jamesgrainge

Phew. Why don't you give it up if you don't like it?

Personally, and only personally, the question, would I rather work in a shop for £7.50 an hour, or would I rather fly the world for £7.50 an hour, can only be answered one way. For some of us it is more than simply a job.

MrWingNut

Thanks for the answers guys. Good to see two totally different opinions. Council Van I was thinking more along the lines that you are. I have money and plenty of time off to go flying as I wish. Would I be happier becoming an airline pilot? Probably! But thats the million dollar question..I don't know. Every job becomes just a job doesn't it.

jamesgrainge

The fact he has even considered it must tell you someone though. Personally, if he earns that salary I would simply save up and go Modular, then even if he hates it by the end of CPL it's an experience, he has an IR so can fly anywhere (within reason) and can continue working at his current role. Not many of us can say we are in that kind of incredible position to be able to do so. I enjoy my job, I would still fly even for the current 40k I earn now given the choice. Please don't discourage people based on your perspective of a job you aren't too fond of anymore.

MrWingNut

A tiny bit more detail.. It definitely wouldn't be £7.50 with Wizz. It's an established cadet route into a long haul airline. The pay still starts very low obviously but longer term is certainly nothing to complain about. Modular may well be the better route regarding finance and overall enjoyment. As well as burning no bridges etc.

nici22

Hi everbody,

I’m searching for a good flight school in the US for the summer months July and August. I want to do my PPL (A). I read a lot about a few flight schools and the wise advice to go to the part of the US where less tourism is.
I just wonder which states (and maybe flight schools) you recommend because of the summer weather. I guess I have to avoid Florida. I only get 6 weeks off working to achieve my goal.

MrWingNut

Sorry.. My post wasn't clear. I meant it's not £7.5 and it's not Wizz. It's a UK LH airline. Your view is still valid though! It's probably less than Wizz after loan repayments!

Thegreenmachine

There is another thread on this where a lot of this is answered. A 30 second summary...
Local students mainly go home, guys from far afield or abroad will stay weekends.
Best to ask the school about where the training is done. You would need a very good reason to not go where they ask you to go.
If you bring packed lunch and live frugally I'd say £50 a week could be done fairly comfortably, not including lodgings. If you eat well, go out once in a while and go for a few drinks after exams, travel home etc, bump that up accordingly.
Starting salary is a bit of an unknown depends on which country you will be based in, 25-40k at a very loose guesstimate(?)
I understand bases will be assigned towards the end of the course, depending on the needs of the business.

tom775257

MrWingNut. From the little you describe of your position I would personally recommend to keep your current job and use the money to fly GA as a hobby which, in my opinion, is much more fun. See how much money you would lose in loss of earnings / 'enormous loan' in the years until you get your command and can match you current salary (that is if you have the aptitude for command in the end).. think about how much amazing GA flying that could buy.

Jamesgrainge. I think you have to cut commercial pilots who have become jaded some slack. I suspect the kind of personality that pushes themselves to become a pilot be it PPL or ATPL always looks for new challenges in life. I used to see it in PPLs who would rapidly give up flying after taking their friends/families for a few local flights. Once you have achieved whatever you wanted to for many it becomes boring. Airline flying is very regimented and rightly offers little room for 'having a bit of fun' thus not particularly interesting after a fairly short period of time. I see many disinterested senior FOs awaiting command who have run out of challenges. Add onto this constant exams and airlines regularly in crisis/job uncertainty you can perhaps see why people are sometimes hesitant to recommend it to someone with a high paying, secure, enjoyable career.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

MrWingNut

tom775257 thanks for the time to write that. Appreciated!

Qtr Life Crisis

MrWingNut, I was in the same position you are with the seemingly small but realistically huge difference that my high paying Job was not enjoyable at all so I have just left and am about to start training again after stopping years ago. I did however save up quite a lot and am fortunate enough that I will have no debt on completion. So if you are earning that much and you aren't sure (which you don't seem to be asking on here) then save up some money while doing as advised above and do some flying. I did PPL,NVFR and ME/P and before I went overseas with work and stopped training but that was all I needed to know that I wanted to do it forever. There were just no jobs at the time so I waited for a while!! Good luck whatever you do!

Qtr Life Crisis

As for the having fun and being challenged bit, I agree with Jamesgrainge - I have no first hand experience as I am not a pilot yet - but one small note I might add on/ask about is something that I have observed with my pilot mates. There seems to be a lot of room for fulfilling those personal growth needs outside of the job isn't there?. Obviously the job has contact hour limits for safety but almost every pilot I know has a fair bit of time off and some crazy hobby that they are extremely skilled and invested in, or they are amazing parents to their kids (a fulfilling challenge I know about first hand). When I spent almost all of last year in a pretty awful desert with work without a single day off I would get emails from my pilot mates who (although they work very hard for not great airlines) sometimes forget that 8-10 days off a month is actually pretty amazing. I know that I am in no way qualified to talk and I know that these days off are necessary for work life balance and safety but sometimes I think pilots forget that most people in our developed countries are working 6 10 hour days a week for 10 days of annual leave a year and the same if not worse pay check!!

again not having a go at all! (especially as its the job I want more than anything), just observation based on conversation and research like reading that Wiz Link above. Ill just have to see how it goes in the long run!

