Become a pilot:

Which jobs?

Who hasn’t dreamt of flying around the world? Becoming an airline pilot is more accessible than you might imagine.

With APA Training’s offer, more specifically the integrated ATPL, it is possible to do so in a relatively short period of time (around 20 months).

Here is an overview of what you can apply for after your training at APA.

Airline pilot

An airline pilot is responsible for the safety of passengers but can also transport freight. He’s also responsible for the flight preparation according to the flight conditions, flight plan, weather, etc. He also calculates the fuel that is needed for the flight, and is responsible for the mass and balance of the aircraft.

During the flight, he manages the on-board computers and maintains a permanent link with the control centres on the ground. Pilots are responsible for all crew and passengers and are required to speak English fluently. An essential value for pilots is intellectual honesty.

Being a Captain on an international airline is the achievement of a long career. The career path of a pilot in a major airline is generally as follows: starting as a co-pilot on short/medium haul, then as a co-pilot on long haul, then as a captain on short/medium haul and finally as a captain on long haul.

Business Aviation Pilot

How does this job differ from being an airline pilot?

You will be transporting passengers to destinations of their choice on airports that may be specific to business aviation (Paris-Le Bourget for instance) with very different time constraints.
It is not the customer who adapts to the aircraft, but the crew who adapts to the needs and requests of its passengers.
For this purpose, FBOs (Fixed Based Operators: companies that provide support on airfields and help pilots prepare flights) can help you. You also might have to do the flight preparation by yourself when flying on smaller airfields.

A business aviation aircraft must be ready at all times.

Instructor

A pilot may also turn to instruction.

Prerequisites

  • To hold a CPL licence or a PPL with the theoretical CPL.
  • At least 200 flight hours, including 30 hours on a single-engine aircraft and 5 in the 6 months preceding the start of the course.
  • At least 10 hours of instrument flight time, of which 5 can be made on a flight simulator.
  • Have completed a 300 NM cross country flight , with 2 landings at aerodromes different from the place of departure.

The FI course (Flight Instructor)
It takes place over a period of about 5 weeks. The workload is pretty high. The course focuses on pedagogy. It is in no way a course to improve piloting skills. The level of piloting is assessed at the beginning of the course.

The training course includes :

  • 25 hours of “teaching and learning »
  • 100 hours of theoretical instruction
  • 30 hours of flight including at least 25 hours as a student instructor, of which 5 hours are flown in the flight simulator.

The entire PPL programme is reviewed.

Privileges
A junior instructor can provide PPL training, except for granting permission for solo flights (senior instructor only).
Once experienced, the instructor is granted full privileges for PPL instruction.
Privileges may be extended to night flying, aerobatics, CPL training (when holding a CPL licence)

Possible ratings :

  • IRI (instrument flight instructor),,
  • CRI (Class Instructor),
  • TRI (Type Instructor),
  • SFI (Type Simulator Instructor),
  • STI (Synthetic Trainer Instructor),
  • MCCI (Crew instructor).

Being an instructor is also the prerequisite to become a flight examiner (FE).

The steps to become a pilot

Learn more

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