Looking for advice
 

Hello down under,

I am a Captain at a US major airline and have a niece who lives in Sydney and wants to become a professional pilot in Australia. She is 15 and her parents contacted me for advice. I'm not familiar with the industry in your part of the world and would appreciate your insight.

Many thanks in advance.

Xbrit

Apply for a Cadetship. That's what I tell everyone who asks me.

Yup, that'll work -IF all you want to create is an airborne systems manager.

At that age, your niece should be getting her feet wet in Gliders and planning how to achieve and finance PPL, CPL and (I'm guessing) ATPL theory. She'll notably find out if aviation is really what she wants, and her eyes will be opened to the multitude of other career paths in the cockpit that are available. Going that route, with careful selection of schools and trainers, you'll forge a weapon that knows how to handle the aircraft when a stray electron fries all the magic.

Know some people who had an interest around her age who (20 years later) are professional pilots. "All" took the route of working toward their PPL before they were 17 (most had their PPL before they had a drivers licence). A few didn't progress to pilot as a career.

Perhaps look for a school with a years 11 and 12 flying program (probably only the theory). Some complete their PPL and CPL (theory) before leaving school.

Military aviation? Some downsides and very competitive to get into but is a lot less of a drain on the budget.

regards
layman

xbrit, if your niece is from the US (sorry, cannot deduct if she's a brit/US or Australian) I'd be advising her to do her training in the US where there's more opportunity of work after completing her licence.

train in the USA.. far far cheaper.

- Get a tutor for maths and physics so she has the best chance of getting good passes in her HSC exams. Most airlines require it and it is the best use of her time as a 15 year old.

- Join the Australian Air Force Cadets. Irrespective of whether she wants to pursue a military flying career in the future, the AAFC offers several advantages for young people like her. These include leadership opportunities, very cheap flying lessons, exposure to people who are in the industry, and would possibly improve her self discipline.

- Get her to research all of the cadet pilot opportunities available with major airlines. It's a fluid situation and will be different in a couple of years when she is ready to apply, but the more knowledge she has, the better she can prepare. If airline flying is her goal, cadet pilot programs are the way to go.

- Consider obtaining a CASA class 1 medical, or at least visiting a DAME to be certain she is eligible.

Good luck to her. Regardless of whether she ends up doing it, having a goal at that age gives her a massive advantage.

Not (very) competitive any more if you're female - it's worth a look at.

That's a fair statement Shags...I have a very young friend (22) who has just obtained CPL and is doing the RAAF entrance stuff right now.

There is a push to build the numbers of women in the military with a sublingual undertone for me that there is safety in numbers.

Kaz

Tell her to do an IT degree and forget about becoming a pilot!

The last Bullwinkel I had anything to do with was a very tough lady who survived a machine gunning in the islands.

Start with a trial intro flight and see if she likes it perhaps? Also, if that is the case, I'd be buying Bob Tait's BAK book and doing everything that muffman said. Good Luck!!

Don't stress too much about Year 12 results, airlines don't care, and that's from dealing with a few majors in this country. Not saying slack off just don't get upset if things don't go your way. I didn't do physics nor even finished high school but successfully been employed on a narrow body for 20 years. All down to attitude.

Also agree with the above. Get the Bob Tait BAK book now. Start getting familiar with the language.

Make sure she does an aviation medical first.

Yr12 does matter. All airlines bar a few require it. Don't do an aviation degree. Business or Engineering is much better and worthwhile. My Maritime master IV which took 12 weeks is worth 10 times more than my "Diploma" of aviation which took 18 months

I'm sorry you're triggered when you hear the word "cadet", but guess what? Almost every airline in Australia has had cadetships of various kinds throughout their existence. Obviously they have no qualms putting an "airborne systems manager" as you call them into the front seats of their jets.

I'll concur with what some others have said, do a class 1 medical, pass physics and maths, take a few trial flying lessons, and speak to some people in the industry to see what their actual job life is like. Don't worry too much about getting a PPL or anything before leaving school, most pilots I know (myself included) might have had lessons but didn't have a PPL or anything before leaving school.

And yeah if airline captain is her goal, apply for every good cadet program out there. Forget what the naysayers say, Australia (and the rest of the world) is different to the US. A cadet program is the best way to get into a major airline.

Check out the Aviation degree at the University of New South Wales. It is based in Sydney with a flying school at Bankstown in the outer suburbs. A degree in aviation studies and a licence.

Hard to beat

Many thanks everyone. She has done a trial lesson and loved it and that's exactly how i got hooked.... If she goes down the GA route I will suggest to her parents that she comes over here to train and build time. I personally think the RAAF or any other branch of the military that offers flying is the way to go. She is a UK citizen with PR in Oz. Here in the USA doing MIL service gets you citizenship. Is that the same in Australia?

If she has a permanent residency visa already she can typically become a citizen after two years. Employment or military service is immaterial. There's no further requirements for the standard types of PR visas - but to be certain you need to review the exact conditions of her visa type (they aren't all created equally).

xbrit. I knew when you commenced this thread that the responses would varied and divergent, as you will see. This is merely a reflection of the very wide variety of avenues which may open up for entry into Australian commercial aviation.

For everyone the route to an airline Seat 0A is different. At 15 years of age one dreams of the supreme job at end of the road, but no idea of the path to take, which is mostly dictated by opportunity, ability and skill. And a modicum of good luck......

If she is 15, her first priority is completion of High School with good results in academic subjects.

If she is really committed to a flying career, at her age and whilst at school join the Air Cadets and a Gliding Club.

If she is still committed to flying on completion of year 12, take a break year, get a job and self fund a PPL.

After all that, she should know what she really wants and how to get there without the widely varying suggestions here.

I don't know the acceptance rate but it must be something around 1% of applicants? Excellent high school results, a PPL and possibly a Degree may improve the odds?

It used to be the case for Officers recruited overseas. But your girl has no hope of being accepted in the Australian Military if she is not an Australian Citizen - especially as a cadet officer:

As an Aussie I would be totally appalled to think my tax money was being used to train a non citizen pilot, who could up and leave when she has an RAAF pilot qualifications at a cost to the tax payer around a million dollars!! :=

And as a Non Citizen, if she decides to undertake a Degree, she is up for full tote odds on the Fees, no deferred payment and discounted HECS fees. As it should be!

If she hold Aussie PR and has four year residence in Australia, she can apply for Australian Citizenship which will be granted when she turns 16. Australia allows dual and multiple Citizenship.

If she wants our public funding towards her education and flying perhaps a commitment to our Country should be her first objective? :=