Becoming a Professional Airplane Pilot
Here we are finally at the courses for the commercial pilot license, also called CPL = commercial pilot license, the license reserved for young people over 18 years of age that allows them to become professionals in commercial aviation.
As we saw in the previous tutorial, there are two methods to obtain this title: modular and integrated. Let’s go step by step and start;
This course is built in “modular” modules. Each module ends with the achievement of a title, a qualification or an experience prerequisite for the next module.
FIRST MODULE
The first module is the private pilot license, which we have already talked about extensively and which allows you to fly for non-commercial purposes with any means for which you have obtained the qualification.
SECOND MODULE
The second module is called “hour building” (“filling” in Italian). It is not a real training phase but serves to help you accumulate the experience necessary to access the subsequent modules.
In this phase you will have to reach a total of 150 flight hours, also adding the experience accumulated during the PPL course and at least 100 of these hours must have been flown alone (in jargon they are called “PIC hours” because you will be the Pilot in Command and there will be no instructor on board).
It is very important to be followed by a flight school for this phase, because theoretically you could also rely on an aeroclub, buy 100 flight hours and fly when and how you want. However, if you want to be prepared for the subsequent phases it is better to follow the advice of a school and grow qualitatively as well as in terms of the number of hours “logged” (i.e. written in the flight booklet, the logbook).
The aircraft used can be of any type, normally the cheapest you can find on the market since you will have to fly it for practically half of your training.
During this filling module you can attend the theoretical course of the commercial path in parallel, which normally lasts between 9 and 12 months and covers all the subjects you have already attended during the PPL, even if some subjects are further divided to be studied in more depth and therefore the final exams are no longer 9 as for the PPL but are more.
This course will obviously have a significantly higher level of depth than the private one and is entirely held in English: the books, manuals, slides and exams, so it is essential to have a good knowledge of the English language, not only to speak on the radio but to deal with any situation. In addition to the radiotelephony exam in English, you will also have to take an exam called English for aviation which consists of an interview with an examiner to whom you will have to demonstrate that you have reached a minimum level of knowledge called ICAO level 4.
THIRD MODULE
Once you have reached 150 total flight hours of 100 as a PIC and finished the theoretical exams (contemporaneity is not mandatory but normally the timing overlaps), you will be able to activate the next module, namely the instrument flight qualification which is the qualification that allows you to fly in low visibility conditions, in instrument flight precisely, based solely on what the on-board instruments tell you.
Depending on the flight school you attend, it can be done partly on the simulator or entirely on an airplane, with a single or twin engine. There are different formulas and the most used one normally tries to use a simulator for the 40 hours of the basic part, then using a single engine for the final part and the exam and then, only after obtaining the qualification, extend the qualification on a twin engine. This is used to optimize costs by doing many more hours on the simulator or cheaper vehicles and fewer hours on twin engine airplanes which are more expensive.
FOURTH MODULE
The last module concerns the preparation for the final CPL exam which consists of 20 hours of flight with an instructor, 5 of which at night if you have already obtained the instrument flight qualification or 30 hours of which 5 at night if you have not yet taken the IR exam.
During this training you will basically repeat all the maneuvers of the PPL but with much more precision and the instructor will require that your decision making refers to commercial and not private operations.
CONCLUSION OF THE MODULAR COURSE
Once you have completed all the modules and passed the exams, you have completed your course and you are a professional pilot but to fully enhance your professionalism, in addition to the qualifications that you can obtain on the various types (types of aircraft: Airbus, Boeing, Cessna, Bombardier) and participation in online theoretical courses of specializations in safety, security, CRM, dangerous goods, etc…. you can decide to obtain a fundamental qualification: the MCC (multi crew coordination) course that will serve to qualify you to fly as a co-pilot in a multi-crew. Without this you will only be able to fly as a PIC (Pilot in Command) and you will never be able to enter an airline as a co-pilot.
Returning to the theoretical course, there are two types of courses you can attend: the CPL or ATPL course
What is the difference? The ATPL course (air transport pilot licence, or airline pilot licence (which we hear a lot about and for which we have a dedicated tutorial) includes the CPL theoretical course and also the theoretical course for instrument flight rating or IR (acronym for Instrumental Rating). Now, given that for an airplane pilot the instrument flight rating is necessary because 99% of commercial airplanes fly according to instrument rules (IFR), it can be deduced that the ATPL course (with the related final exam) is essential to start a career on the fixed wing!
The classroom theoretical course consists of 650 hours of theory for the modular, however you can also follow distance learning courses that you will then have to complete with a classroom part that normally consists of 10% of the total. Not all schools are certified for distance learning and as we have already mentioned for the PPL, it is necessary for them to rely on certified platforms.
In Italy, the ATPL theory exams are organized in two ENAC locations specifically set up: one in Rome at the ENAC headquarters, near Termini station and the other in Malpensa, at the airport. Every month, alternately in one location or the other, an exam session is organized that lasts a week.
As for the PPL path, you can go to the ENAC website and check the dates of each session. Each week is always organized with the same exams on the same days, so that each candidate already knows which subject they can take on that specific day. The cost is approximately 100.00 Euros per day, regardless of the exams you take and therefore it is always better to try to fill the entire day otherwise it could cost you 3 times as much.
