Airlines are hiring: what if you became an airline pilot?

Everyone knows the “royal path” of becoming a pilot. Big heads, advanced mathematicians and special mathematicians who enter the highly selective National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC). Education is public and free, but classes are very small: only a few dozen students a year.

Everyone also means the best army pilots. Not forgetting the training of Air France cadets… But in recent years, due to a shortage of pilots, everything has changed!

How many travelers know that 90% of airline pilots are now trained in private schools, accessible to anyone, including plumbers or barbers who never had a bachelor’s degree, or lawyers in training?

Former police officers, doctors, hairdressers…

“According to legend, to become a pilot you need to graduate from at least a polytechnic, nothing could be further from the truth,” laments Nicolas Siron, a member of the management of Airways College, a leader in private schools in France, based in southwest France. . A school that trained 4,000 pilots in 30 years.

On the company’s official website the color states: “Become an airline pilot, a two-year training course available without experience from age 17.”

Nicolas Siron emphasizes this: “We don’t have a typical profile. The average age is 24 years, but we also have students over 40 who are undergoing retraining and are finally realizing their dream. This is how we meet former police officers, doctors, hairdressers, lawyers…”

There are several dozen schools, such as Airways College, in France and about 200 worldwide, all of which are approved. The pressing issue of financing remains. “It costs 110,000 euros, it’s expensive, I won’t hide it,” admits a representative of Airways College. But in most cases, if you are super motivated, banks play this game because they know that the borrower will probably be able to repay the debt in a few years.

There are also scholarships for the youngest and assistance in retraining for the older ones.” Ideally, find a company that finances the cost of training in advance.

A good springboard for low-cost airlines

Because the training is open, but it remains very difficult. The theory alone requires passing 14 certificates. “We want students who are in the best shape mentally and humanly and obviously in excellent health. In short, impeccable motivation and nerves of steel mean much more than a simple CV,” says Nicolas Siron.

The private school system operates on a partnership basis. “Budget airlines are a great springboard,” explains Nicolas Siron. We know many graduates who go on to work for Ryanair or Air Corsica as co-pilots on short haul flights. Our Tahitian students find their first job in Airkaline or Tahiti Nui. »

Paul, a 32-year-old pilot who wishes to remain anonymous, softens this statement: “It’s an amazing job, but there’s a big paradox,” he says. There is a shortage and therefore opportunities, but the first job is not always easy to find. And then, before becoming a truck captain with a salary of 10,000 euros per month or more, the road is sometimes long. Companies need experience, but they need to start somewhere, Paul emphasizes. Expect to find your first job in a small company for around 2500 euros per month…”

Schools continue to show record levels of professional integration, such as Aeropyrenées, which boasts a success rate of 90%.