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Becoming an airline pilot.

Becoming an Airline Pilot!? Very confused?

  • Hello, I am a senior in High School and am seriously looking into becoming an Commercial Pilot for my career. I want to go into the Airline and Flight Operations - Commercial Pilot program at BCIT. By the end of the two year course you will have a Diploma in Technical Studies, as well as your private and commercial pilots licence. It's quite an expensive course in comparison to courses aimed at getting BA degree in something, but I think it will be worth it. The problem for me is what are the chances of getting a good job with a major airline afterwords? After researching it seems there aren't many job openings right now. Also the pay seems ridiculously low for starting salary's as low as $24,000? Many Airlines want you to have a degree on top of your flight education and as well be able to speak French. They want the Canadian Airline Transport Pilot licence, is this something you get after your Commercial Pilots licence? My other option is to apply to the RMC, I could get a degree there for free, and then learn to become a pilot after graduating, when you serve for 4 years to pay back schooling expenses. Do big airlines favour Military experienced pilots? If I go that route I will be bi-lingual, have a degree in something unrelated to being a pilot, and also have the necessary pilots training and zero debt. What is a reasonable salary to expect? What are the chances of landing a job with a major airline? Thanks for your help and guidance.

  • Answer:

    The chances of getting a flying job with a major airline right after graduation from either a 2 year or 4 year course are zero. You might have a chance of getting an entry-level job in operations, if you're lucky. Getting hired as a pilot with a major airline usually requires 5-10 years of flying experience in smaller aircraft for much less money. Even getting into a regional airline right now is difficult if you don't have a couple years of flying experience behind you. In Canada as well as the US, the average age of a "new hire" at the major airlines is 28 to 42, with a median age of 34. The "new hire" pilot typically has 3,000 to 5,000 hours of flight time, an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and a Bachelor's degree. One doesn't accumulate that kind of experience over night. As for military experience, about 60% of all airline pilots are ex-military pilots. Someone who has simply served in the military, but not as a pilot, has only marginally better chances of getting hired by an airline than a civilian does. Again, that would occur only after gaining the thousands of hours of flight experience mentioned above, so if you went through .the RMC in a non-flying position, you would get school paid for, and perhaps some of your flight training covered, but you're looking at 4 years of college, 4 years military committment, at least a year of flight training, and then at least 5 years building experience befote the "majors" would be likely to consider you. That would put you over 30 years old, which is right in the ballpark age where most people get hired by a major airline. In short, becoming an airline pilot is not easy. It takes many years of education and building experience. Entry level flying jobs of any kind typically start at $24k CDN, give or take a little, even at a regional airline. Most pilots work 10 years or more after leaving college before they see a six figure income. Most who never make it to a major airline never make anywhere close to that much. At best, you have about a 50/50 chance of ending up at a major airline. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's the way it is. Getting into flying simply for the money is the wrong reason. Do it because you love it, or don't do it at all.

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--Zero chance untill you first have enough commercial or military flight experience. Your starting airline pay might be less than $24,000/year. It will not be a major ailine. For your entry level jobs, you will be doing very well if you can make $24,000/year! Airlines do not prefer military pilots.

Mark

I am currently going through the same thing but luckily I know loads of pilots and have been able to ask all of these questions myself. My first point is being a pilot is a very hard industry to get into, plus along with it comes a large cost. It takes many hours of training, studying and loads of determination to get into the airlines. As a pilot your training will never stop as you will keep getting promoted to bigger Aircraft or study aircraft in a different perspective (eg studying the building of the aircraft or getting more endorsements etc). This means that you cannot say after i have done my training but instead say after i have got enough hours etc. I believe due to myself having meeting with different airlines and speaking to different people you have to have at least a minimum of 1500 hours before you start applying with the airlines. It is recommended that 700 of those hours are in a twin prop aircraft (unsure about choppers) and 100 of the hours is night navigational flying. Although flying is a job, for me it is more a passion and i do not want to be a pilot for the money (although i would not do it for nothing) but instead because i love aviation and i want to better my knowledge. As you start of on your first job whether it be instructing or doing charter flights etc the pay cheque that comes every week will not be much so if you are in the industry for the money and think you are going to make the money easily in the industry then get out quick! My advice is to apply to all of the free training programs because it is better for you and plus you are pretty much guarenteed a job with an airline at the end of it! :D (plus it looks damn good on a reseme) You used to have to speak french and english to be a pilot as they were the 2 main internationally spoken languages but as far as i know you only have to speak 1language (English) however the airlines may like it if you can speak a second language. It is difficult to get into the airlines but stick with and if you have enough determination you can do it!!! Nothing is impossible!!! Hope this has helped :D Benney B

Benney B

Benney B is right. Nothing's impossible. If i were you i'd take the military route too because not only will you leave with no debts to pay, but you have experience, which is the most important thing. Also, you need to pass an english proficiency test because that's the only language you need. Being able to speak more languages is also a benefit, but it's not essential. All the best pal!

Rebecca

BDDD and Mark have it right. You will not go from any "flight program" directly into the airlines. You need 1,500 to 2,000 hours to even start to apply. And you can't think in terms of money. Most professional pilots spend most of their lives right around the poverty level. One dodge that works for some talented people is to get your commercial, instrument, multi-engine, and instructor pedigrees and run up about 600-750 hours. Then find an out-of-the-way cargo operation in some remote part of the world that will hire you to join the crew of a C-118 or a 727F and build your time doing that. You can have a lot of fun and some unique experiences (I got chased once by a pickup truck load of Taliban that wanted to flog me because my uniform was "ungodly dress" for a woman. I got away) and when you are ready for the ATP you will have a logbook full of hours in heavy equipment. That will give you an advantage with the airlines. The job market for pilots is bad right now, and likely to get worse. But if you are talented and dedicated, you can make it. Good luck!

aviophage

Your chances of getting a job as a *Major* airline pilot after you finish that program is exactly 0%. Only experienced pilots that know the right people get those jobs. I'd even go as far as to say that you have a very low chance of getting a job at a regional airline with that program. You need a 4 year college degree. Suck it up and get a college degree. If you think you don't have time, work harder. If you don't have the money, figure out a way to get it. Starting salary is lower than you think. Expect to make about $20,000 / year (USD) your first year as a regional airline pilot. Not only that, you will probably have to work as a flight instructor, or some other job to build time, before that. You will most likely make a lot less than $20,000 doing that. Big airlines don't necessarily prefer military pilots. What really matters is that you know someone on the inside.

Rob G

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