How Long Does it Take to Train as a Pilot?

How Long Does it Take to Train to as a Pilot?

A look at how long it takes to go from zero flying experience to a qualified First Officer operating for an airline

How Long Does it Take to Train as a Pilot?

The shortest possible time it takes to train and qualify as a commercial airline pilot is around 18 months. This assumes the trainee has no previous flying experience and performs to a high standard throughout their training. Realistically for most people, it is likely to take around 24 months (2 years).

Integrated Flight Training Length

If you enrol on an integrated flight training course, you can start the training with no previous flying experience and reach the point of operating a commercial passenger aircraft in about 18 to 24 months. To do it within this time frame, you would need to be accepted onto an integrated flight training course. An integrated training course is a full time, intensive course, where you complete all the required training at one flight training organisation. This includes all the theoretical studying and practical flight training.

You will typically spend 6 – 9 months completing the theoretical training (ground school) prior to moving onto the practical training on the aircraft and in the simulators. After completing this training you will have obtained a licence referred to as a ‘Frozen’ Air Transport Pilots Licence (ATPL). This is a pre-reqresit to going onto train on a specific commercial aircraft on which you are employed to fly with an airline (the type rating).

Type Rating Duration

If or when you secure employment with an airline, you will then spend about another 2-3 months training specifically on the aircraft you will be flying for that airline (e.g. Boeing 737). This is called the type rating and is the most intensive part of the flight training journey. It consists of both technical classroom and simulator training which must be completed before you start flying passengers. It is possible to complete this type rating training without having secured a job, but this isn’t something we would recommend due to the substantial cost (£20k+).

There are other ways to complete your commercial flight training, for example, through part time courses and these will obviously take longer to complete. This is referred to as ‘Modular’ training. It would conceivably be possible to complete Modular flight training in the same sort of time frame as integrated training, but it would be an unusual route.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Captain?

How Long Does it Take to Become an Airline Captain?

A look at how long it takes to be promoted to the position of Captain on a commercial aircraft…

How Long Does it Take to Become an Airline Captain?

Being promoted from the rank of First Officer to Captain (or Co-Pilot to Pilot) can take anywhere from about 4 to 20 years from joining an airline, depending on the type of operation and the competency of the pilot.

To become a Captain of a commercial aircraft, you must have logged at least 1,500 flight hours and hold a full Air Transport Pilots Licence (ATPL). However, in reality, most short-haul airlines require a minimum of 3,000 hours before considering any pilots for promotion. Smaller regional turboprop carriers might however require less than this.

Given you fly a maximum of 900 hours a year, at some airlines, it is possible to be promoted to the position of Captain within 4 to 5 years. These would typically be at short-haul low-cost airlines which are expanding or have a high level of pilot turnover, which maintains the requirement for a continuous promotion process. Typically, at legacy or ‘flag carriers’ the time to command will be significantly greater than that of a low-cost airline purely because expansion is limited and pilots don’t tend to leave such airlines once they’ve started there.

Pilot Training & Performance

Meeting the hour requirement is only the start of the process. The airline then looks into your training record and performance before putting you through a ‘command assessment’. This might consist of an interview, simulator check or both. If you pass this assessment, you are then put onto a command course, however passing this course is certainly not assured, in fact many don’t get through it!

Time to Become a Long Haul Captain

To become a long haul Captain, you would need a minimum of around 5,000 flight hours which would take at a minimum 6 years to achieve. At many long haul airlines, which aren’t expanding significantly and don’t have a pilot turn over, it can take between 10 – 20 years before being promoted to the position of Captain. This isn’t necessarily because of capability, it’s because there are only a limited number of Captain positions and people are promoted in seniority order.

Some pilots will never be promoted to the role of Captain as they are simply not deemed ‘Captain material’. It’s a bit like being qualified as a pilot – just because you are qualified doesn’t mean you will get the job, you need to be a suitable candidate.

How do Pilots Make Decisions?

How do Commercial Airline Pilots Make Decisions?

A look at the decision-making process on the flight deck

How Do Pilots Make Decisions?

Pilots make important critical decisions every day at work. This starts before they even arrive for duty such as deciding whether they are fit to operate or not. Some decisions can be made with plenty of time available but other decisions are under much more time pressure such as if to fly a missed approach and go-around. We look at how pilots are trained to make such decisions.

Decision-Making Models

Decision-making is a non-technical skill. It might come to some people more easily than others, but pilots are trained in the art of decision-making.

Decision-making can be influenced by a multitude of factors, such as stress, time pressure, knowledge, perception and experience. Everyone can think of an example when they have made a bad decision, perhaps because they didn’t consider all the options or didn’t correctly diagnose the problem in the first place. Rushed and ill thought out decisions can have grave consequences on the flight deck, which is why flight crew are trained specifically on the decision-making process.

To try and prevent a rushed or inappropriate decision being made by the flight crew, they are taught to use a decision-making tool which helps to provide structure and discipline to the process. These can take different forms, but two of the most popular are tDODAR and PIOSEE. This is taught both within ground school and in the simulator to promote the crew naturally reverting to this process when a complicated decision needs to be made.

tDODAR

t – Time. First, assess the time available/required to get the aircraft on the ground. You should assess the aircraft fuel state and how time critical the response needs to be. For example an engine failure is not immediately time critical, but an uncontained fire or double engine failure is. You can then set the pace and develop a rough idea of a timeline involved.

D – Diagnose the problem. Usually, the PF (or Captain as appropriate) should invite the PM (First Officer) to diagnose the problem. This is to avoid confirmation bias which is a scenario where an inexperienced crew member will want to agree with a senior Captain regardless of if their perception of the situation differs. This might serve to highlight a factor which the other crew member hadn’t noticed. For example, the Captain may have just heard a bang, whilst the First Officer saw a flock of birds a second before the bang. This helps to ensure the problem is diagnosed correctly, which is critical to ensuring a suitable decision is made. You may want to include other people within the diagnoses, for example, the cabin crew, air traffic control or passengers might have some useful information.

O – Options. Option generation is a multi-crew process. All flight crew members should take part in generating potential options. Both the advantages and disadvantages should be considered. An example of option generation is; where is your nearest suitable airport? What approaches are available? What is the weather presently doing and forecast to do? Check the cloud base above the minima for the approach. Is the runway performance limiting? What emergency services will be available? For non-emergency scenarios, consider an aerodromes commercial viability such as is it a base with engineering coverage, ground handling contracts in place etc…? Consider a backup plan for if you make an approach and don’t land.

D – Decide. Analyse the options you have generated to make a joint decision. If there is a disagreement in the decision, the Captain has the final say, but should always explain why he/she feels that decision is the most appropriate for the situation.

A – Assign. Who is going to do what? This might now be a very busy period for the flight crew where excellent coordination is essential. The crew will need to notify ATC, the cabin crew, passengers and if possible the company, of their decision. The crew will need to set up for the approach and deliver a briefing all whilst monitoring the aircraft’s automatic systems, navigating and communicating.

R – Review. Reviews should be happening right until the situation is fully resolved (after disembarking the passengers). The crew should always be prepared to amend or change their decision as required – flexibility is key. The crew should be questioning whether they have made the right decision, or if there’s anything they haven’t considered.

PIOSEE

The PIOSEE model is basically the same as tDODAR with interchangeable words:

  • Problem
  • Information
  • Options
  • Select
  • Execute
  • Evaluate