University Student Planning Career. Which airline to Become a pilot with?
 

Hey Guys,

I'm an aviation student at Griffith Uni, Queensland, and am aiming to get into a cadetship with QANTAS.

I know how important it is to make the right decision when choosing an airline to take up a career with, as usually they are seniority based...

I was hoping to get some opinions from pilots on any Pros/Cons of working for any particular airlines as i've got no idea who i should be looking at.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks alot,

Elliot

God, I wish I was in a position to choose which airline to work for.

Rule 101: Avoid working for no wages.

Rule 102: Unless lucky enough to have multiple job offers to consider, take whatever comes up.

Ah, the innocence of yoof... I remember. :ok:

Shortyy, you're 17 days late! I think that makes you the fool! :eek: :E

Lifestyle and pay are THE two factors in aviation with early promotion probably coming in after that- no good getting an early promotion if your lifestyle and pay aren't what you or your family need to survive. A search of these forums for terms such as lifestyle, conditions and tacking in the respective airline will give you some useful information.

First work out how to construct a sentence that does not end with "with".

This is something, up with which, I will not put.

haha this is great, if only we could all pick who which airline to work for :cool:

Geez CC you remember your "yoof", I have problems remembering what happened yesterday.:confused: Hmm, maybe its the Turkey (gobble gobble) thats doing it.:}

Don't get your hopes on just one airline as you may end up bitter and twisted. You might also be the right person for the job at the wrong time. Airlines are very cyclical and even though there is a recruiting boom at present that might end next year. So just take each opportunity as it comes along. Giving the cadetship a go is a good start at this stage. However be aware that if the pilot market goes bad and you are left out in the cold for a few years your qualifications will be worth much.

Jeez!
 

What a group of grumpy old farts. The kid didn't say he got to pick which airline he works for, he was asking which ones are better to set your sights on.

What is wrong with having a long term plan? As in 'someday I would really like to work for [insert airline of choice here], and this is the long term plan I will set out to get me there.'

How good is it going to sound in 5-10 years time when he is sitting in the interview with said airline of choice and he can say 'I have always wanted to work for xxxxx and these are the things I have been doing for the last five years to get myself prepared.'

If you don't have a plan to get somewhere you are going to end up nowhere.

Hey Semper, if "the kid" didn't title the thread then the answers might've been different. Perhaps the Uni edjumacation could be used to string a cogent question together. Oh, that's right, in the modern education system, "kids" aren't tought grammar, and punctuation, and expression; they've just got to get the message across. :p

And now for the serious answer. In my experience, most companies are much of a muchness. And pilots are the world's best wearers of rose coloured glasses. It's a well known fact that rose coloured glasses always make the grass look greener in the next paddock. :oh:

And to our young friend Shortyy, work hard, don't give up despite those setbacks that you're almost certain to experience, and most likely you'll get there. A word of caution; Cadetships can leave you short of command experience to subsequently gain a command. My only experience with them is colleagues who have been cadets, and almost without fail, they had to exert pressure, and pester the Flt Ops folk, to get the command experience so that could progress their career. I'm not saying don't do it, just make sure you know what you're being offered, and that there is a defined path to command.

I blame the current society of Sausage Mills for todays warped perspective on employment prospects upon graduation/completion of said courses.

I too was once fed the same line in the middle of my TIF, which I took with a grain of salt. Lucky for me I have relations already in the industry who have given me harsh but very constructive criticism in regards to what to expect once completing CPL/MECIR and ATPL subjects.

Cadetships @ QF sound great, but they are to be treated with caution, as there are many avenues that one aspiring pilot can be easily seduced and mislead, especially when it comes to forking out $$$ to complete ontop of the already mammoth training fees, and the dark grey cloud hanging over what actual command time you get for above said $$$ :yuk:

Why is it that more and more younger pilot wannabes are shrugging off a couple of years doing hardyards in GA? Why is GA so distasteful? :ugh:

I think we have found one of the reasons why alot of promising hopeful cadets have difficulty when it comes time to being checked to line :hmm:

I would have to agree with you jbr76.

