FUNDING for commercial pilot training
 

Hi all,

Am new to PPRuNe, so I apologise if there is already a thread about this!!

I was wondering if anyone was aware of any routes into the industry that have funding/scholarships available??

I am currently doing my PPL and have a place at Uni for 'aviation studies and commercial flight training' unfortunately it will cost in the region of £55,000-£70,000 (on top of tuition fees) to complete all the training. I have looked into ATPL Finance and other such companies, but we live in rental so don't have any possessions that can be secured.

I cannot take the military route due to failing the medical due to previous cancer diagnosis (am in remission and do hold a Class 1 certificate) :ugh:

any advice would be appreciated.

Not what you want to hear, I'm sure, but you're more or less stuck. Nobody is going to lend you the amount you need unsecured.

Some of the tagged schemes with, for example, CTC seem to be moving towards a model where the airline MAY offer to stand as guarantor for a loan, but your options are going to be severely limited if you can't get on such a scheme.

There's a lot of information on these threads so I'd take some time to skim through it. As ever, take everything with a hefty pinch of salt.

BA and Aer Lingus are the only two airlines (in Europe at least) who will help you with funding. These schemes are highly competitive but definitely worth a shot. IMO they are by far the best way to become an airline pilot at the moment. West Atlantic have run a scheme for PPL holders in the past.

Other than that, some airlines run mentored schemes with no financial help but an (almost) guaranteed job at the end of it (Easyjet MPL etc). Then there are airlines who take on 200hr candidates who have either trained modular or gone through CTC et al. The common denominator with all of these is the requirement to access large amounts of money at your own risk. Until more airlines start to care about social mobility and equal opportunities then I'm afraid it's going to remain a closed shop...

If you dont have a lump of cash lying about and are unable to use a house to secure a loan, then your only two options are a scheme such as the BA FPP or get yourself a job which will allow you to fund modular training.

Personally I don't see much value in these "aviation studies with pilot training" type degrees. If you want to be a pilot, start your pilot training.

I know some people want to do degrees for more reasons than just the qualification, if thats the case then do a degree in something other than aviation so that when aviation inevitability goes tits up again you would atleast have a good grounding in another career.