Just replying to your answer here from earlier in the year as I wanted to run this email past you that I've received from a flight school I'm looking at. It was im reference to asking them about following a modular route. Can you tell me if you think the numbers add up? Their fully intergrated course is around €62k."Once you obtain your PPL (with Night Rating), you can follow the following modular pathway:

1. Build-up Hours
   If you already have 50 hours of total flight experience, you will need approximately 110 additional hours (to meet the minimum requirements for the CPL).
   Cost: 110 hours x €240 = €26,400
2. ATP Modular Theory (Distance Learning)
   Cost: €3,000
3. CPL/IR/MEP Modular
   Cost: €26,000
4. MCC or APS MCC

• Standard MCC: €3,000
• APS MCC: €6,000

In total, if you already have a PPL with approximately 50 flight hours, the estimated total cost to complete modular training up to ATPL is €58,000 – €61,000."

Hello all, with regards to the BA-FPP, what’s the salary when you complete the funded training? And will the training cost deducted from the salary? If so for how long the deduction be made?

I’m just trying to work out how it would work out for a mature person like me who’s in their late 30’s and having monthly bills and mortgage to cover.

BA mentions sustenance allowance - how much is this? Has anyone here done the training with BA and managed to do a part time job to cover for the loss of earnings during training.

any help, information and recommendations are welcome. Thanks.

How feasible is it to begin from 0 at age 35 and be sitting in the cockpit in a Brazilian carrier? I already a university degree in an unrelated area (I know this is a requirements for some carriers).

Hello, first post and all so thought I may as well make it here being I’m of an assumed above average age for starting ATPL.

Background is quite an odd one and to be quite honest I’m not sure what, if any difference it would make to a potential recruiter, positive or negative. I always wanted to fly military from a young age, however, poor academic grades meant I had to settle with ground engineer working on harrier and typhoon while working toward the required qualifications to apply to OASC. 6 years in and a good run at selection later saw me entering EFT at Church Fenton giving me a whopping 20 hours before the SDSR struck and was made redundant. At the time I decided to go down the integrated route with Cabair managing to pass 6 of the ATPL exams before that went bust. At this point, I’d simply had enough and couldn’t financially carry on having already sunk my savings into Cabair, so decided on a knee jerk career change.

Fast forward a tough 6 years of university and I’m now a qualified dentist, though to be honest, I don’t really enjoy my work. I’ve often toyed with the ideal of going back to flying and many of my RAF friends still fly, but I’m not certain how realistic it is at 39 to be undertaking an ATPL and have a decent prospect of commercial flying after. Though money shouldn’t play a part, I have to be realistic in that I can’t leave the job I do now to go spend the next 25 years flying regionals - I will have to earn something reasonable even if the average FO salary is still way less than I get now and is a balance I’d be quite happy with.

How realistic at this late stage in the game with the current airline climate to be ending up RH seat for Jet2/TUI/Easy etc in my position probably being 42 by the time I have my fATPL?

I’ve started going back over all the BGS PPL course learning materials and luckily it’s all coming back very fast, so that’s one less worry than starting from fresh.

Thanks

Do you want a 20+ year career?

Cookbot, you are not too old, but may I ask, do you still fly at all for fun now? If not, why not?

Yes, I’d be quite happy to fly all the way up to 65 I expect. Granted I’d likely look to taper hours toward the end,

flying wise, I’ve not done any powered flight since for a few reasons. The main is that being at university I didn’t have the money to do so and I guess as a dental degree is so academic heavy, I didn’t have time. Secondly I was still a bit bitter that I wasn’t going to fly military which was always what I wanted and it’s taken me quite a long time to get over that.

The closest I got to flying, though I did do an awful lot of it was paragliding spending every summer in the alps. Not the same in any stretch but pushing FL45 hanging under essentially a tent gives quite a view.

Then go for it. There is plenty if advice on this forum. Good luck!

I wouldn’t expect you to be flying as a student necessarily, but I’d have thought a dentist’s salary would enable you to do a bit of flying. I think my point is, be careful that you are thinking of switching to a flying career for the right reasons. In the same way you said dentistry was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction - just be sure flying isn’t another one. Twenty years as a commercial pilot will be more than enough career to make it worthwhile though, so if it’s genuinely what you think will make you happy, I say go for it! Life is too short, and time at work too long, to be doing something that you don’t enjoy. So many people do not enjoy their jobs, and it’s something I’ve always considered a real privilege about a flying career. Of all my friends from six years at university, I’m the only one who still genuinely enjoys their career. I’m far from the richest, but I have by far, the best work life balance.

Thanks for the response. The problem with any swap is you’re never truly sure, but it’s been playing on my mind for at least the last 2 years at least. Graduated in 2019, but with post grad training years etc, I’ve only just really got settled with a house and managed to accrue a good chunk of savings.