I only earned my CPL last year and many of the students coming through with me, airlines were all they where aiming for. I am not saying this is a bad thing. I will no doubt end up there one day, but first I would like to not only have some fun but do some 'real' hands on flying in GA.

I have been in GA since and I am absolutely loving it. Sure pays not the best, and you sometimes are living in some, well, interesting places, but, hell, isn't it fun.

Personally, for me there wouldnt be anything more boring than going straight from a school to a 3rd Officer on long haul RPT. (No offence to the boys and girls doing it) Just I would like to experience aviation first. And I have no intention of rushing through it. However being able to say "I'm a QF driver flying a 747 to London" has somewhat more of a status pull than "I'm flying Charter in a 206 out of a community in the Territory." This I think is what some of the people I know, are chasing, the status.

Everybody has their own career goals, and obviously what they want to achieve out of their career. All that really is differing is the road enroute to obtaining them.

Hey Guys,

Firstly: I apologise for my lack of attention to grammar. I haven't been on this forum in a while and forgot its a pet hate of a fair few in here.

I also want to clarify a few things...

I know that there aren't any guarantees in the airline industry, even if it is in a recruiting boom at the moment, and I am only aiming for the cadetship. I should have both my CPL and ATPL theory done by the end of my 3 years in the Griffith Program. If I dont get into the cadetship then there are always other pathways to look at. I am not making any assumptions about getting into the QANTAS cadetship. (If I do get in and succeed then I would be looking at a two year contract with a QANTAS subsidiary which would help with the hours.) I know that it is not always a matter of choosing an airline, I am just hoping for personal opinions on working for various airlines and which, if I get the choice, are the best. (Though I do know that the suitability of a person to an airling varies alot).

Semperfly You're right, I do just want some advice on who to choose from when I reach a point where I have to make a decision..Sorry Keg I dont quite understand the 17 days late bit?

Also, please forgive my ignorance, What is GA?


Thanks for all your advice.

Elliot

shortyy, the only thing that matters is that you fit the personality profile required by QF. The degree and all the bells and whistles do not matter.

All those places they send you are fine.

Ga (general aviation) has a variety of different defenitions. Some will call it everywhere but the full service airlines (QF CX EK) some will call it "pistons" ect. Basically its where new pilots go to get experience.

Good luck.

Good grief, I am going to throw up......:mad:

Correct me if I'm wrong but you did year 12 in 2006? Did you start your uni course in 2007? Even if you didn't start it until this year I find it hard to believe that you'd be in a uni aviation course- possibly second year- and and not yet know what GA is. If that is correct then you either need to find a better uni course or you're a troll.

God, who knows what they teach these guys in uni now.......:ugh:

I think what we're looking at here is the result of the standard university based flight school brainwashing bullsh:mad:t where they tell all these aspiring kids that a) If they do their course they will be flying airliners in no time and b)you cant get any sort of aviation job without an aviation degree. And naturally the course attached to the Aviation degree is quite considerably more than the 40-odd grand it costs to do it at the aeroclub!!! These damn outfits just aim everything at airlines and forget about what will come in between, like bush flying in a 206 loaded up to the gunwales off a short one way dirt strip on a 42 degree day with a tail wind!!
Whatever happened to teaching 'real' flying!!!
Anyway thats my rant for the day, I feel much better now :ok:

Ah ,todays Universities, where they take your money and teach you more and more, about less and less, until you know everything about absolutely nothing!:hmm:

aileron 69, sad to say it but i think you are totally correct. its a very expensive piece of paper and i really can't say it will give you any advantage whatsever in getting a flying job.

It gives you some insight/contacts and and some skill sets but i think people are better off nowadays going straight to the aeroclub and then the bush. far chaeper and no difference at interview time.

the old "in 5 years time only those with degrees will get jobs" just never happened and i came across that one more than a decade ago.