5% sounds epically tough! Does anyone else have a guess or estimate at the rate of success?

You guys might be right, i'm just quoting the information I was given at the last open day.

There are definitely more people on each course, but there could also be many more applications compared to 7 years ago...?

Hello everyone,

I just passed my phase 1 for CTC and I've been invited for the aptitude test (and hopefully interview) on the 2nd of April. Being completely honest, I'm very passionate for flying and I think I know what I'm doing. The problem is, I've been seeing that people are saying that not many people pass...? I mean, does the fact that I'm 18 and about to finish A levels have anything to do with it? It'd be nice if someone replied!

Thanks!

Firstly, good luck with the selection day. It's tough but certainly an interesting experience.

I don't see that your current status would be a disadvantage. What I will say is that they're going to want to see evidence of times in your past when you worked as part of a team and decision making skills etc etc so it would be good to provide examples of that from being at school. Any extra-curricular activities that you have done that promote these skills would be good to talk about too.

Hope that helps!

Marandinho,

Be sure to have a good knowledge of the Airline industry and what a pilot actually does. You'll definitely be asked.

Also I wouldn't be too worried about pass rates. At my interview day there were 7, 3 got to the final interview and I think everyone else was asked back in 6 months who didn't make it. I would try not to get stressed out about possibilities of success beforehand and just be yourself, do your prep and do your best.

Best of luck!

Seems easy jet will mostly source their new pilots from other airlines next year as direct entrants, and scale back on the cadet recruitment. Where will ctc send their 360 odd cadets from 2012/13?

Where'd that info come from spider_man?

Digs
 

Hi folks,

Previous or current CTC cadets: what is the standard of accommodation during ground studies in the UK, flight training in nz (or anywhere else) and then in the mep, cpl stages while back in the UK again?

You paid a visit to the easyjet website, bravo :D
Pilot Careers - Careers in the Air - easyJet Careers

But if you scroll down it says: ''To allow us to respond flexibly to our business requirements we also work closely with our training providers and service partners to recruit from a pool of experienced pilots and cadets''

They've always been hiring experienced pilots as well, so don't cause any panic here mate :)

Vipersrt10
 

No they haven't, it's been almost exclusively CTC cadets since about 2008 with the odd top up of a few flexi from Parc, but even then a lot of them were still fairly low hours.

Actually it was only 6 months ago when they were recruiting experienced FO's. Fair enough they used CTC to act as a selection for them, but in affect they were still direct entries, not cadets. They've always taken cadets, and flexicrew via ctc/parc but they've also taken direct entries here and there.

Not true.
Since 2010 there was a large flow of cadets joining easyJet via Parc / OAA too. Would suggest quite near to the levels of CTC.

A new MPL cadet scheme with CTC will be announced soon.


As for direct entries / cadets, theres been a large in flow for a while of experience (500 / 1000 / 2000 +) guys via Parc / CTC onto flexi contracts, it hasn't exclusively been CTC cadets at all.

The flow of cadets seems to have slowed though and the ones who joined in the later part of last year from CTC were laid off for the winter.

The Direct Enrty recruitment into easyJet now is to try and balance the experience levels, so I imagine we will see less cadets joining, but there will be some.

Guess I stand to be corrected then! I knew a few had come from OAA, I met a few MPL holders from Oxford recently who have just joined. How long has recruitment for experienced FOs onto flexi contracts been going on for? I knew it had happened recently but wasn't aware of it happening before. Anyway the perm contract recruitment is good news :)

Experience recruitment onto flexi has been at least for the last 2 years, which is when Parc came onto the flexi scene in a bigger way.

A lot of cadets have come from OAA and go onto a different flexi contract which is better paid, though they pay more initially for their type rating.

The MPL schemes are an interesting one.
When you look at the redundancies feared at FlyBe, and the fact that the 'last in' were all MPL cadets who, if let go, would be out of a job with a worthless license as has happened in previous years with other companies.

CTC MPl info: easyJet Cadet Pilot Programme | Cadet Pilot Training | Become a easyJet pilot with CTC Wings | CTC Wings

Which way in?
 

