I was training, I would most certainly have applied. I would no more have got in than be selected for the Red Arrows but I would have loved it, even if it was in Coventry.

[mad_jock]

Mind you if you talk to current LHS fuglies they will always tell you that the current batch had it easy compared to the old days.

2 years ago it was 2 ton of gravel shifted on a slighty breezy day in the drissle. 8 years ago it was 10 tonnes in the pissing rain with one fugly put on a warning for not smiling while doing it.

To a man though they are all quite exceptional pilots even the one that looks like George Micheal.

[magnificent_man]

I would jump at this with every bone in my body, as soon as I have my PPL, I shall be doing just that.

What an opportunity. Can you imagine being able to fly an Electra in this day and age? Your hands on flying skills must be so much better than a typical 'straight on to the airbus' graduate. Whats the fun in missing out on the real flying? This is a phenomenal opportunity, if you can handle it it's got to be worth a punt.

But less applications mean a better chance for me

[norton2005]

I finished training a little while back so have my frozen atpl with just over 200 hours, so a sponsored training scheme is no good to me, but im wondering, if i got in contact with them saying im interested in this, but how about bypassing the training scheme bit and getting straight onto the flying, is that worth a shot?

[FougaMagister]

I suggest you do a bit of research; you'd discover that Atlantic are currently overcrewed, and require 1000hrs TT for outside applicants when they recruit. Atlantic Airlines jobs, payscales and entry requirements.

I was trained alongside Atlantic's cadets and I'll second what's been written so far; the Fuglys are a cut above the rest. I hope Multiflight will train them as well as Atlantic Flight Training did.

Cheers

[leedspotter]

Cadets who hold a CPL and IR have been taken on before.
If you do hold a fATPL, and get selected onto the fugly scheme, expect at least 6 months of Cadet "Fugly" Duties before you will be put on a Type Rating.

[FougaMagister]

I suspect West Atlantic have no need for 200-hr frozen ATPL holders at the moment, with some ATP-rated and experienced crews out there looking for work (btw a number of which are ex-WestAir Sweden). And they won't lower the 1000-hr requirement for the Electra (I know because I tried!)

That said, I agree that the West Atlantic sponsorship is an awesome scheme that should have PPL holders fighting to apply! And cargo is more fun than flying SLF anyway...

Cheers

[portsharbourflyer]

The hours flown on night freight is quite low, may be 250-300 hours a year, so the 1000 hour requirement is such that any direct entry FO can achieve a full ATPL within two years of service hence be eligible to take a command.

The cadet scheme I suspect creates a surplus of low hour first officers within the company, alot of the older posters may forget that Atlantic Airlines is now an independent company seperate from Air Atlantique. In the Air Atlantique days, I believe that the cadets were able to build significant hours by working for the Highlands Flying Club and the maritime survey section (now RVL) before moving to the night freight arm. However as Atlantic Airlines (now West Atlantic) is separate from these other entities there is now no longer a way for the low hour cadets to build significant hours.

It is good that the company retains a cadet scheme; but also be aware that a very small number of cadets in the past have served the fugly period and been informed that they will not be progressed to the flight training stage.

[leedspotter]

Cadet Pilots since Atlantic Airlines MBO from Air Atlantique in 2004 are on average taking 3.5 years to unfreeze there Licence and gain command on the BAe ATP fleet and 4 years on the L188 Electra fleet.
Some cadets fly outside of the airline for pleasure so they unfreeze there licence in less time.

The last cadet Intake was July 2009. The next Intake wont be until the new year. Multiflight welcome all applications still, and if you are a suitable candidate your application will be kept on file until its time to invite you for initial assesment.

[Atlantic_Conveyor]

You need to go into this scheme with your eyes wide open, which is what most wannabe fugs don't do. Most are as naive as leedspotter. As previously mentioned the Atlantic Airlines, scheme is very different to the one operated in the past by the Atlantic Group. When the Atlantic companies were part of the same group, Fugs could do Air Taxi, Fisheries, Biz Jet's to quickly build their hours prior to the night freight work on the heavy stuff. Now, the game has changed. As a low hour pilot you need to be flying more than a few hundred FO hours a year. Spending week after week on hotel standby is not what you need to be doing. At the rate current FO's are going, it will be many years before they see the LHS of an Electra or ATP. Although, the cadets are okay within their limitations, they do lack the broad expereince of past Fugs and most will be sick of night freight prior to getting a command.

I still don't get what the company gets out of the scheme. In the past the Fugs have been treated as unpaid slaves which has paid for their training. Recently the company has been sued by some of its past cadets which has meant that they now need to pay the minimum wage and comply with working time directives. To me it just seems to be an expensive way to get low houred long term FO's. When the company works this out it could be bad news for the current batch of Fugs.

[leedspotter]

The Cadet scheme has changed from many of its old ways as Atlantic_Conveyor has mentioned.
The Cadets are not employed anymore to save the airline money. This was true in the past.
The reason the airline still continue the scheme is because of the type of pilot it produces. The cadet pilots are exposed to almost the entire operation of the airline while they are undertaking cadet duties in Coventry and West Atlantics HQ in Gothenburg which means when they become a first officer, they, are more often than not, a much more well-rounded pilot than a direct-entry F/O. The cadet scheme will grow alot over the next 2-3 years with current plans.

[Atlantic_Conveyor]

No cadet pilots have yet been trained in the way you suggest. Direct entry FO's often have other experience that makes them more rounded than the current cadets. This often takes the form of flying instructing, air taxi and flying bank documents around in piston twins. If you ask me there is no substitute for grass roots flying experience and the whole Fug thing no longer delivers on that front. Doing office jobs is Cov or even Sweden just doesn't quite cut it, though Ops experience is useful.

[portsharbourflyer]

Atlantic Conveyor,

The cadets that sued Atlantic did so because during the downturn last year when some FOs were let go, some cadets were informed that they would not receive flight training and were given a choice of another 12 months of fugly duties or leave the company.

The reward for twelve months or so of fug duties is of course funded flight training, so quite rightly those that did not progress to the flight training stage (CPL/IR) were only claiming wages for hours worked during their time as a fugly.