Hello guys,
I have just turned 18 and I'm in last year of HS in my country which is Poland. That means I am just now in a position I have to make decicions regarding my future. I've been decided on going for it for a long time. I was about to go to the college that would make it possible for me to get ATPL frozen. However due to a situation with the global pandemic I am not sure anymore if I should keep going. What are your predictions regarding aviation overall? Is it going to be reborn like a phoenix and if yes when?

Or is it gonna fall to the very bottom and there will be no job even in like 5-6 years, especially for a possible newbies in the industry, freshly became pilots? Shall I look for something else facing those kind of doubts in future like no job after difficulties of aquiring license?

Thanks for any future answers

Haven't read this entire lengthy thread, but I'll throw in my experience. Finished my ratings at age 30, retired 10 years ago as captain on the 747-400. Flight instructed for a year and 600 hours, flew piston twin charter 3 years and 2500 hours, corporate jets for 10 years/4000 hours, then 121. Had the 4-year degree.

G1 raffee

There is not one answer to your question.
You are 18 so you are very young, you got plenty of years ahead of you and fortunately for you, you got more options available.

When I say options, I mean like enrolling in a 4 year Bachelors Degree, then later on maybe a Masters Degree or even get a job right after your graduate with your undergraduate degree build some experience, put some money on the side then do you pilot training and apply for a first officer job.

In a few years aviation will recover we just don't know when, so a safe bet is to do something else before your pilot training. On the other hand, you could go straight into pilot training after your graduate from HS and hope for the best.

Unfortunately the aviation industry is very dynamic, especially in EU, no one can predict when it will recover or collapse, this makes it very hard for ab initios to secure their first ever job, no one is going to put their head under the knife and give you a clear cut answer, it's a gamble and you have to decide what's best for you. No ones knows your financial state this is also another factor that your should take into account when deciding what to do, and I suggest you talk about it with your parents.

When it comes to a degree do at least something you enjoy, you can even go through a professional qualification like the ACCA for example instead of a degree, become a charter accountant save some money then do the rest. There are infinite possibilities, I got my first flying job when I turned 26, I wasn't that old but also I wasn't 18 or 20, so you are good with age.

I suggest you read my last post along with the replies I received from other more experience colleagues.

Actually in Poland, college takes around 5-6 years, and we do not have to pay for it. That is why I am wondering if the aviation will be reborn in such time and would there will be a possibilities to be employed right after receiving license. I've heard a lot about pay to fly system and that really made me confused regarding the decision I got to make quite soon, which will imply the way my life will go for couple of next years at least. You would recommend me to rather get a degree in something else, and make license on my own after couple of years of work, have I understand right?

PPL USA or EU
 

Hi Everyone,
I'm Marco from Italy, 21 years old dreaming to become arline pilot. During last year i've started considering Lufthansa's flight training in europe: one among the few that guarantees an employement after the training. They pay the hole cost of it and the sum will be given back by working for the airline once hired.
I thought that was the best way to get to the cockpit, thus I started learning german about one year ago, reaching quite good results. Of course the Pandemic ruined all my plans and Lufthansa has momentarily cancelled the flight training. I'm keeping learning german hoping that with the coming of the new year they'll recall the training, but that's quite unlikely.
Thus i started considering different ways like getting a PPL and do time building in order to avoid wasting time and money with other flight schools in Europe which offer 0 to ATPL FROZEN without having neither the needed hours to make the license effective nor the job they promise.
I'd like to know your point of view about which is the best way to get the ATPL.
which is the better choice? Getting the PPL in US or in EU?
Is it possibile to get a CPL if one only holds a PPL? In my best scenario I would get the PPL before, the CPL later, building time by working with the CPL and than apply for ATPL once i have the necessary hours.
Thank you all for the attention, i'm looking forward for your advices!

Start with PPL now and when times become better then you continue with CPL. Invest wisely your money.

what is the best school for ppl , 0 to faptl out there?
 

Hi guys , how are you ?

i know that this is my first post here my name is tarek and i live in uae , you could say that i am crazy but my dream since i was young to become a pilot now in order to achieve that and due to the un-sufficient funds to do so i spent the first 40 years of my life saving for this moment and now this moment come on the covid19 era where no one would possibly think to do this at all ,

no to make the long story short i know that no one in 40`s will never think to do this but i am trying to do my dream if i will work or not 90% not by i am living for the 10% :D

so my question is , to do a ppl in uae it cost around 20 KUSD can i do it less than that in any country near to uae , and also i heard about flight academy in prague but i heard posts here that its not good so i am looking for something really authentic and good to start from the scratch

Is becoming an airline pilot a realistic goal?
 

Hi! I am an aspiring aviator, and have a burning passion for aviation, which I obtained at the young age of 6. I would do anything to become an airline pilot, but worry about if its a realistic goal to achieve. My question is: how possible is it to become an airline pilot if we disregard the current global situation? Is it realistically a very likely goal to achieve, and how hard is it to become an airline pilot.

Any responses would be greatly appreciated, have a nice day!

There is another thread running on this topic I suggest you look at it, you will find some sound advice there. In the meantime, since you live in England, I would suggest finding out if you have the mental and motor skills to fly before spending too much money.. The cheapest way to do this would be to find your nearest gliding club and sign up for a week's course - normally these run in the summer only, but some clubs do them all the year round. You won't go solo in a week but you will get plenty time with your hands on the controls and you can decide if you are up to this sort of thing. Health warning! I did this and liked gliding so much I never went on to power flying.

iranian in the uk , where to start?
 

Hi
I am a 31 year old iranian male and been living in the uk since 2011 Running my own business which I sold it a few months ago and now I want to fulfil my childhood dream and become a commercial airline pilot.
I know a lot of people from the UK do their training in other European countries because of better weather and cheaper fees but unfortunately that is not an option for me because I don't have a British passport , I only have my iranian passport plus uk residence card which means I can live , work and study in the UK but if I want to travel to other countries I will need a visa which narrows down my options in terms of which school to choose .
I came across FTA Global in shoreham near Brighton and they seem like nice people , they do the whole training in the uk which suits my needs .
they offer modular and integrated training .
I wanted to ask your advice , would be great to know if anyone had experience with FTA Global and whether you would recommend them or not ?
also would like to know if I should choose the modular or integrated course ?
if modular how should I go about it and where to start ?
fortunately I don't have any problem In terms of finance at the moment and have funds ready even for the integrated course but I don't mind saving my hard earned cash if at all possible by choosing modular .

any advice would be highly appreciated .

In my opinion FTA are nice people, as you say. Whether you should gve them your money or not is another question. Most would say stay away from expensive integrated training and go modular for the reasons of cost, and because you can control your training path more. A quick look at FTA's website suggests they would charge about £65K for a series of modular courses. In my opinion this is far too much and typical of the 'modular offering' that schools that pre-covid only offered integrated training have put together to try and attract business. You should be able to sort a series of modular courses for considerably less than £50K. You may decide to pay the extra £15K for the convenience of having only one training provider - but that is up to you. In summary, I have never heard any bad reviews of FTA, but they may overcharge you compared to what you could buy elsewhere.

Hi and thanks for your reply .
I have done a lot of research and thought about it a lot .
I have got to be honest with myself , I am not too old but not that young either so I prefer to do it the quickest way. Also knowing the person I am , I'm scared by choosing modular I might take my time to finish each stage of the training or even get distracted and not finish it at all and just stay in my comfort zone which is a place I can not afford to be in at the moment .

So I said to myself what is the point in trying to save money then risk wasting whatever money and time I spend on the modular course without even finishing it or at least finishing at a reasonable time.

I know the pressure of integrated will bring the best out of me and also the guilt of spending the money will push me to do all my best to hopefully pass all exams first time and with good scores .

And as I mentioned in my previous post I have to choose a school that does the entire training in the UK , FTA ticks all the boxes for me so I have decided to go with FTA's integrated course starting in September.

Yes £90k is a lot of money but luckily I have the cash ready which is more than half of my life saving and fortunately I have a stable source of monthly income as well which help me to completely focus on my training without having to worry about finance while I am studying and training .

Good for you, I hope you enjoy it. Shoreham is very nice and FTA have a good reputation

Advice for Brit becoming Airline Pilot in USA
 

I am at the beginning of my journey and conducting as much research as I can. I have 0 flying hours.

I am 25, live in the UK, have £15k savings and potentially further finance available from family. I have 2 goals:
1. To become a Commercial Airline Pilot
2. To emigrate to the USA

Considering my goals what course of action seems to be the best (bearing in mind money is tight):
a) Train for FAA License in the US, then apply for work permit/residence.
b) Train for FAA License in Europe, then apply for US work permit/residence.
c) Train for EASA in Europe, get some experience here, then apply for US work permit/residence + License conversion.
d) Train for EASA in US, get some experience in Europe, then apply for US work permit/residence + License conversion.
e) Another route

Thanks in advance, any other advice or experience you feel would be valuable is greatly appreciated.

Go to the USA, train there for FAA and EASA, marry an American (solves work permit issues) and live your dream.

Advice for Brit becoming Airline Pilot in USA.
 

Unfortunately this one for the crysyal ball, frankly trying to give advice to answer your question is in my estimation impossible.15000 is not gonna go anywhere on the U.S.
please dont forget that COVIT 19 HAS DECMZIMATED the U.S. airline industry.,there pilote taking any jobs just to get by and furlougbed guys literally dont see any light at the end of the tunnel,it is estimated that could be up to 5 years for pilot employment to pick up. Also dont forget allnthe highly guys with years of experience on all types of military aircraft all plesding to get hired.
unfortunately the cuture is bleak.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but those are the stark facts.also dont forget all the guys coming outa flight school and there will literally be thousands and thousands with Ll the qualifications looking for jobsp.
my aologies for being long winded i.m outa Chicago and get all the news.
Best of luck to you,l but pls be carefull.

1. As I understand it getting a work permit on the basis of being a British citizen wanting to be an airline pilot in the US, pre-Covid was difficult enough...it certainly wasn't something that many people managed to achieve. KARNAK66 has explained why getting a work permit now or in the foreseeable future is going to be mighty mighty tough.. eckhard's solution isn't that far fetched...

2. Even getting experience in mainland Europe (specifically one of the EU states) now we are post Brexit could be difficult unless you have the right to live and work in the EU.

3. In the short term you might want to look at UK/CAA/EASA options in the short term whilst the fallout from Covid manifests itself and we get some idea how/when recruitment anywhere is going to pick up.

Advice for Brit becoming Airline pilot in USA.
 

PS one last piece of advice, there is not a FLIGHT SCHOOL IN THE WORLD THAT CAN GUARANTEE YOU A JOB WITH THE AiRLINES THAT IS HOT AIR,
its the Almighty Dollar they are after.

Interesting to hear, I was under the impression, from various different things I'd read/watched, that there was a bit of a pilot shortage?

As far as the current (COVID) situation goes, I wouldn't be qualified with enough flying hours for 2 - 5+ years, by which point I was hopeful that demand would be closer to pre-covid levels. I am very competitive and motivated so would be willing to do whatever it takes to land a job, even if it involved working in an unappealing job for some time to gain experience.

wiggy

Your timeline on hiring is way off. United is now interviewing for pilots to start in May. Delta just posted a training entitlement that will leave them 350 pilots short and is expected to start interviews late summer. They have notified all conditional job offer pilots who never started to expect June or July class starts. Frontier is currently hiring and Sprit is expected to start soon.