Considering the different airline specific training programmes at CTC Wings, what way do you stand the best chance of getting in, and getting a job? If you apply say for the easyjet cadet scheme with CTC, are you still considered for the normal CTC cadets?
Thanks:confused:

If you apply to an airline scheme at CTC and get past the schools assessment stage but fail the airlines stage, then CTC are more than likely to offer you a place on their normal Wings course.

Is anyone starting CTC in June? CP109?

After reading through a lot of posts the general feeling I have about getting into pilot training through an FTO is not a good one and seems very risky when it comes to looking at it financially if taking a loan is your option. I have the fantastic opportunity to begin training with CTC wings on their wings cadet course starting in september. However I am currently looking into securing a loan etc, but I am really unsure as whether to accept this offer, due to the uncertainty of being placed with an airline after completing training. My biggest worry is not being able to repay the loan and risk losing my parents house which is clearly not an option!! Is there anyone out there that has any realistic information on the chances of getting placed with an airline and not being left to drown in the holding pool ??? :confused: Any sort of advice would be highly appreciated.

I thought you have to find a job on your own if you do the Wings course.
Anyway, once you finish the course, you could get a non-pilot job, earn some money, and start hour building. Keep building hours. Then send your CV to all the airlines you can find on the internet.

No I have been offered a place on the wings cadet course, CTC help you get a placement with one of the sponsored airlines. I am just trying to find out what sort of a chance I would have of getting placed with an airline come early 2015, probably an impossible question to answer ? :confused:

Well I'm no expert but just take a look at what is happening at the moment.
easyJet is starting 2 MPL schemes INSTEAD of recruiting from the hold pool.
Now what does that tell you about the future?

The only two 'partner airlines' that have yet to neglect CTC (MON and EZY) both have MPL schemes that will generally fulfill their future cadet requirements. easyJet also have an MPL scheme with CAE/OAA.

Things change very quickly in this industry, but the wings course was a bubble that has now burst. If you're not attached to an airline or on an MPL scheme, you may as well save your money and go modular.

And even a tagged MPL program I would be veeery careful with. If the to-be-employed-by airline goes pop along the way (admittedly highly unlikely in the cases of M or eJ, but never say never), you basically have nada flying qualification. Personally I would be interested only if the MPL course is sponsored in full. Otherwise only modular with second qualification (uni, apprenticeship) to fall back on.

This is all so confusing! Basically, if I want to become a pilot after finishing A levels, what is the best chance of doing that. Also, how exactly do you get onto a course with a specific airline? Thanks

sebflyer
 

I remember being in your position very well, so I guess that's why I have a bit of sympathy! I'm a few years older than you, so will give you a little bit of advice (or rather what I did). It most certainly is not the only way.

When I was your age I knew that this is the career I wanted and was determined to get it. I spent hours reading through this forum, looking at FTO websites and making an effort to go to open days and the flyer exhibition at Heathrow. I also realised whilst at school that getting a flying job would be very difficult so I quickly worked out the easiest way to a job would be through a cadet programme. I then began researching airlines and seeing how they recruited low hour pilots. Whilst I was doing my a-levels I knew I needed to try and stand out from the crowd and really show my dedication to flying to stand a chance in being selected for one of the programmes. So I began washing aircraft at my local airfield and often hung around in the airfield cafe. Through that I became involved with a charity that offers heavily subsidised flying for the disabled and I volunteered there for a while and I still do.

My bit of advice for you that I think is the most important based on personal reflection is get involved in as many activities as possible at your school/college. I didn't and wasn't keen at all, I arrived as late as I could at school and left as early as I could. In hindsight it hasn't hindered me too much but it would have given me far more to talk about in interviews than I did before I started working full time. I had a part-time job whilst at college and I highly recommend getting one once you're 16. There is loads going on at schools and I should definitely have made more of my time there. I have found that whilst going through interview processes that airlines today are very keen on the 'softer skills'. How do you work in a team? What is your leadership style? bla bla you get the idea.