Clarkt

Hello guys and happy new year! Found this amazing forum after looking for some advice with regard to a320 flare techniques, which I'm using on my study level simulator. After seeing multiple threads (and mostly those like this very one) I decided to join. I am 15 years old and I live in Greece. Being a pilot has been my dream since a very young age. My hobby is simulating real aircraft operations to the ultimate way. That's why I have invested in buying high quality simulators, which even impress real pilots. I am a top student and I have a good health but, I am looking for some advice when it comes to reaching the right seat. Money is an issue, I think is too unsafe as well to get an ATPL as soon as I finish school. So my questions are, are there cadet programms for EU citizens? Do you think it's worth it to do a job until the age of 30 and then get your ATPL? All answers and advice are welcome, thank you for reading.

EGPF

Hi, I'm new here.

I am a very keen to seat myself on the right seat of a commercial airliner and have done a lot of research but any help is very appreciated of.

So I am a year away from completing my secondary study and I believe I have two options:

Go to University
or
Do the EasyJet MPL or BA FPP (If the chance to is there)

Which would be really appropriate?

If I should go to university:
Is it a good idea to even take an aviation course, if it is, can you suggest a good aviation course for university that I should consider (particularly in Scotland).

Thanks for any help and tips, once again its really appreciated.

harshmike

The BA FPP is currently undergoing a review of how it works, so I wouldn't expect that vacancy to open anytime soon, however I would be confident of it opening whilst you are at university. The EasyJet MPL opens every autumn around the same time its a consistent guarantee; opens around the same time as the Virgin Atlantic and Qatar Airlines equivalents.


You have a lot of other options you could do your ATPL and then apply to the Jet2 Apprentice scheme or apply as a cadet to Ryanair.


University wise I don't know much about that, my best advice would be to a course you have a passion for and want to investigate further.


If you have never flown an aircraft I would suggest having a few flights from your local flight school or even go for your PPL, but you have to keep under 90 hours if I remember correctly to be eligible for the EasyJet MPL.


I would recommend getting your medical sorted, before you commit to anything.


Also, why not get Lockheed Martins Prepar3D and some study sim aircraft it will help you no end in understanding systems. Also if you get on the Vatsim network it will really improve your short term memory!

KayPam

Hello
I have very practical questions about European licensing, and English language proficiency.
I am training for the theoretical ATPL in France right now. My school says I have to take the theoretical exams in France. Ok.
After that, I plan on moving to another country for the practical training. I am still hesitating between possibilities ranging from ultra low cost to FTE Jerez or even Oxford/CTC (will depend on available funding), but there is a 99% chance I will train abroad.

What is the difference between a French licence and another European license ?
Does it change anything whatsoever to have a licence from another CAA than the one of one's country of residence ?
For instance, in the unfortunate event that I don't have a job after one year, and that I need to revalidate my IR-MEP, can I revalidate these ratings in France or do I have to travel abroad, again ?

I read in the FCL-55 that if a skill test was performed in English, it would serve as a language proficiency test. However, which level would this give ?
If I wanted a level 5 or 6, what would I need to do in addition ? (apart from being proficient of course)

TakeOff321

Hi, im new to this forum and wondering if you guys have any experience with aeros? im looking at doing the fast track zero to atpl course at aeros in Coventry

I have been thinking for sometime which route to take.... integrated or modular, aeros flight training (modular) or apply for a scheme through an airline, or CAA Oxford (Integrated) but my choice has been to go with aeros.
is that a good choice? is there a good chance joining an airline as a first officer soon as I have completed my atpl at aeros? or can it take time? what are the potential starting wage and max wage flying for an airline such as Ryanair, flybe, easyjet?

Sorry for all the questions, hope you guys can help

Thanks In advance!

hobbit1983

Go flying. Uni does not directly help. It's good to have a backup career; but at 9k a year?

KayPam

Hello
If you want to become a pilot, you should try to get inside an MPL programme ASAP

If this does not work, what are you going to do ? You can either train without a sponsor airline or go to uni. At 9k a year, I would hesitate before going there..
If you ended up going to uni, I would recommend a high paying field of study (research them).
A good aviation course will help, but not as much as a well paying job.

Aluminium shuffler

MPLs are very restrictive, tying you to your first airline. They tend to pay poorly, too, during cadetships, meaning that if you can stump up the cash, an ATPL course is financially better in the long run, as well as much more secure. MPL also prohibits the pilot working in a single pilot environment, precluding many sorts of flying job.

andyc1988

I read that the MPL can be converted into an ATPL after 1,500 flying hours, similar to the fATPL. Is this as easy as it is made out, or are there likely to be considerable costs involved? There isn't much information available on this online.