Where do I begin my research?
 

Hey Everyone, i'm new on this forum, i just signed up. Im from Montreal Canada and am 18. I've always wanted to become a pilot since i've been a kid but i dont know if i'll find a job in that field. Im planning to become a Commercial pilot an fly for companies such as Air Canada or so. But until I build my 1500 hours, when i get my PPL, is finding a job easy? Also, if anyone can help my out on this one, is it something that can last? I mean, do pilots stay pilots or do they often get tired of it quickly and find another job instead. Becoming a pilot is a huge investment, and i dont want to pay that much for a program i wont even practice in 10 or 15 years from now. Also, is the salary satisfying? I hear pilots are rich but im not sure what to believe. Can anyone help me out, I really wanna know how and where to start. I'm finishing my CEGEP and after that, i don't know where to go and i want to avoid wasting my time, i dont have any sort of piloting liscence either. So if anyone can give me some info, it would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to the forums, I'm sure you'll find good advice on becoming a pilot here. At the risk of sounding callous, your best resource on this board is the search feature. Your questions have been asked and answered many many times. Here is a quick search for "Becoming a pilot" to start you on your way.

Do some reading, then you'll have the insight to ask more detailed questions. Welcome and good luck.

Advice
 

There are 2 ways to get all of your certificates and build time. Either fly for the military, or do it the civilian way. In the civilian route, there are many ways to go about building enough time to go to the airlines. There are many flight schools out there to go to. Some universities have their own flight departments, so you can earn a degree while you earn your certificates. Some like, ATP, where I went, are just flight schools. After earning all of the required certificates and ratings, a majority of the people become flight instructors to build time. There are the lucky few who know people out there who don't ever have to instruct. But for most of us, you instruct to build your time. The biggest thing is earning multi-engine time. Flying doesn't pay very well until you have put your time in. Most jobs at the regionals start out at $19-23/hour. But it does get better with time. Many people make a full career out of it. As with any job, some guys get tired and do change jobs.

I see Im not the only Canadian on this site now.
To get on with AirCanada you will need a university degree. Being Canadian you have an extra oppritunity to build up hours other then being a CFI. You could head out west or north and do some Bush flying.
As for Air Canada they should be doing tons of hiring for the next ten or so years. They have something like 50 Embraers coming, 16 777, and 14 787 with 46 options. Though they are having very bad probelms with their pilots now over the senority issue. Lots of hatred amoung the two pilot groups. The original AC pilots are actualy starting work to rule, they are suppose to all book off sick starting this week.
But all in all Air Canada would probably be one of the best Airlines to work for, good money, fairly quick advancement, brand new modern fleet.

I checked the Air Canada Website though and it talked nothing about having a University degree. It simply said that I need a Commercial Pilot and over 1000 hours of experience. and some other prerequisites but i dont remember seeing anything about university degree. Plus, to get a piloting degree, you have to go in the piloting program, which, to my knowledge, universities don't offer, not in Montreal At least. I Know that Concordia's School of business offers an Aviation MBA program, but that doesnt relate to piloting. Btw, Do a lot of people who apply for piloting graduate, or do more than half of them fail? Thanks for the info HSLD, i'll be checking out other threads.

Thanks to all

A 4 year degree at AC technicaly not required, there were some without them when AirCanada was doing massive hiring when they first got the RJ's. But on their website under extra qualifications one of them is a university degree. Though not required a degree does help out alot. But you still could get hired at Air Canada without one. You would just need to probably get a little more flying time than you would without one.

Do you have a degree?

Yeah, i check that out, thanks for the detail, but what's really weird, is that none of the schools (private or public) i checked require to have even a CEGEP Degree. I Graduating next year to have a CEGEP degree as a back up plan, but when i went talking to the schools, they told me that a DEC is a plus but not a requirement. But yeah, i agree that with a university degree they must take u more seriously. But, like an Aviation MBA at Concordia is like 50k (US) a year!!! Im still checking some places out to find out more info. After all, wheter i want to fly for AC, I will still need my private piloting liscence, night, IFR and Pro-Piloting Liscence to fly Cessnas first. I think im getting to pumped up over something that kinda far. :rolleyes:
Btw, curiously, if any of you guys has a liscence, how much did it cost you guys? If i may ask. Cuz in total, for me, to get my Private, Night, Intruments and Professional totals up to about 46k (CAN). Is it a rip off?

I've been lurking around this board, until now. I've decided to take the plunge in becoming a pilot. Just wanted to introduce myself to the board. I've got a lot of reading to do, so I'll save my questions for a later date. Thanks in advance for all the infor. on this site.

Welcome Man