I left college and started working full time at my local leisure centre for a few months then got a cabin crew job which I'm still doing now. I'm fortunate enough to have a place on a cadet programme and I start training at the end of the year.

The easiest route to becoming a pilot? Well I guess that depends on a whole host of variables. I'm not there yet but my route so far has been.

- School

- College (a-levels)
- Part time job (whilst at college)

- Cleaning aircraft and volunteering
- Leisure centre
- Cabin crew

Once you've finished college perhaps consider getting a job in the industry if uni isn't for you? It will give you some great experience :)

Best of luck mate!

My query here is as follows.

If application to the CTC wings course is so risky, where are the droves of cadets who presumably don't get accepted by airlines? CTC passes around 30 cadets a month. Upon asking them how many cadets get jobs afterwards, the reply was that 100% of the cadets get offered airline placements, typically within 5 months.

I'm not advocating CTC wings as being a fail proof option, of course not. However the facts are simply that they are shifting quite large numbers of cadets every month to the extent that they have actually expanded their capacity per month this year.

Nobody wants to be forced to go into debt with no "promise" of a job, and I can see why that is such a glaring problem to most people (myself included). However it seems far from a hopeless gamble. As CTC explain themselves, their success as a training school relies on getting results- i.e. passing cadets onto airlines. If they were unable to do this, they wouldn't be in business and companies and students alike wouldn't want to be associated with them. These types of threads seem to overflow with negativity towards gaining access to airlines. I'd absolutely love to be able to walk into BA head office and say "Hi guys can you pay for my training and ratings and in return i'll work for you" but alas that isn't the way it works. Entry avenues are damned difficult to come by- it is less a case of getting one's foot in the door and more like wedging one's crowbar in the gate.

If you can afford it and want to get into the RHS of an airliner relatively quickly CTC is clearly one of the best options out there.

Without wishing to get back into the never ending debate about modular vs. integrated it seems to me, especially as the MPL is getting more common, that the proportion of low hour jobs at the airlines that CTC/OAA/FTE take up is only going to get more extensive as time goes by, especially for jobs on the A320/737 type of aircraft.

I doubt very much that CTC would still be as popular and successful as it is if it genuinely didn't deliver jobs in a relatively short space of time to the majority of its Wings students.

At the end of the day one just has to read all the stuff on here, talk to people who have been through the process etc, and decide...:hmm:

If you want something bad enough, go and get it.
 

Yo!

Anyone here interviewing on the 19th June?

Wow! Looks like I killed the convo a little ay!?...:sad:

Anyone on CP112 (September) PM me and we'll get a Facebook group going

Can someone answer me this...

Why is the flying phase in New Zealand so long? I mean normally in an intensive environment it would be possible to teach a PPL in two months and the CPL probably in another two at the very most.

Yet reading the CTC wings course description describes eight months in New Zealand...what on earth do you spend your time doing? :confused:

ContactTower, setting off Fire Extinguishers and watching online movies at Clearways, the campus accommodation.

Joking aside, OAA Phoenix is normally a 5-month stretch but this too can vary with availability of aircraft and instructors. I believe the same is true at CTC with regards to potential limited availability.

Also, if you stayed here you'd be doing an hours building element with the modular route. You dont quite have to do the equivalent, but you dont just finish a PPL then leap straight into the CPL

I will admit that it is perhaps unnecessarily long, when we were there there was a lot of instructors leaving for their first airline jobs which made it all a little slower. You end up flying solidly for 1 week and then have 2 weeks with nothing on.

With your time off, get down to Raglan as much as possible, get a season pass on the Luge at Rotorua, Tauranga is a lot nicer than Hamilton so go down there for the day. There is a bit to do but just remember that it is a country for tourists so everything does end up costing a lot. Apart from that, just sit in your room and dream about the big shiny jet!

Now that airlines like Monarch & Qatar have launched their own program's, who do you think most people will end up working for? Given the other partner airlines may not be expanding as much etc

Longest wait in the pool at the moment around 9 months. 50+ starting TR from September. EasyJet have just ordered 135 new airbus, the current generation A320 due for delivery from 2015. Doesn't look too gloomy?!