Future Pilot FAQs

Future Pilot FAQs

If you are an future airline pilot, we can help.

Honest answers to the questions aspiring pilots ask us most

Starting out on the journey to becoming an airline pilot can feel like a daunting prospect, with a lot of information to navigate. At Flight School Wingman, we’re here to help you make sense of it all. Below, you’ll find honest answers to some of the questions aspiring pilots ask us most, covering everything from where to start and how much it costs, to the different routes into the profession.

And if there’s something you can’t find an answer to here, we’d be glad to help, so please do get in touch or take a look at our career guidance and mentoring.

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It’s an exciting decision, and getting off on the right foot matters. Becoming a pilot is a significant investment of time, money and energy, so the best place to start is by understanding exactly what the journey involves before you commit to anything. One of the first things to get to grips with is that there’s no single route in. You might train through an integrated or modular programme, join a cadetship scheme, or come to flying via a military background. That’s precisely why we created our Becoming a Commercial Pilot course, to give aspiring pilots a clear, honest picture of the routes, the costs and the realities of the career before you part with any money. Beyond that, try to speak to as many working pilots as you can, and ask for their honest views. We all started somewhere.

That’s certainly the public perception, and it’s true that flying can support a good lifestyle and provide well for the future. But pay varies enormously depending on the type of flying and the employer. Long haul, short haul, low cost, charter and cargo operations all pay differently, and packages vary hugely between companies. Your seniority and rank matter too, with pay typically rising as you progress from first officer to captain. It’s also worth remembering that if you’re starting out, you’ll likely have significant training debts to repay, so it pays to go in with a realistic picture of the early years as well as the long term rewards.

If you’re considering this career, it’s only right to weigh the challenges alongside the rewards. Being a pilot is hugely rewarding and can bring a lifetime of variety and progression, but it’s far from your average nine to five. You’ll work long, disruptive hours, sometimes losing sleep and dealing with fatigue. You’ll occasionally be away from family and friends for important occasions, and you’ll usually have limited control over your roster, often only knowing your schedule a month or so ahead. Weekends and school holidays can be hard to come by. Pay, terms and conditions vary hugely between airlines, and benefits like a pension or loss of licence cover aren’t always guaranteed. Your career also depends on maintaining your medical and passing regular checks. None of this is meant to put you off. For most pilots the rewards far outweigh the challenges, and if flying is genuinely what you want to do, it can be an enormously fulfilling career.

The pilot job market moves in cycles. It’s closely tied to the wider economy, demand for air travel, airline expansion and retirements, so conditions can shift considerably from one year to the next. Rather than relying on any single snapshot, the key is to keep a close eye on current recruitment and understand where the opportunities are at the time you’re ready. Cadet schemes and sponsored routes come and go, so it’s always worth researching what’s currently on offer, and crucially, how each provider intends to help you find work at the end of your training. We share recruitment news across our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages, so following along is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse.

There’s no single right answer, and it’s a decision worth taking seriously. Sponsorship and scholarship programmes are fantastic when you can secure them, but they tend to be heavily oversubscribed, so they’re competitive and never guaranteed. Self funding, meanwhile, means committing a substantial sum of your own money, so it’s essential to go in with a clear understanding of the routes, the costs and the job market at the end of it. Don’t overlook the more traditional routes either, such as flight instructing once you’ve gained your commercial licence, which builds valuable hours and keeps your flying current while you work toward a larger role. Whichever path suits you, the key is making an informed decision before you commit, and that’s exactly what our Becoming a Commercial Pilot course is designed to help with.

Absolutely, and it’s a route that’s easy to underestimate. While cadetship and sponsorship programmes mean some pilots now go straight into an airline job, instructing should never be discounted, especially if you haven’t yet landed your first role. You’ll build valuable hours, keep your skills sharp, earn while you do it, and meet plenty of other pilots along the way. It also demonstrates genuine commitment and a real passion for flying, which counts for a lot when you come to apply. We’ve helped pilots from exactly these kinds of backgrounds, from instructing to flying tow planes for gliding clubs, go on to reach the assessment stage of airline recruitment. Get in touch and let’s get started.

Almost certainly not. There’s no upper age limit to start training as a commercial pilot, and plenty of people come to flying as a second career, bringing life experience and maturity that can be a real asset. The main things to think about are practical rather than about age itself. Airlines have a mandatory retirement age for commercial operations, currently 65, so it’s sensible to consider how many years you’d have to enjoy a return on your training investment. You’ll also need to hold a Class 1 Medical, which becomes worth checking early. Beyond that, what matters most is your motivation, commitment and ability. If a flying career is something you’re serious about, it’s well worth exploring, and it’s exactly the kind of decision our career guidance can help you think through honestly.

There’s no strict set of A levels or a degree required to become a commercial pilot, and pilots come from all sorts of academic backgrounds. That said, most flight schools and airlines look for a good standard of GCSEs (or equivalent), typically including English, Maths and often a Science. Subjects like Mathematics and Physics at A level give you a strong foundation for the technical side of training and are often viewed favourably, but they aren’t mandatory. Some cadetships and sponsored schemes set their own minimum requirements, so it’s always worth checking the specific scheme you’re interested in. If you have the choice, those subjects will stand you in good stead, but don’t be put off if your background is different.

