Airline Training, Commercial Pilot Training, Flight Training

The Starting Point

There two ways of doing your commercial pilot training. Integrated flight training or via the modular route. The modular route is what was once known as the ‘self improver route'.

Integrated commercial pilot training typically take anywhere between 12 - 18 months of residential training and can cost a small fortune but if you do have the cash this can be the easiest and quickest route to your dream. Some of the more major schools have good contacts with the airlines and can help former students gain employment although, don’t count on it.

Modular commercial pilot training is in essence a way of gaining your licence a little bit of a time. It’s almost like building a car a little bit at a time. You get the chassis, then plug on a set of wheels, then an engine, then the bodywork and when you’re done you have a commercial pilots licence and you’re ready to get yourself a job. This will take longer than the integrated route but is more suitable if you have family or employment commitments.

A few key points to remember:

Money: Never Ever pay large sums of money up front. Despite this being said in the forums and various texts on the subject, it amazes me that people still entrust thousands at a time to training organisations. Remember, this is big business, treat them carefully. Find out why not to pay large sums up front.

Adverts: You will see loads of adverts offering all sorts of packages for fixed prices. Beware that these might be clever marketing. There’s more to it than might initially meet the eye. Watch out for hidden costs and always refer to the point above.

JAA/JAR Compliant: Just because training meets JAA requirements, does not mean that the JAA will accept the training. If an American FAA flight school has trained you and you gain an FAA licence, you will in all probability have to convert to a JAA licence on return.

Job Placements: Although many flight training organisations do indeed offer flying job placement and instructors jobs post training be wary of these. In the modern world of computerised aircraft and with the modern multi-pilot environment, flexibility may be more valuable as might be structured jet simulator training. Also wages in these jobs can be very minimal but can provide good experience, so treat with caution and fully check the organisation but don’t rule them out. This is how I got my start in aviation so some do work.

Cyclical Employment: Aviation industry tends to be very cyclical in nature. Demand for pilots has it’s highs and it’s lows and in general, although this is not always so, during times of low demand, airlines tend to prefer pilots from integrated flight training providers as these pilots are of low hours and the training, particularly from the more well known schools is of very high quality geared to the airline world. Since these pilots are have low hours they will sit as a co-pilot for many years, demand lower wages and won’t tend to move on very quickly. During times of high demand the airlines will tend to value people with more experience which is where some experience as an instructor or in a small air taxi/charter companies comes in as upgrade to Captain is quicker filling their cockpit recruitment requirements. Often pilots who endeavour with their commercial pilot training during the hardest times will be the first to get good jobs when the market picks up. I can provide personal testimony to this.

I certainly hope that some of these points have sparked your curiosity even more. Start looking round this website for more information and I’m sure you will find loads of valuable information. The first step is to decide what route you intend to take, modular or integrated.

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