Expert: D. Norkus - 8/26/2009

Question
Hi there,i was just wondering how to cheaply become an airline pilot and how i would be able to log my flying hours,i read someone's  answer to  the same question and it was very good i just wanted it in more detail sort-of-thing he mentioned that that it would be easy so log your flying hours by becoming a flight instructor  could you please give me the steps about how to do this, many thanks kieran.

Answer
Kieran

First off, I must say "cheaply" is a relative term! In the United States if you can get away with spending $40,000-50,000 you are doing well. (That is £24570-30712 by the way.) There are some that end up over $100,000 in debt after training and an aviation degree. Here is a site I made about the whole process for aspiring American pilots, which may be similar to the route you would take in the UK-

http://www.pilotcareer.info

Flight training expenses in Europe are usually far more costly than those here (we do not have user fees for ATC service which add quite a bit to your training bill). Plus the airlines outside the USA have different methods of recruiting and often vastly different experience requirements. For that reason, I usually don't address queries from outside the United States. In the USA one must have several thousand flight hours to even be considered for a major airline job and 500-1,000 flight hours for a regional while in the UK or Europe for example, they may recruit pilots to fly Boeings & Airbuses who barely meet regional airline hiring requirements here in the USA. True, flight instruction is a common way to build your time but I can't comment on such employment in Europe.

Abroad major and national jet airlines recruit pilots via "direct entry" (highly qualified) or "cadet schemes" (zero or low experience). For those aspiring to be pilots with zero experience, self-sponsored cadet schemes are the way the industry is going. (Do a search for "Multi-Crew Pilot License", something we do not have here in the USA.) Few airlines will sponsor the candidates these days. Aspiring pilots will self-sponsor or take a loan and fund their flight training via a "cadet schemes" from Private Pilot all the way to their type rating (Airbus A320, B737 ect). They are then assisted with job placement.

Get more info about airline cadet schemes in Europe here-

Oxford Aviation Training (UK): http://www.oxfordaviation.net
Cabair Airline Sponsorship Schemes  http://www.cabair.com/sponsorship/index.htm
http://www.pilotsponsorship.com/
http://www.futureairlinepilot.com/sponsorship.html
http://www.pilotcareercentre.com

A caveat: since the aviation industry is hurting worldwide right now, I would suspect that many places are not hiring and many are shrinking. You would have to investigate how successful these cadet programs are in your area right now because of that. I suggest visiting the site http://www.pprune.org because it has a wealth of info on their message forums. Do a search for anything career or training you want to know about and as I'm sure the topic has been covered there.

Since you are in the UK, I suggest reading this career resource guide by the British Airline Pilots Association-

"How to become an airline pilot"
http://www.balpa.org.uk/intranet/How-to-bec/How%20to%20become%20a%20pilot%20quar...

Every Kieran I've met has been a woman, so I suggest joining the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots. They also offer some flight scholarships.

http://www.ninety-nines.org

I hope this can get you started.

~Dottie