Oxford Aviation Airline Preparation Programme.
Joined: Feb 2000
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 17,503
Likes: 1,846
From: England
Catherine - BA have not taken any low time cadets for years, show no signs of doing so and if they did it would be a handful out of hundreds. The possible small scale intention of one company is not a good basis upon which to decide which training route to follow.
Airlines will increasingly fail to discriminate between Modular or Integrated students. You all followed the same syllabus, took the same tests and passed the same exams. I defy the average airline recruiter to tell from a logbook which route you followed...
Its merely a hangover from the last millenium when people trained under two quite distinct and differing regimes - namely CAP 509 and Self Improver.
Cheers
WWW
Airlines will increasingly fail to discriminate between Modular or Integrated students. You all followed the same syllabus, took the same tests and passed the same exams. I defy the average airline recruiter to tell from a logbook which route you followed...
Its merely a hangover from the last millenium when people trained under two quite distinct and differing regimes - namely CAP 509 and Self Improver.
Cheers
WWW
Jet Blast Rat
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,081
Likes: 0
From: Sarfend-on-Sea
Catherine
How many people are likely to end up on this route? BA are not a big first-time employer of self-sponsored students in the best of times.
Anyone setting off on a self-sponsored course with the pure aim of reaching BA is in the wrong place. Not only is it unlikely, but BA gives a career and a well-paid job, not a pilot's job. If people want that do an MBA it's cheaper. If you want to fly go for a smaller operator first. A friend of mine, BA now but with a more ... interesting ... past caused consternation a few years back in a recently-graduated BA cadet by expressing sympathy for the other pilot's route to the job. His explanation was "Well you never really flew an aeroplane"!
Note when BA were last considering recruiting self-sponsored students (August 2001) they were happy with JAR modular!
How many people are likely to end up on this route? BA are not a big first-time employer of self-sponsored students in the best of times.
Anyone setting off on a self-sponsored course with the pure aim of reaching BA is in the wrong place. Not only is it unlikely, but BA gives a career and a well-paid job, not a pilot's job. If people want that do an MBA it's cheaper. If you want to fly go for a smaller operator first. A friend of mine, BA now but with a more ... interesting ... past caused consternation a few years back in a recently-graduated BA cadet by expressing sympathy for the other pilot's route to the job. His explanation was "Well you never really flew an aeroplane"!
Note when BA were last considering recruiting self-sponsored students (August 2001) they were happy with JAR modular!
Paid up
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 601
Likes: 0
From: UK
It's interesting to hear that people view an Integrated course as giving them an advantage when it comes to employment.
I've recently made it into the holding pool of a major UK airline, having taken the modular route to my fATPL. In my interview I turned the fact I did my ATPL exams via distance learning into a selling point - makes a good 'story' about being self motivated, disciplined, determined, etc, etc...in my reckoning, words that will prick the ears up of an interviewer far more than OATS or any other brand name school you care to mention.
I've recently made it into the holding pool of a major UK airline, having taken the modular route to my fATPL. In my interview I turned the fact I did my ATPL exams via distance learning into a selling point - makes a good 'story' about being self motivated, disciplined, determined, etc, etc...in my reckoning, words that will prick the ears up of an interviewer far more than OATS or any other brand name school you care to mention.
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,045
Likes: 1
From: North of CDG
Interesting thread - albeit a long one!
Let's face it, paying a 30K premium these days smacks of nonsense... OATS' integrated course was always that little bit more expensive than the others when one takes into account all the "extras" (like accommodation), but to see the new APP advertised for 60K+ (probably around 70K altogether) is just incredible. In this day and age, when it's so hard to get your foot on the first rung of the pilot career ladder and when Oxford have for the first time had to go "on the road" to advertise, I would have expected a new, integrated, programme to be cheaper, NOT dearer!
I have strongly disagreed with the Welshman before (though I must have been on cafeine back then), but his arguments make excellent sense.
I did the modular route, zero to MCC in 19 months, first time passes on the skill tests, all for something like 45-48K (hard to tell more accurately, as some of you will undoubtedly know), i.e. 25-27K cheaper than APP.
Not slagging off OATS - did some of me training with 'em and they were quite good. Their integrated courses are just way too expensive.
Just one more thing that WWW didn't mention: don't pay up front. Ever.
Cheers
Let's face it, paying a 30K premium these days smacks of nonsense... OATS' integrated course was always that little bit more expensive than the others when one takes into account all the "extras" (like accommodation), but to see the new APP advertised for 60K+ (probably around 70K altogether) is just incredible. In this day and age, when it's so hard to get your foot on the first rung of the pilot career ladder and when Oxford have for the first time had to go "on the road" to advertise, I would have expected a new, integrated, programme to be cheaper, NOT dearer!
I have strongly disagreed with the Welshman before (though I must have been on cafeine back then), but his arguments make excellent sense.
I did the modular route, zero to MCC in 19 months, first time passes on the skill tests, all for something like 45-48K (hard to tell more accurately, as some of you will undoubtedly know), i.e. 25-27K cheaper than APP.
Not slagging off OATS - did some of me training with 'em and they were quite good. Their integrated courses are just way too expensive.
Just one more thing that WWW didn't mention: don't pay up front. Ever.
Cheers
