Why?
Today, the FAA minimum requirements for an applicant seeking a First Officer position at an airline, is to hold an ATPL license, which requires a minimum 1,500 flight time hours (1,200 hours if you finished an Aviation Academy) and all this JUST TO BE ABLE to APPLY at an airline in the United States! Not a job guaranteed!
How are you going to achieve the 1,500 hours? What kind of experiences are you going to accumulate and with what kind of Type Rating?
Below we will share with you two different situations in becoming an Airline Pilot in the United States for US Citizens and permanent residents. Please bear in mind that ‘the usual way’ is the actual reality and it is corroborated with many actual pilots still in transit for their desired position.
Here is ‘the usual way, 5 years in the US’:
1
You start by going to a flight school for FAA CPL/ME/IR pilot training. You will notice that many schools advertise certain amounts, and just so you know, all of these prices are for the minimum IDEAL requirements, such as calculating Private Pilot license obtained after only 40 hours, Instrument rating after only 35 hours, multi-engine in 8 hours or less, so a total required of 155 hours for the Part 141 Program. Nice!
…But what is the realistic number for this training? We would like to kindly ask you to read these two articles before you continue reading this: https://thebillfold.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-pilot-what-it-costs-and-how-much-you-ll-make-ae0cfc0fe024#.s187qe6z8
and
https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-really-cost-to-become-a-commercial-pilot
Finished reading? Perfect! Now you know the realistic price for 64 hours PPL, 45 Hours Instrument and 15 to 20 hours Multi Engine.
So, you got your Commercial Multi Engine Instrument Rating License, with 155 Hours or 250 Hours, which can be achieved in a period between 10 to 15 months, what is next?
2
Now you have to find a way to complete the 1,500 in flight hours. How can you do that?
Like the majority, you can try getting your Flight Instructor License (Multi engine Instructor), assuming that you possess the required qualities to be a ‘teacher’ and pass the FAA instructor exams.
Please bear in mind that this stage can take another 4 to 6 months (online and instructor lead courses, written and oral exams, flight test).
3
So far, let’s consider that you have spent a certain amount of money and, in the best-case scenario, it will take you about 14 months to become a FAA Flight Instructor. Let’s presume that the school you were flying for will accept you as an Instructor right away and you can start to fly as an instructor. If you are lucky, you will start flying right away in order to get your 1,250 hours, which might take up to 15 months to complete (usually instructor flies around 80 hours per month).
Now you have the necessary flight time but you still have to pass the ATPL’s written, oral and flight tests.
4
We assume you found a four-leaf clover and you are very lucky and got accepted by an airline right after the completion of the 1,500 hours and you’ve passed all the ATPL tests and now you have your license. Most Airlines will likely first ‘run’ you through their Regional line as a first officer (Delta Connection, American Eagle, etc.)
So far, you are 30 months from when you’ve started, you’ve spent a serious amount of money and you are flying (if as we’ve said, very lucky) at a regional company.
(Please read to have an idea about condition and wages – http://thetruthabouttheprofession.weebly.com/professional-pilot-salaries.html).
5
Many flight schools suggest employment as a Flight Instructor to pilots who are ready to pay them the flight instructor training, but there is a shortage of students compared to the number of flight instructors and many flight instructors are only able to log a small amount of hours on a monthly basis. Therefore limited income, if at all, as many flight schools do not provide any income to their flight instructors.
Flight schools cannot give the opportunity to most of their flight instructors to build multi engine flight time as an MEI due to insurance requirements and/or the fact that only the most senior flight instructors have access to the limited positions available as MEI.
Here is ‘our 0 to airline’ program:
1
You start the program at one of our partner flying schools in Florida, United States and you will obtain your FAA Private Pilot license (65 hours) – we would like to mention that when you obtain your PPL, you will enroll in the EASA ATPL online course – then your instrument rating (55 Hours) for a total of 120 hours. You will fly PIC (pilot in command) flight time for a total of 85 hours, leading you to a complete program consisting in 205 hours.
All this flight training will take between 4 to 6 months maximum. We assume you are near one of our training facilities and you don’t have any other costs.
2
Once you finish this training, you will have to take the EASA ATPL 14 written tests, which can take around 6 to 7 months after you finished your above flight hours (enrollment will happen after PPL obtained, so total work for ATPL testing equals 10-13 months).
3
Once you pass the 14 ATPL written tests, you will fly to Romania and you will start your Commercial, Multi Engine flight training, a total required of 28 hours, which will take approx. 1 to 2 months.
4
After you obtain your EASA CPL/ME/IR license with the 14 ATPL tests passed, you will have the ATPL frozen (you need to get to 1,500 hours flight time to get it activated).
At this stage, you will enter the simulator test and DLR test at Blue Air. Based on your results, you will enter the B737 type rating (which include 200 hours flight time and line check) and after completion and endorsement, you start flying as Junior First Officer at Blue Air!
Total training and testing period: 17 to 18 months max!
So, in ‘the usual way 5 years in the US’, becoming an airline pilot in the very-best scenario, it will take you about 30 months for training and instructing, flying with Regional Airlines. The odds are that after another 2 years, you are still be a First Officer at a Regional Airline, not yet promoted as a Senior First Officer with Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 aircrafts…
For costs and other additional information about our program please contact us!