Selfmade92

I've been wondering if these Airline Pilot Programms are smart to take, cause the cost is at least 45,000 $ here in New York. Or is it better to take it always step by step, like first the private then the next and so on. Which one would you say is the smart decision? And also would you recommend to do the Flight School while in College or would you say I should do it afterwards.

And also, I have the German citizenship, my dream would it be to fly for Lufthansa, so my question is it, are the Ratings like A320 and everything when I get it at Jetblue (for example) also valid in Germany? Because I have been talking to a pilot who was from Serbia and took all his Type Ratings here, but they weren't anything worth in his home country, he had to do them again at home. Does anyone know anything about that?

Sorry for my relatively bad english, I just moved to NY few months ago. :P

rickair7777

Pay-as-you-go at a local airport is usually the best plan. You need to be careful about the school you select and don't be afraid to change instructors or schools if necessary.

Type ratings is the least of your worries, to fly for a Euro airline you will need JAA pilot certificates, as opposed to FAA certificates here in the US.

You can easily get JAA certs in the US, but it will be more difficult and time consuming. You will also be limited to a few schools which do that here in the states...that will limit your options. If you are doing JAA certs here, you may as well take the FAA tests as well while you are at it.

But you should probably decide where you think you really want to work before you decide on the path to take.

Selfmade92

First of all, thank you for the quick respond. Any suggetions from anyone which school to take in NY? And how much should I expect to pay per hour I think it's 165$ per hour should be ok right?

And on lufthansa-pilot.de it says you need the following flight hours:
For the LH Passage: 600 hours flight experience.

Is it 600 hours in an A320/B737 or does a Cessna also count? Because that's not as much as you need here in the US to become a regional Pilot.

And in overall how much should I expect to pay for all my certificates? Should I expect something like $30,000, or is that too little?

I am very thankful for all the answers and responds

TI 3VOM

Be very VERY careful if a flight school wants you to pay for an entire certificate up front. Pay as you go is defiantly your best option. I know many pilots who paid over 40k upfront at the beginning of their training, and only got less than 20hrs of flight time because the flight school went out of business. They lost all their money. One guy even paid 2 days before the school closed, he never even flew once.

I dont know about NY rates, but $165 an hour sounds like it could be reasonable, but this really depends of course on the aircraft being used.


What type of certificates are you including in this number? This sounds low for even through a commercial certificate. For a private, instrument, commercial single and multi engine at my school the absolute minimum possible to pay is 33k. This is assuming you finish in the minimum number of hours allowed by the FAA to take check rides, which most people are not able to do, and do all of private and most of the commercial in a C152.

rickair7777

European airlines have very low flight hour requirements compared to US airlines. You could get hired at Lufthansa with less hours than you would need for a bottom-feeder regional in the US. But the european training is harder, and those airlines are very, very selective about who they hire. They look at the whole person, and especially your grades in school.

That might be a little low these days. You could get a single-engine commercial and maybe a CFI for that in some parts of the US. But you will also need a CFI-I, and eventually a commercial ME, and an probably an MEI

Selfmade92

Well $30,000+ is a lot of money. I will probably major in some different jobfield and finance the flightschool with that job. I will definately not get into an Aviation Degree. At the moment i make $1000 a month as a part timer, which is nothing. ^^

How did you guys finance it and how long did it take you to get a job at a regional Airline? Or at least to get an CFI certificate or 600 hours and ATP certificate. And what is a FAA ATP worth in the EU. You probably have to convert it to an JAR ATPL or something like that, right? But I'll probably stick with flying in the US, plan also on living in NY my whole life.

Yes questions over questions, but it's too much money. ^^

elmetal

good luck commuting outta NY...

Rascal

Just so you know, about 4% of applicants to Lufthansa get the job...

Selfmade92

I know, i lived 18 years in Germany, that's why I'm doing my Flight School here in the States, even though the pay sucks in the first few years ... but it's the dream.

Selfmade92

First of all thank you all again for your replies you really helped me with that. So my final question is.. can I get a Degree in Business Managment / General Managment and still get hired by Delta in the very far Future?