Many airlines still operate a seniority system. In basic terms, when you join you start at the bottom of the seniority list, and as pilots above you retire and new pilots join below you, you gradually move up. There are genuine upsides, as climbing the list can mean a better chance of the rosters and routes you bid for, improved job security, and higher pay. There are downsides too. If the airline isn’t expanding, or there’s a large group of pilots above you with no intention of retiring soon, your progression can stall. And if the company hits hard times and needs to make redundancies, those at the bottom are usually the first to be affected. It’s worth understanding how a prospective airline’s system works when weighing up your options.

Every airline will require you to complete a Criminal Records Check (CRC), also known as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, as part of the recruitment and security process. If you have a current or previous conviction, whether it affects your application can depend on the nature of the offence and the airline’s own requirements. The best course of action is to check the official guidance directly on the UK CAA website.

As a rule, less experienced pilots start on short haul, while those with more hours, or experience gained at other airlines, are more likely to move into a long haul position later on. Long haul pilots generally work fewer days than their short haul colleagues, which might make it sound less tiring, and to some extent that can be true depending on the airline. But it comes with its own challenges. If you value regular time at home with family and friends, or you don’t cope well with jet lag and disrupted sleep, long haul may not suit your lifestyle. It’s also worth knowing that you won’t get much hands on flying, as it’s not uncommon to complete only one landing every 45 days or so. That said, long haul has real appeal, offering the chance to see parts of the world you might never otherwise visit, and to spend time socialising with your crew down route.

Short haul is quite different to long haul, and as a newly qualified pilot it’s typically where you’ll start. Don’t be disheartened by that, because short haul has several real benefits. For one, you’ll get far more flying, so if you’re trying to build experience, that’s exactly what you need. You’re also unlikely to spend as much time away from home, which appeals to those with young families or anyone who simply values their time at home. On the downside, you can expect to work more days than long haul pilots typically do, often with early starts and variable shift patterns, which can make short haul quite fatiguing. If you’re ever lucky enough to have the choice between the two, the best advice is to speak to pilots flying both and ask for their honest views. And bear in mind that if you join a company where both are available, it’s best to choose carefully, as it can be too late to change your mind once you’ve started the type rating.

It depends on the route you take. An integrated course, completed full time from start to finish at one flight school, typically takes around 18 months to 2 years. A modular route, where you complete each stage separately and often fit training around work, offers more flexibility but may take longer, sometimes 18 months to 4 years. Whichever path you choose, becoming a commercial pilot is a significant commitment of time as well as money, so it’s worth planning carefully and getting good advice before you start. Our Becoming a Commercial Pilot course walks you through the routes and timescales so you can decide what suits you best.

We’ll train you in our ‘Techniques Not Tip Offs’ approach so you can perform at your best in any flight school, cadetship, sponsorship or scholarship selection process. Rather than trying to second guess a specific provider’s format, we teach you the transferable techniques that work across any assessment, and how to evidence the competencies selection panels are looking for. Our Academy courses let you learn online at your own pace, while our Coaching gives you personal, one to one support. Every session is human led, delivered by an experienced pilot who understands exactly what’s involved. 

Yes, absolutely. Keeping your licence and ratings valid and current is really important, so that when a job comes up that matches your experience, you’re ready to go without delay. Letting things lapse can cost you valuable time and money to reinstate at exactly the moment an opportunity appears, so it’s well worth staying current, and making sure you have the funds set aside to do so, once you’ve completed your training.

A Class 1 Medical Certificate is a mandatory requirement to exercise the privileges of a commercial pilot’s licence, so without one you won’t be able to work as an airline pilot. It assesses a wide range of factors, including your vision, hearing, cardiovascular health and general fitness, against strict aviation standards. Our strong advice is to get your initial Class 1 Medical done early, ideally before you commit to the significant expense of flying training. It would be heartbreaking to invest heavily in training only to discover a medical issue that prevents you from holding the certificate. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, don’t panic, as your vision simply needs to meet the required correctable standard. Always check the current requirements directly with the UK CAA, and if you have any concerns about your personal or family medical history, it’s worth getting checked out first.

Both routes lead to the same “frozen” ATPL, so the difference is really in how you get there. An integrated course takes you from little or no experience to a commercial licence in one continuous, full time programme at a single flight school. It’s structured and immersive, but almost always the most expensive option. A modular course lets you complete each stage separately, at your own pace, which tends to be more affordable and flexible, and many people train modular while continuing to work. Neither route is inherently “better,” and airlines recruit successfully from both. The right choice depends on your budget, your timescale and your circumstances, which is exactly the kind of thing our Becoming a Commercial Pilot course helps you weigh up.

A cadetship is a structured training programme, often run in partnership with, or tagged to, an airline, that takes you from selection through to a commercial licence and, in some cases, a first officer position at the end. They’re an attractive route because of that potential job at the end, but they’re also highly competitive and heavily oversubscribed, and most still require you to fund some or all of the training yourself. Places open and close depending on the market, so it’s worth keeping a close eye on what’s currently available. The selection process is usually rigorous, covering aptitude testing, interviews and often group exercises, so thorough preparation really matters. Our Academy courses and Coaching are designed to help you give yourself the best possible chance when a scheme you want opens up.