Airliners.net

Hello my name is Thomas and i am 16, i love planes and want to become an airline pilot in the UK. But i don't really want to pay 60,000 to 90,000 pounds to get a degree also I don't want to go into the military because it make me sad because my father died in the RAF. So is there a way of becoming an airline pilot without having a degree.

I dont mind paying some money. My step father is buying a cessna 170 and i was wondering if that would alright to get some hours in a plane. But i would like to be able to earn a good amount of money. I have a budget of 35,000 to pay for lessons or a different plane if you dont think the cessna 170 is good enough.

Thanks

Thomas

Sorry, but no. There isn't.

Getting some experience on a small plane never hurts of course, but on training to become an airline pilot it's not going to get you anywhere. A degree is what counts and the way to get that degree (not even talking about the money here) is by studing from the books. The first amount of time getting your degree you won't be flying at all, you'll just be learning theory.

On top of that here's another thing you should consider. You say you would like to be able to make a good amount of money? Forget it! Being a pilot these days doesn't pay that well anymore, those days are over. Also you say you want to become a pilot in the UK? If you're very lucky you might succeed in that, but mostly you might consider yourself lucky if you can stay in Europe at all. It's not like you got a choice in what airline you want to fly for, there are lots of unemployed pilots looking for a job and as soon as you get your degree you'll just be joining them. Then what do you do if some airline in southeast Asia offers you a job? You take it, eventhough it's not the UK or even Europe. It's a job. If you're lucky and you get hired by a European airline it'll mostly be Ryanair, they're known for hiring pilots right off the shelf. But Ryanair doesn't pay that well either as I'm sure you know.

Paying a lot of money for a degree is not uncommon, you can get a bank loan for that. Once you're finished and found a job you can start paying it off. That's what 99 percent of all pilots do. But with the current low pilot wages you'll most likely still have some of it outstanding once you reach your retirement age. That means you pass the debt on to your children, if you have any. Is that what you want? Because that's what life as a pilot is these days.

Thanks really helps, but if I were to get a degree what are the chances i would be financially stable. How much is the most pilots get paid these days

Work on getting a good education first. Your spelling, punctuation and grammar are atrocious.

johns624 wrote:

Work on getting a good education first. Your spelling, punctuation and grammar are atrocious.

Be nice. His spelling is fine.

As far as a path to being an airline pilot, well, in the US the majority of pilots -- almost all, actually -- have either come from the military, or thru college, or both. If you want to be an airline pilot but you aren't willing to pursue the training and education that airlines desire, you probably need to rethink your career plans.

Thomas2611 wrote:

Hello my name is Thomas and i am 16, i love planes and want to become an airline pilot in the UK. But i don't really want to pay 60,000 to 90,000 pounds to get a degree also I don't want to go into the military because it make me sad because my father died in the RAF. So is there a way of becoming an airline pilot without having a degree.

Private flying school it is. You would probably want to look into a school that offers an integrated course with the possibility of joining EasyJet or BA directly afterwards. There is no guarantee that you will get it, but it is probably the best chance at doing it the "easy" way.

Thomas2611 wrote:

I dont mind paying some money. My step father is buying a cessna 170 and i was wondering if that would alright to get some hours in a plane. But i would like to be able to earn a good amount of money. I have a budget of 35,000 to pay for lessons or a different plane if you dont think the cessna 170 is good enough.

Your interest in gaining hours on a private basis probably stems from the stories of how they do it in the US. Here in Europe, hours done in a Cessna are pretty much worthless. It won't get you a job. Skip the hour building in a private plane.

BTW, you might want to double your budget. 35.000 gbp was just shy of half the cost of a UK flying school when I started looking about 10 years ago.

Thomas2611 wrote:

Thanks really helps, but if I were to get a degree what are the chances i would be financially stable. How much is the most pilots get paid these days

That really depends on a lot. When I graduated, I spent 2 years just getting a job. Expect to send a few thousand applications with little or no response. When you get the job the salary can vary greatly. I earned somewhere between 3000 and 4000 gbp net in my first job, but I am extremely lucky with a good company and base in a country with low taxes. Most of my colleagues from flying school still earn less than 1700 gbp gross, and thats with bases in places that tax them much harder (and thats after 2 years in the job).

IPFreely wrote:

As far as a path to being an airline pilot, well, in the US the majority of pilots -- almost all, actually -- have either come from the military, or thru college, or both. If you want to be an airline pilot but you aren't willing to pursue the training and education that airlines desire, you probably need to rethink your career plans.

You will hardly find any ex-military pilots over here, at least not among pilots trained in the past 15 years. The college thing is pretty much unheard of too.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Sorry, but no. There isn't.

Getting some experience on a small plane never hurts of course, but on training to become an airline pilot it's not going to get you anywhere. A degree is what counts and the way to get that degree (not even talking about the money here) is by studing from the books. .

Sorry, I don't agree with that at all.
The vast amount of my colleagues have no degree or 3rd level education, including myself.
I did have a PPL at 17, which in my opinion was a better option.

But £35,000 isn't hoping to get you anywhere near qualified in Europe though.

Thomas2611 wrote:

I dont mind paying some money. My step father is buying a cessna 170 and i was wondering if that would alright to get some hours in a plane. But i would like to be able to earn a good amount of money. I have a budget of 35,000 to pay for lessons or a different plane if you dont think the cessna 170 is good enough.

Thanks

Thomas

The C170 is fine.

Get your PPL, build your hours and get an instructor rating. With that you can save towards getting your other ratings in the UK or elsewhere.

In Europe, Spain is probably the cheapest. If you're willing to go further afield, consider South Africa (Cheapest), the US and New Zealand.

There is the airline cadet option with BA and others which requires a training bond. The airline covers the costs but the risk is placed on your guarantor's ( your guardian's) shoulders and the cost is paid through salary deductions once you qualify. That may be worth a look at too. Don't get too set on a particular airline. The terms and conditions vary very little between them, though personally, I would opt for Easyjet or Flybe (if they last).

Lastly,unless you want to fly in the US, degrees are irrelevant.

Happy flying.