jamestkirk

Think carefully before embarking on this.

I always encourage people to look at OAA employment statistics.

2012 : 202 people got got but 159 had to pay for TR.

Only 43!! got jobs without having to pay for it. Some of those are not UK carriers and doubt that a UK resident would be considered for a vacancy.

8 went to flybe and in all probability will be facing redundancy.

I have been told on good authority OAA throw in the stats people who trained from previous years and modular.

I joined a UK regional airline 6 years ago thinking 'couple of years then something better'. Hasn't happened for nearly all of us. Very few went on to Jet2 and a few to vistajet.

I don't want to p*ss on anyone BBQ but getting a job can be the hardest part of the course, if you know what i mean

VOZzer

Hello all,

I appreciate this is probably post #4723462374 on this topic but nonetheless I am in need of some serious answers. Please bare with me.

I am a UK student in my final year of A-Level exams looking for a career as a Pilot. I am taking Physics, Maths and Chemistry and am looking to get A*, A, A respectively.

However, I also hold a PPL and have almost achieved my IMC rating.

As far as I am aware, this rules me out of most airline integrated "sponsorship" schemes since I have more than 85 hours of flying experience.

However, I am also aware that the most favoured route for employment is the integrated route. As a result, I'd like to do the self-funded Integrated course at OAA to maximize my chance.

Again however, I may consider going to University to do an undergraduate Physics degree. By the point of completing this degree I would have probably amassed 200+ flight hours just from leisure flying in my spare time, which would make doing a "from scratch" integrated course quite silly.

As a result, I have considered the modular route. However, I keep hearing repeated stories over and over again that fresh modular pilots are unemployable. Indeed, apparently BA do not accept modular pilots.

So this is my dilemma. I want to do the APPFO course at OAA but am not sure it's best for me. Modular would be good but I am worried about the lack of employability.

I have attended many different airline career days, including several at OAA, and I keep coming away asking the same questions to myself in my head.

Any advice at all will be appreciated.

119.35

I would not embark on flight training if I was a doctor, probably full stop. The only possible caveat I would add to this was unless I had a large pot of cash that could fund being out of work and to subsidise a poor first wage. And then, if I had a large pot of cash on top of that needed for flight training, I would probably use it for something else!

So you get lucky and bag a job with a TP operator 1 to 2 years post training and the starting salary is circa £20k to £25k PAYE, based god knows where. That's a long time earning stuff all!! Can you survive on that, let alone live!?

And you really have to get lucky to land that gig. Draw up a list of operators who employ low hour modular graduates, it won't be a very long one. Add to that Easy and Ryan expansion coming to an end soon and you'll have a large number of integrated students going for those jobs too. Going integrated isn't paved with gold either, there is quite a significant amount chasing jobs on scabby TP the other side of the globe now!

It's bleak out there and I can't see it getting any better anytime soon unfortunately. I think I've just talked myself out of the caveat!!

mad_jock

I suspect the airlines who take low houred modular pilots will continue to do so and the intergrated will continue not to get a look in.

Currently there are sales reps travellng around europe visiting anyone from the operators flying the biggest heaps of poo upwards if there is a sniff they are taking on low houred FO's.

The operators who currently take modular will have been visited already and will have declinded the offer from the schools because they prefer modular trained pilots. More intergrated trained pilots applying for the jobs will just mean more cv's in the bucket.

Matt7504

Sorry I just need to correct a point which appears to be a recurring theme on the previous page and that is that BA apparently don't take on modulars. Whilst at CTC ground school, I had the fortunate luck of encountering a BA captain who assists in interviewing applicants and I posed the question to him "Do BA take on Modular applicants" and his response was that they do as long as they had 1500 hours, then it makes no difference. So all this "BA don't take on modulars", that is untrue. That is all

Libertine Winno

Agree with the above post.

Think about it; if BA only took pilots who came from an integrated school, don't you think the likes of Oxford and CTC would be making a MASSIVE noise about it in their marketing?!

"Go integrated or NEVER get into BA...fact!" (or something similar!)

They will only take low hours guys direct from an integrated school (specifically from Oxford/CTC/FTE via the Future Pilot Programme) but for direct entry all they care about is how you perform in the sim and at assessment, that is how they will judge you, not based on whic school you came from.

Artie Fufkin

Macs86

Modular vs integrated is too emotive a subject to get an objective reply. You will see very partial views one way or the other, largely backed by a person who trained that particular way.

