A pilot career can be a hugely rewarding way to live your life and it is understandable why people choose to try and find their way into pilot jobs. Pilot jobs however can be one of the hardest jobs to find your way into and it costs thousands of pounds in training to obtain your pilot’s license. If you feel a pilot career is for you however, read this article for more help starting out.

How to Start a Pilot Career

• The first thing you need to do before you start a pilot career is to obtain your private pilot’s license (PPL). If you are unsure as to whether you are interested in pilot jobs, many places will let you take a single pilot lesson to get the feel for a pilot career. Your private pilot license will allow you to fly on your own or with passengers but not for commercial reasons (i.e. you don’t get paid).

• The next step in your journey for pilot jobs is to obtain your commercial pilot license. This is much more expensive and time consuming to obtain but it opens up a world of pilot jobs for you. You obtain your commercial pilot license from a certified flying school. Many people also train as a flying instructor as this builds up the number of flying hours required for the commercial license.

• The other main method of finding civilian pilot jobs is to undertake an Airline Transport license and this will open up the opportunity to find pilot jobs within a passenger or freight airline. People looking for an airline pilot job will start as a first officer and then progress to a co-pilot job and finally a pilot job as a captain.

• The military is another method of starting a pilot career and many people have done so using this method. The military pays for all of your training and provides you with thousands of flying hours in return for your period of service in potentially dangerous locations.

• Regardless of which method you use to start your pilot career, you will need to undergo a medical examination and you will need to be both physically and mentally fit. To qualify for pilot jobs you will need to have excellent hearing and eyesight as well as good overall health. Good maths and science skills are also a benefit for pilot jobs.

You can search for a wide range of pilot jobs here on Airline Pilots.

One Response to “A Guide to Starting Your Pilot Career”

1. Ross says:

   September 22, 2010 at 1:29 pm

   For a lot of wannabe pilots the strict medical guidelines aren’t great as I have had quite a few colleagues fail them, even over things such as slight colour blindness, but I am glad they’re in place anyway. As a client on a plane I like being reassured that the pilot has perfect vision!