I’ve decided I’m going to do my ppl and see how I feel at the end of that. If I decide to abort there, at least I still get my licence and can fly just for the fun of it.

ref the money side of things, I’ve had the privilege of being able to realise that money and status - the things you want more as a youngster actually matter little in life to a point and I’ll be happy to take the pay cut to have a better life.

Just to recap. You're 39, you graduated in 2019 and money doesn't matter to you so you don't mind taking a 'low status' job like pilot?

i wouldn’t say low status, but I’m sure there’s people out there that want to move to a flying role for the status and the money. I’m happy to accept a pay drop even in the long term though it would still be considered a high wage. I feel I have to be realistic that a reduced number of years and potentially being seen as ‘too old’ may mean I’ll never see the left hand seat and I’d still be happy with that.

I think doing the PPL and seeing how you feel after scratching the itch with some flying adventures once you’ve obtained it, is a great plan of action.

I'm nearly 34 and going down the dual-licence modular route whilst working full-time, recently passed my first round of ATPL exams (BGS Mod 1) with an EASA average in the high-80's and a CAA average in the mid-90's. I'm enjoying it a lot despite the fact I'm certainly being kept busy.

I'm looking at the wider economic picture and it appears things really aren't looking great, it sort of feels like 2007 all over again but worse. Looking at the posts from the Great Recession era it appeared to take at least 5 years for things to pick up again, assuming a 2026 recession I'd be nearly 40 assuming that sort of timeframe. Did those of you who went modular find that the airlines took a negative view of stringing the training out if the jobs market was weak? If the stock market crashed tomorrow and I decided to take the full 18 months for the ATPL then close to 36 months for the CPL/ME/IR would that put me at a disadvantage?

I'm just seeing the flying schools massively oversubscribed at the moment with large delays or waiting lists, it's very much a training schools' market. I can't help but think there will be large numbers of new graduates looking for non-existent first flying jobs, the only big difference I can see from the Great Recession is that UK jobs won't be open to most of Europe.

I'm even further behind you and do wonder the same, but hear conflicting info being bounced around. There's the angle above that the wesern world is doomed and recission is likely, then I hear how there's a masstive shortage of pilots and there will be a lot of retirees leaving the system without the expected numbers to replace them. I hoesntly don't know what's going to happen. To leave a job that granted I don't enjoy does pay well with lower hours is a difficult decission to make when there's no certainty of a job at the end of it.

Hey everyone, I guess I'll add my age question and situation aswell

So, I just turned 34 a couple months ago. I have been a fan of aviation for a long time, I have tried to apply to be a pilot for Lufthansa, but their cadet program accepts only a low % of applicants, and sadly I wasn't one of them. I went for a degree in computer science, and have been a developer for about 6 years by now. But the IT world and office work / corporate is just slowly draining the life out of me.

Now I managed to save up some money in that time, so I could go for the integrated ATPL course with someone like Bartolini in L๓dź (I'm a german/polish dual citizen) and dedicate all my time to it, without having to rely on a job during that time.

Obviously its still a huge chunk of money so if there is no chance to get a job after it, I wouldn't do it. I know nobody here has a crystal ball and can't say what the future is going to look like in 2 years. But maybe someone can still give me their opinion about my age and the potential prospects of landing a job in Germany or Poland (or anywhere else, I'm mobile). if I started my journey ASAP, I would probably be done a little after my 36th birthday. I have no wife or kids so as I said before, I would be willing to relocate anywhere.

It's feasible for sure. You'll hopefully pick up a job with Ryanair etc. Get the hours and experience up and then decide where you want to go as you approach 40. Before you spend any money, make sure you can pass the Class 1 medical. So long as you're flexible where you're sent while you train/gain initial experience, then you're good to go.

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I'd like to ask you a question.
What is the oldest pilot you have ever met in the cockpit who started their career flying commercial airliners?
Considering that I will pass the Class 1 aviation medical exam, have the money to complete all the required training, and already hold a PPL with 80 hours of flight time — is there a realistic chance of getting a job as a pilot if I obtain a CPL with the necessary ratings and pass the ATPL theory exam, aiming to start working at the age of 46? Is it completely pointless, and is it already too late?

One of the instructors at the club I fly from got his first airline job at 49, I think it took him several years to get it though. He went from DHC-8 RHS to E195 LHS though the airline went bankrupt in 2020.

Wizz recently made an announcement about a future sponsored programme where they were quite open about looking for career changers, so it may be worth keeping an eye out for that if/when applications open. Thinking about it rationally, someone moving in from another industry in their 30's or 40's is much less likely to be attracted by a move to a seniority-orientated rival than someone in their 20's.

If you've got the money then go for it. If you get your first job at 50 you'll still have a 15 year career ahead of you.