You must also keep in mind that there are three limits: you cannot repeat the same subject more than 4 times, you cannot participate in more than 6 sessions and you must complete the entire process from the first to the last exam in 18 months.
What happens if you exceed one of these limits? You will have to retake all the exams from the beginning!
EXAMS ABROAD
Abroad the sessions are organized differently and a student can decide to go and take the exams in a foreign school (it seems like science fiction for Italy but abroad the flight schools organize the exam days and it is the authority that goes to them and not vice versa!) however even going abroad the three constraints that we have mentioned remain so be careful to plan the sessions well.
An important thing about the parallel progression between theory and practice is that once you have finished the ATPL exams you will have 36 months to take the two practical exams, the one for the instrument flight qualification and the one for the commercial pilot license, so it is necessary to decide to start the exams when you can plan – also financially – the practical part within the limits.
Each module we have described can be done in different schools: you can get the PPL in Italy, the hour building in Austria, the theoretical exams in Germany and the practical part in Sweden. For each module you will have a European certificate that will give you the freedom to move where you think best, or to interrupt the course for a period of time – perhaps to find the economic resources necessary to continue – or to give priority to other aspects of your private life. The important thing is to put all the pieces together and respect the preparatory nature of the steps and the prerequisites. The advice we want to give you is to do most of your training in a single school and not to dilute it over too many years, because it is important to be followed continuously throughout the course and to give consistency to your progress.
Let’s now move on to the integrated course.
Technically it is called “ATP-IR integrated” because it includes the ATPL theory, the practical part CPL (Commercial Pilot License) + IR (Instrumental Rating) and also the MCC course. We will not explain in this tutorial the “CPL integrated” courses which are those without the instrument flight rating, because in the fixed-wing world they do not make much sense.
As already explained in the previous tutorial, the integrated courses start immediately in “full speed ahead!” mode; it is necessary to be convinced to enter this world, to definitively know that you want to become a professional and to have the financial resources to complete everything in 36 months. This is the time limit imposed by EASA and if you exceed it, you will have to do additional training that the school will determine depending on your path.
ATPL THEORY
You will therefore start immediately with the ATPL theory course – which in this case consists of 750 hours in the classroom – and you will delve into the subjects in a specific way, in English and with other students who may already have experience in the world of aviation. Some schools, to overcome this gap between students, organize preparation courses so as to standardize the level of the classes.
The theory exams are carried out in the same way as those for the modular course because the qualification acquired will be exactly the same, even if carried out with two different paths.
PRACTICAL TRAINING
You will start the flight hours immediately and you will have to carry out the practical part in parallel with the theoretical part, including the exam periods, the summer, the winter… no type of break is included in the package!
The activity will no longer be divided into modules but into phases that the school will communicate to you, and between one and the other you will not obtain any qualification. If you decide to change schools, your experience can only be recognized if the new school accepts the standards achieved in the previous school.
The total flight hours are 195, which will also include the instrument flight, simulator and twin-engine part. As we mentioned before, there are also courses with fewer flight hours to obtain only the CPL license without the instrument flight qualification but, for an airplane pilot, this is a big limitation.
Up to this point we have listed the critical points of the integrated path, we absolutely do not want to demonize this course but to make you realize how much it requires consistency and assiduous application. Obviously, you will come out of this course with a very high level of preparation, given that in three years you will have absorbed all the necessary notions without wasting time, you will have immersed yourself in the aeronautical world up to your neck and you will not have wasted time in other distractions.
CONCLUSION OF THE INTEGRATED COURSE
At the end of the integrated course, the qualification you will have acquired is the same as that of the modular one, so if you think you have the requirements and the tenacity for this type of course, dive in head first and don’t waste time.
If, on the other hand, you want to evaluate step by step whether this is the right life for you, you want to take more time to meet the financial commitments of this enterprise and you don’t have time to follow a full-time course… go back to the modular one!
Licenses issued after 2014, as we have already described in the PPL license tutorial, are valid throughout the European Union (plus other neighboring countries that have adhered to European aviation regulations) and never expire. It is an acquired qualification, like a diploma or a degree. Obviously, if you do not fly for a certain period, you will have to return to a flight school and fly with an instructor before you can fly alone again. In the next tutorials, we will give you all the information on validity, maintenance and possible reinstatement after expiration.
As for costs, if you attend an integrated ATP-FR full or a modular one to which you add the instrument flight qualification on twin-engine aircraft and the MCC course, with the same qualifications acquired, the prices are also very similar between the two courses.
It is true that depending on the aircraft used it can change quite a bit, however we are always between 60,000 and 70,000 Euros to which you will then have to add any new qualifications (Boeing 737, Airbus 320, etc.) which are another approximately 30,000 Euros.
And voilà… how much does it cost to become a pilot? More or less 100,000 Euros.
Always remember to ask which aircraft you will fly and above all the costs included and excluded from the school, because there could be a big difference between one estimate and another.
This tutorial was very intense and full of notions… we recommend you watch it at least a couple more times, take notes, download the cards and then contact us if you still have doubts.
If you have questions or curiosities fill out the info request form.
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