Modular or integrated, either way, I don't see a whole lot out there for either at the moment. There have been a lucky few outside the tagged schemes on the integrated side who have made it into Monarch, easy and Thomson recently. A similar handful have gone into regional turboprops recently via the modular route. Either way, Ryanair aside, its slim pickings.

The way I have seen some not insignificant success recently is the canny cadet (either mod or int) obtaining a job as cabin crew / flight planner / ops / dispatcher at a target airline and getting into the flight deck through the back door. It is a very quiet side of recruitment, but it happens quite a lot at the right airline. Read the article on the last page of Flight this week as an example.

It is impossible to plan which route is best, because by the time you have trained, the situation will most likely have changed. The old adage "You pay your money and take your chances" remains regrettably true.

EcamSurprise

Indeed,
easyJet recently run some internal recruitment for those who already hold a fATPL and working within the company.
They are now doing their type ratings with CTC and will be joining us on the line soon.

Private_flyer

Hi all,

Thought I would ask here for advice. I have PPL, night rating and am finished ATPLs.

Options for me are:

1. Hour build, CPL and ME/IR this side of pond
2. Hour build, CPL in States and return for ME/IR (quicker option)

I'm leaning towards hour build and CPL in States and return to get ME/IR. This would get me finished quicker. Just wondering is there much movement out there at the moment? I've heard of couple guys having followed similar route getting into Jet2.com. I wouldn't mind instructing for a while when finished or flying the TPs.



Given it'll take me probably another year to get done, do the pros (WWW for instance) see a pick up? What would be my main options once done? Ryan, Jet2.com I know would consider me. What about others?



Would love ideas from others out there! Thanks.

captain.weird

What about when you can do the 0 to hero traject by the integrated way, but for the same costs as modular?

Like Egnatia and Baltic Aviation Academy.. you can get your licences for approx. €60k..

RedBullGaveMeWings

Captain.weird, there are other places where you can lower the cost: it's Poland! And the licence would still be issued by the UK CAA.

RedBullGaveMeWings

That's why I came here reading this thread, because I have to ask the question that Private_flyer asked. I have always been leaned towards modular route.
I have no flight experience so my options are:

1. PPL in Europe and ATPL theory, CPL and ME/IR somewhere in Europe, preferably in the UK;
2. From 0 to ATPL Frozen in the States with ME/IR conversion in Europe

Any suggestion?

fulminn

first one..
JAA european course no conversions.
without any doubt.

gpiper

Guys the modular route is not always the cheapest, sometimes it is more expensive and in the end most of the guys doing the modular, do their training in several schools do save money, which is a big mistake and airlines an not so keen with that. As I said in my thread, the golden rule is to do all your training at the same place, the same school. It doesn't matter if it is integarted or modular, what matters is the training to be done in one place.
Another thing, now there is a new course, known as structured modular, which basically is a full time course, you begin flying early in your training, and you get your licenses as soon as you finnish each module. By far the best choice in the days we live in, and the cheapest. A friend of mine completed his trainig after two years, chose the modular route to save money, cost him 90k euros. Training at one place is the way to go!

gpiper

G-FATTY

Which FTO did you do your training, and also which FTO in Bournemouth do you recommend because as far as I know there are 3 schools there.

lukemitchell95

With the modular training do you get flight training included with the programme? And also do you have to get hour building separately?

PigeonVoyageur

All the modules which require flying should include flight training - Private Pilots Licence (PPL), Hour Building, Night Rating, Multi Engine Class Rating, Commercial Pilots Licence(CPL) and Multi Engine Instrument Rating - except the ATPL which is ground class and Multi-Crew Cooperation (MCC) course which is in a simulator only. However, ensure that the price quoted includes or excludes any landing/approach fees, flight test aircraft rental and examination fees (where exams are required).

As listed above, hour building is considered a separate module.

smartguy

if you do modular training you will very unlikely be offered a job straight into an airline. you would have to do a year or so as a flight instructor then apply for the airlines after clocking around 1500 hours. that's why I personally think integrated is a better option if you want to get into the airlines quickly and easily

lukemitchell95

so after the ground school part, you get a fATPL then do you have to get a PPL in order to build up your hours and turn it into a full ATPL?

Matt7504

As modular you must have a PPL before commencing an ATPL ground school theory class. You do not have a Frozen ATPL when you complete the ground school, to have a frozen ATPL, you must have a CPL/IR with the ATPL theory completed, this will then become an ATPL once you have completed 1500 hours of flying whilst ticking other boxes also.
There is also no such license as a Frozen ATPL, it is just a nickname for having a CPL/IR and ATPL Theory under your belt, but not having completed the 1500 hours and other requirements.