27, fresh, from 0-atpl in australia
 

g'day,

i am 27 and wannabe a commercial pilot, in fact have always wanted to do this. i have no savings but a new job which should afford me some $$$$ to start. i live in brisbane, qld, australia and i have some questions.
1) is 27 too old to start from scratch with no savings?
2) i want to fly for an airline (anywhere is ok) so should i just go from ppl to cpl and do my atpl and pay as i go, then build hours out bush then apply for airlines?
or
3)save $$$ and apply for cadet programs like qantas or ******
or
4)save $$$ and get my cpl in the phillipines then come back to australia and convert the license to casa

i know that this question gets bandied about the forum every second day but i just wanted some input into my future plans from some people who are already living my dream and can help with some constructive advise.

cheers and beers

brissywannabe

Ok whats with the ****? stuff?
Do you mean Macflight? The M@cair cadetship thingy?





Whats the go woomeri? How come it does the **** thingy?

No too late.
 

You'd probably too late for a QANTAS cadetship. Most 27 year olds who get into QANTAS, VIRG, Jestar have pretty siginficant experience like regional airline flying, airforce, turbine. The same goes for Cathay.

The best bet for an airline job would be to leave OZ after obtaining a CPL/IR and going overseas, like Africa, PNG and building experience. If you persevere and finance your living for about six months without an income in these places, you could gain some serious experience quickly......thats if you survive. Even then, its gonna be difficult getting into an airline in OZ.

If you prepared to move overseas for long time you could probably end up working in the Middle east or SE Asia with a major airline.

Its a big world out there.

i'm not sure if it it this lot of QF cadets or the last lot, but i heard one of them was in their thirties (from a reliable source!):ok:, and that thers been others in their mid-lateish twenties. sometimes older pilots do get in direct entry as well as has already been discussed in other forums so there is some hope. if you try hard enough for long enough you'll probably get a job somewhere...eventually!

Qantas does not discriminate based on age. The course before us there were guys in their 30's. And there were certainly guys in their late 20's the course after us!!

not true. Friend who did his was 31, two other guys on that course were older than 27, and the following year had a chap above 30.

Certainly were some 30+ cadets on the last course, know some of 'em! :}
I say go for it, the worst they can say is no. :ok:

heres the min criteria, No max age shown.
http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/...iteria2007.pdf