Become a Commericial Pilot - with no experience necessary!

[Guest ShinySideUp]

Saw this on Yahoo! and thought I'd pass it along. Malayisa Airlines has a blogging contest for a new ATP pilot position with no experience necessary!... An answer to someone's dreams here??? (note: you might need to learn a new language too!)http://ibnlive.in.com/news/just-blog-and-b...ne/87442-2.html

[Guest santiagoluib3]

Same is true with Philippine's Cebu-Pacific 'budget' Airlines, which operate mainly Airbus A319/A320 fleet for both domestic and international operations (in the Asia region).I did saw a flyer from a friend, that due to Pilot shortages, the company organized a "specialized" school, to training ppl to become A319/A320 pilot in 9 months?!? (something like that..). Kinda scary don't you think? The training starts with basic flight and actually trains the student to fly the Cesnna 172, etc, etc.. Anyways, the program's fee is/was (if I remember correctly), US$79,000 non-refundable.

[Guest ShinySideUp]

Scary indeed! Could imagine the liability American companies would face if they offered such a gimmick and they had an accident??! The attorneys would have a field day!It's kinda like finding a flight school on a book of matches - some careers just shouldn't be launched that way.Ah, but it's still nice to dream! :)

[michal 44]

Scary indeed! Could imagine the liability American companies would face if they offered such a gimmick

Not sure what's scary and where the gimmick is. Once in a while this is how some airlines recruit future pilots even some big names like British Airways. As long as the candidates pass satisfactorily all the training and final exams they will be licensed pilots and their first job will be in the right seat. It happens quite frequently.

[Chock 17,769]

Actually that's not as dodgy as it might sound.Effectively it is the same as a written entry for a job application and demonstrates a few things which are pertinent to the role. Namely, you need to be good at communication, which is obviously important for a co-pilot who'll be working the radios. You have to know computers, that being a good skill for the systems on modern airliners, which these days are 'operated' rather than 'flown'. You have to be interested enough in airliners to actually have seen the job advertised. And lastly, there are a lot of airlines which prefer to take on candidates who are not pilots - that's actually fairly common - as it allows the airline to 'mold' the pilots in the way they want them. There are a good many experienced flyers out there who would be less inclined to do things 'the company way'.Anyone who enters for it will probably be happy to do the job for not much money too, which is another plus for the airline. It gets the airline's name in the papers too when they do something like that, which is effectively free corporate ID PR.Al

[flyerkg 62]

Actually that's not as dodgy as it might sound.There are a good many experienced flyers out there who would be less inclined to do things 'the company way'.Al

I would agree to this statement. This molding of non-experienced pilots happens in the military as well. I knew a lot of guys in UPT who had little to no hours civilian flying like me at the time and did just fine growing into the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps way of flying and I also knew a couple of guys with multiple licenses, hundreds of hours and couldn't get passed the first block of training in T-37s or decided to self-eliminate because they didn't agree with the structured environment and just wanted to fly but not exactly military. I even remember seeing an add for a training program in either Arizona or New Mexico that focused on the "company molding" regardless of how many hours you entered the program with. Thank you for the exchange of information.Keith

[Avcomware 1]

Hello everyone."Become a Commericial Pilot - with no experience necessary!" It will have to be done more and more as time goes by. Between the Airliners, that are shooting themselves in the foot by taking a stance against GA, TSA rules, Economy, and Instructors not wanting to deal with the liability issue, the Airlines will have to pay for it.Is it more efficient for them? You'd have to be born yesterday, and at night, to believe that. Just getting someone Solo and get their XCty takes a lot of time and effort for a new pilot. There are peoples that are brilliant in Memory, Study, Knowledge skills and they crumble when it comes the actual flight phases. This will cost many many $$$$ for the Airlines, just to eliminate these individuals. The cost to get the PPL, IR, Com., can be anywhere from $50,000.00 to $70,000.00 and the drop out rate in the 80%. Airliners / Management better start doing the Math, the Pilots flying the planes know it, it's these Yapies Managers that have no clue on what Planet they live on. The Military can do it, because they have, basically, unlimited resources and trained personal, the Airlines lack both. I wish us all luck, but unless something unforeseen comes along, many of the Airlines will go broke if they have to pay for their own primary training. TV

[gman! 1]

All I will say is, if they pass the required tests to become ATPs and they past the tests to fly the Airbus A319, A320 etc, with flying colors, nothing is wrong. Some people learn very fast, I was introduced to aviation via FSX just a year ago, and I have learned so much, people have different speeds at which they learn, and if they are truly interested in what they are doing, they will absorb all that info like a sponge. I mean those tests are HARD, you have to know some things, that you probably never use when flying. One example question that I saw a few days ago on an MD-11 quiz was. "Where is the hydraulic pressure gauge located in the landing gear bay?" I'd like to see any person on the forum answer that from memory. If the pilot knows his aircraft well, and passes the tests, he/she will be fine!

[michal 44]

This will cost many many $$$$ for the Airlines, just to eliminate these individuals.

Maybe, but maybe you don't get complete picture. Maybe they limit their losses by special entrance exams and/or cutting someone loose early in the training. Some well known airlines have been doing it for some time, only occasionally and if this were such a losing proposition they would not have been doing it, simple as that. And clearly this is not their main source of pilots.

[Avcomware 1]

Hi Michael, and everyone."Maybe, but maybe you don't get complete picture. Maybe they limit their losses by special entrance exams and/or cutting someone loose early in the training."That is why I said that it is going to be difficult to accomplish, many will pass the knowledge exams with flying colors. They may even do well on Presolo, then drop, others will Solo, the drop on Xcty, and you got others that will not ever be able to get to the Commercial or IR level. "Some well known airlines have been doing it for some time, only occasionally and if this were such a losing proposition they would not have been doing it, simple as that. And clearly this is not their main source of pilots."Maybe I missed something? But the closest to the Airliners involvement, with Flight Schools that I know of, is to interview graduates After they get to a certain level / spent 50-100 Grand or more. If they start them from Zero then we are talking about a completely different thing. TV

[rpjkw11 0]

For a number of years, Lufthansa used to (maybe still do) hire pilots 'right off the streets' with little or no flight time. They would send a number of them to Arizona, KGYR Goodyear, and train the pilots literally from the ground up, from a Cessna 152 to an Airbus A319 (so to speak). Lufthansa has always had a very good safety record.Bob