How can a B777 first officer be so young?
 

Hi!

I was looking at some B777 pictures on Airliners.net and found this picture:
Photos: Boeing 777-2B8/ER Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

And, I just have to ask: How can such a young gentleman be a B777 FO? He looks like 25-26 years old... maximum.

come to india and you will see 19 year old first officers on the B737NGand 25 or 26 is not young for a 777 FO if you come thru t he airlines cadet programregards

I suppose you might be alarmed to find 19/20 year olds in command of front line fighters as well...

BA and its previous incarnations have had such youngsters operating large aircraft for years.

If he was in the left hand seat then maybe there's a question there, but not the right!

Captain I flew with recently started with BA as a cadet when he was 18 years old and his first type out of flying college was the 747 classic at 19 years old. So it is certainly achievable, he did say that he did get lots of funny looks from pax when they saw him sitting in the right hand seat on flight deck visits (when they were allowed).:eek:

Pilots in diapers
 

I recall the late 1960s in USA...
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Some F/Os with Continental Airlines could not be upgraded to captain, until they had reached their 23rd birthday, minimum age for issue of the FAA ATPL. So, these few gentlemen were probably sitting in the LH seat of 720s or 727s by the age of 23 plus a few weeks. I also recall some PSA pilots having that situation. With PanAm, we had a 27 years old checking-out as 747 captain.
xxx
Back then, the FAA ATPL required 1,200 hours TT as pilot...
Try that with your so called MPL, or whatever you call that piece of paper.
Was the good old days, with the barrel of oil at $16.oo.
xxx
Happy contrails
:)

26 isn't that young in the scheme of things! If he started his type rating at say 18 years of age and was line flying by his 19th birthday then he would have 7 years experience. If his company maxed him out at 900 hours pa then he would have around 6,300hrs on type. Considering the starting point for most jobs is a minimum of only 500 hours on type then you can draw your own conclusions as to whether you consider him to be experienced or not.

I just turned 28 when I started flying the 777. If I remember correctly, the youngest person on the fleet at the time was 24, and he's senior to me! :ugh:

There is at least one teenage co-pilot at BA today, although he's not on longhaul.:cool:

I see. But why is it that some pilots under 30 are happy just to get a job, while others are flying B777 around the world?

If I would like to achieve something similar - how do I do it? Is the answer a cadet program? Or Oxford school?

To fly a B777 when you're under 30 years... wow.. :eek: I just didn't thought that would be possible when you read how hard it is to get a job in the cockpit - even at a Dash 8.

I think it can be agreed that that guy has done alright...

Yes, but it isn't abnormal and certainly nothing new like the OP seems to think.

Its all down to luck to be honest! These young types that get on the heavies at such a young age have the contacts! Daddy flies for x airline and hey presto your in through the back door!

Most of them dont know thier arse from thier elbow but they have the contacts/connections!

I think that's incredibly unfair.

If you start training having left school at 18, finish 19/20, you could be in the right hand seat at 20/21 if you were lucky with the timing and airlines were hiring. Say you were flying for 3 odd years for any short haul airline and you applied to BA, they could offer you long haul as you would have >2000 hours. So it is plausable to be flying long haul by mid-twenties. Yes, it's all about luck, but it's unfair to say every young pilot is crap and only there because dad's the chief pilot.

Oh dear another bitter and twisted wannabe. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story though.

Anyone who knows the recruitment process for the likes of BA knows that even if daddy or mummy were the Chief Pilot then they will still have to jump through the same hoops as everyone else.

Nepotism will generally only get you into the smaller operators. The big boys have batteries of tests and legions of HR people that revel in the delights of ensuring that each box is ticked. Our outfit has been known for a bit of nepotism in the past although it will only get your cv onto the right desk. After that you still have to pass interviews, pyscho babble tests, sim rides, type rating courses, pc's, line checks etc just like everyone else.

When I flew for Ryanair, I sat in the flight deck on the 73-800 at 24 and the skipper was 25!!

Just don't tell the punters!!!! :8

Plenty of 20 year old Second Officers at KLM on the Longhaul fleet.
They have starting positions as FO at KLM Cityhopper and SO at KLM!

If ou ask how can teenagers fly a 777, I know somebody that flies the 747 at Singa pore , how => Air Force.

What can over 26year olds do that under 26 year olds cant?
He would have been through all the training that every pilot has to go through to get the job.
I don't see why age would matter.

Licence: 1 year training
Typerating: 2 months
Minimum age for licence issue: 18

If you start at 17, you could be there at 18. On a 747 (or whatever gives goosebumps). Not theoretically, realistically.
:ok:

Oh dear... :bored:

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I can't really see the point anyway? The OP shows a pic of the back head of a pilot.

Who says he's in his 20ies? He might as well be 35 and look young.

Even if he'd be 25 yrs old.... airline-sponsored flight training at 18, finishes at 20, flies short haul for four years....gives him about 3500 hrs if work is dense, right??

There's nothing abnormal of someone being on a heavy with 3000 plus hrs, right? :suspect: