SIA Cadet Pilot - All Batches, Merged
Join Date: Nov 2007
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2015? Not sure about that, the whole game has changed.
SQ has lost its market share to the Arabs, going to be very tough.
2 years from now they will be even stronger,bigger.
SQ has lost its market share to the Arabs, going to be very tough.
2 years from now they will be even stronger,bigger.
Join Date: May 2008
Location: singapore
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SIA orders new aircrafts
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Singapore
Age: 36
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not so sure
I'm not so sure about that news, maybe they sell off some of their aircraft and in the end balance back.
SIA likes to keep a young fleet and often does this. And its cheaper to maintain a young fleet.
SIA likes to keep a young fleet and often does this. And its cheaper to maintain a young fleet.
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Singapore
Age: 35
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Looking for this book
Hi guys. Any Singaporean pilots or aspiring pilots happened to have this book in possession? Clive Hughes - Guide to getting a Commercial Pilot Licence 'A guide to becoming a professional pilot' by Clive Hughes. Website online ordering not working and number seems to be no longer valid. Let me know via PM Thanks! 
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Looks like there is no action here since don't know when.
The only way to become a pilot now is to self fund at Singapore flying college. Or ST Flying College and join Tigerair.
Not looking for a free lunch, but i can't imagine that i can foot the tuition on my own.
The only way to become a pilot now is to self fund at Singapore flying college. Or ST Flying College and join Tigerair.
Not looking for a free lunch, but i can't imagine that i can foot the tuition on my own.
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dont loose hopes. no one knows how times may change in future. im sure SIA plans well ahead for the future. So lets pin our hopes and wait. if Scoot statrs taking cadets from SIA then it would be great. i dunno why, being wholly owned subsidary, scoot is hiring foreign pilots.
Scoot is hiring foreigners because they pay for their own type ratings. Blame the low cost model. Tiger and Jetstar make the cadets pay for their own training so the "free lunch" so to speak may be over. Who knows, maybe SIA will go down the route of Qatar and make you pay for an MPL if you want a career with them.
I wouldn't be so sure. Qatar, Jetstar and Tiger didn't seem to have too much trouble finding kids with the means to pay.
Getting a job seems to be only about the ability to pay as opposed to having any actual ability!
Getting a job seems to be only about the ability to pay as opposed to having any actual ability!
Last edited by pilotchute; 2nd Sep 2013 at 09:25.
Join Date: Sep 2010
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on the contrary to your thinking, those cadets under the MPL programme did not simply walked into it.
They go through several rounds of interviews and they gauge and judge you just like how SQ does.
If you think you can get in just because you can afford the fees, then I guess you gotta realign your mindset.
They go through several rounds of interviews and they gauge and judge you just like how SQ does.
If you think you can get in just because you can afford the fees, then I guess you gotta realign your mindset.
Or they just pick the best of the ones that can pay. They wont have any shortage of applicants. I'm not saying that they wont get any good people but that some excellent people will miss out. Some that really should have got the job.
Ask the Jetstar and Tiger captains how they feel about now having to babysit 200 hour cadets instead of having experienced crew sitting in the RHS. Its all based on cost.
SQ is now trying to exist in an ever more competitive low cost world.
Ask the Jetstar and Tiger captains how they feel about now having to babysit 200 hour cadets instead of having experienced crew sitting in the RHS. Its all based on cost.
SQ is now trying to exist in an ever more competitive low cost world.
Join Date: May 2009
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Really, how smart do you have to be to be a pilot? It's not like you are training surgeons who require both excellent intelligence and dexterity. Nor is it like investment banking where you need the brightest minds to come up with the best investment instruments or you will quickly lose out to the competition from rival banks.
A pilot is just a guy who can get the plane from point A to B safely, much like a bus driver. If the low cost carriers can get away with hiring self-funded cadets who aren't the brightest, more power to them. Why will you want to raise costs hiring someone brighter than necessary who probably will demand more pay? You might as well tell McDonald's to hire degree educated burger flippers to make safe burgers.
That is until something bad happens due to poor quality cadets being selected. This hasn't been an issue so far, except for the one case I saw on air crash investigations where a poor pilot who failed his exams several times but still managed to be made captain eventually crashed a plane. For now there is no indication on what level of intelligence is required for you to be a safe pilot, all the self funded pilots are chugging along fine. The bar is set pretty low and if you can clear the aptitude test you should do fine.
If this ever becomes an issue in the future, perhaps with several incidences, the airline will just improve their testing standards for pilot quality and the poor ones who pay their way through will get weeded out.
A pilot is just a guy who can get the plane from point A to B safely, much like a bus driver. If the low cost carriers can get away with hiring self-funded cadets who aren't the brightest, more power to them. Why will you want to raise costs hiring someone brighter than necessary who probably will demand more pay? You might as well tell McDonald's to hire degree educated burger flippers to make safe burgers.
That is until something bad happens due to poor quality cadets being selected. This hasn't been an issue so far, except for the one case I saw on air crash investigations where a poor pilot who failed his exams several times but still managed to be made captain eventually crashed a plane. For now there is no indication on what level of intelligence is required for you to be a safe pilot, all the self funded pilots are chugging along fine. The bar is set pretty low and if you can clear the aptitude test you should do fine.
If this ever becomes an issue in the future, perhaps with several incidences, the airline will just improve their testing standards for pilot quality and the poor ones who pay their way through will get weeded out.
Last edited by purplehearts; 10th Nov 2013 at 00:30.
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Do you recall the Sh*te Times article about classifying pilots as 'Professionals'?
The Gov wanted then classifed as: Heavy Equipment operators, truck drivers,crane operators,etc
The Gov wanted then classifed as: Heavy Equipment operators, truck drivers,crane operators,etc
Join Date: Nov 2010
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Dear Purplehearts,
You seem to give the impression that self-funded pilots are not as good as airline-sponsored cadets. Whether self-funded or not, candidates still have to pass assessments and interviews. I don't think the depth of their parents pockets is an assessment criteria.
I've trained both airline-sponsored and self-sponsored cadets. There are good ones and crap ones on both side. So I'll have to disagree that self-sponsored cadets are not so bright. There are those in my classroom now who managed to get massive loans and burn all their savings just to fulfill their flying dream. And I dare say they are some of the brightest. There are some that managed to get airline sponsorship simply because their dads are captains in the same airlines, and they absolutely can't give a toss about their training simply because of strong connections.
"How smart do you have to be to be a pilot?" I think it's rather unfair to compare the profession with surgeons and bankers because their skill sets are fundamentally different. I've seen bankers who applied for cadetship being terminated because they can't fly. Similarly some pilots made crappy investment decisions.
If you talk about accident, the crew of SQ6 were airline-sponsored, and were some of the brightest in the company when it happened. And yet it still happened. The captain involved in the 77W drifting in MUC was airline-sponsored. He's a Training Captain on the 777. And yet it happened. So it can happen to anyone, bright or not.
What is important when it comes to flying is having the right attitude. Whether they're born rich or poor is irrelevant.
You seem to give the impression that self-funded pilots are not as good as airline-sponsored cadets. Whether self-funded or not, candidates still have to pass assessments and interviews. I don't think the depth of their parents pockets is an assessment criteria.
I've trained both airline-sponsored and self-sponsored cadets. There are good ones and crap ones on both side. So I'll have to disagree that self-sponsored cadets are not so bright. There are those in my classroom now who managed to get massive loans and burn all their savings just to fulfill their flying dream. And I dare say they are some of the brightest. There are some that managed to get airline sponsorship simply because their dads are captains in the same airlines, and they absolutely can't give a toss about their training simply because of strong connections.
"How smart do you have to be to be a pilot?" I think it's rather unfair to compare the profession with surgeons and bankers because their skill sets are fundamentally different. I've seen bankers who applied for cadetship being terminated because they can't fly. Similarly some pilots made crappy investment decisions.
If you talk about accident, the crew of SQ6 were airline-sponsored, and were some of the brightest in the company when it happened. And yet it still happened. The captain involved in the 77W drifting in MUC was airline-sponsored. He's a Training Captain on the 777. And yet it happened. So it can happen to anyone, bright or not.
What is important when it comes to flying is having the right attitude. Whether they're born rich or poor is irrelevant.
Join Date: Nov 2010
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Well, unfortunately there is a need to strike a balance when running a business. Airlines need to watch their bottomline so if there is a pool of self-sponsored cadets that fulfill their requirements then why not? From a recruitment perspective, will we ever find the best? In Singapore if one is really gifted and can't afford to climb the wealth barrier should have been snapped up by the Air Force.
The same applies to any industry. I bet there are really smart kids out there that can't afford to go to medical school. Sadly that's the reality of life. However I'm always a believer of "if there's a will, there's a way". To those that moans and groans about the state of things on pilot training, it's time to wake up and embrace changes. Airlines are looking for COMPETENT pilots, not some Nobel Prize-winning rocket scientists. The new approach to pilot training is Competency-based training, and that's what pilots need to demonstrate: his competency in flying in both normal and abnormal situations. Accept those conditions and bring cash, the airlines are ready to talk. If not, time to find another career.
The same applies to any industry. I bet there are really smart kids out there that can't afford to go to medical school. Sadly that's the reality of life. However I'm always a believer of "if there's a will, there's a way". To those that moans and groans about the state of things on pilot training, it's time to wake up and embrace changes. Airlines are looking for COMPETENT pilots, not some Nobel Prize-winning rocket scientists. The new approach to pilot training is Competency-based training, and that's what pilots need to demonstrate: his competency in flying in both normal and abnormal situations. Accept those conditions and bring cash, the airlines are ready to talk. If not, time to find another career.