The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

billie1b

11 people one morning DUB-MAN
7 people EMA-DUB

TheBoss11

I've a question regarding flight training.

How much does it cost to keep a ME/IR current?
I'm very interested in doing an integrated course in the next couple of years and with the current state of the industry job wise it's likely I won't get a job immediately. Just wondering how much it'll cost to keep everything current.

amen

Not a pilot but a passenger on a South West Flight DAL to MDW on a Wednesday morning, 3 passengers, 2 Flight crew, 4 Cabin crew.

We were told to sit anywhere we wanted. Great fun on the flight.

Lustrum

TheBoss11 wrote: »

I've a question regarding flight training.

How much does it cost to keep a ME/IR current?
I'm very interested in doing an integrated course in the next couple of years and with the current stIate of the industry job wise it's likely I won't get a job immediately. Just wondering how much it'll cost to keep everything current.

It will depend on where you renew, and how much practice is required before doing the renewal. Your first renewal can be in the sim so will be cheaper, but the next one has to be in an aircraft so will cost more. Each year after that then alternates sim/plane. My last renewal was in the plane, and 5hrs sim, an hour in a Seneca, flights to Spain and accomodation came in at about €1400.

If I was you however, this would be the least of my worries. For all you know by the time you are job hunting (if you do go for it) you could be snapped up - think positive, it's the only way to go!

APM

Lustrum wrote: »

It will depend on where you renew, and how much practice is required before doing the renewal. Your first renewal can be in the sim so will be cheaper, but the next one has to be in an aircraft so will cost more. Each year after that then alternates sim/plane. My last renewal was in the plane, and 5hrs sim, an hour in a Seneca, flights to Spain and accomodation came in at about €1400.

If I was you however, this would be the least of my worries. For all you know by the time you are job hunting (if you do go for it) you could be snapped up - think positive, it's the only way to go!

And on the other hand, go into the whole thing with your eyes wide open as to what the likely scenario will be. Unless you have another spare €30k in your pocket to pay for Ryanair interview, type rating + line training (license fees, expenses + uniform etc), don't think that renewing your rating each year will necessarily be enough to get you a job eventually.

Schools like FTE Jerez occasionally get a call for some unemployed graduates from the major airlines, but these airlines want the most recent and not somebody who finished 1-2 years previous.

I left flight school in 2009 and out of 12 on my course, at least 4 really good guys, very much deserving of an airline job never got into an airline and have given up renewing their ME-IR and gone back to previous lives saddling over €100k in expense.

APM

Carnacalla wrote: »

I've always wondered this, have anyone of ye had a scheduled passenger flight with a really really really bad Load Factor? Below 50%?

I've had 1 passenger on a 174 seater A321.

All of our passengers got transferred to an earlier flight and the 1 passenger we took back came with us also on the outbound flight as she was bringing a couple of children back home to family.

We gave her the welcome on board PA in person and left her to stay in business class for the way home. Catering carried the 1 meal onboard by hand rather than using a trolley.

ProfessorPlum

5 passengers on a 747. 4 of them were ID90's.
Going back a bit now mind!

jamo2oo9

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

5 passengers on a 747. 4 of them were ID90's.
Going back a bit now mind!

ID90's?

TheBoss11

APM wrote: »

And on the other hand, go into the whole thing with your eyes wide open as to what the likely scenario will be. Unless you have another spare €30k in your pocket to pay for Ryanair interview, type rating + line training (license fees, expenses + uniform etc), don't think that renewing your rating each year will necessarily be enough to get you a job eventually.

Schools like FTE Jerez occasionally get a call for some unemployed graduates from the major airlines, but these airlines want the most recent and not somebody who finished 1-2 years previous.

I left flight school in 2009 and out of 12 on my course, at least 4 really good guys, very much deserving of an airline job never got into an airline and have given up renewing their ME-IR and gone back to previous lives saddling over €100k in expense.

Apparently the likes of CTC and Oxford have a good relationship with airlines and many of the graduates are placed in a holding pool. Unfortunately ill never be in a position to fund 120k for those schools, Im hoping to do my training in Cork.

Do you mind me asking what school you went to?

ProfessorPlum

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

ID90's?

Staff fare. Was about 75p each for the leg SNN-DUB iirc!

Chuck Aaron

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Apparently the likes of CTC and Oxford have a good relationship with airlines and many of the graduates are placed in a holding pool. Unfortunately ill never be in a position to fund 120k for those schools, Im hoping to do my training in Cork.

Do you mind me asking what school you went to?

Integrated in AFTA, Cork is 80k, Was 70k, prices have gone up or so says the grapevine.

Matthew Gleeson

Chuck Aaron wrote: »

Integrated in AFTA, Cork is 80k, Was 70k, prices have gone up or so says the grapevine.

No price is still 72. was 69 but upped about two months ago to 72.

Chuck Aaron

Matthew Gleeson wrote: »

No price is still 72. was 69 but upped about two months ago to 72.

Goes to show how well the grapevine can turn out to be Mattt!

smurfjed

Staff fare. Was about 75p each for the leg SNN-DUB iirc!

That was back in the days of tax free travel

basill

That was back in the days of tax free travel

Ain't that the truth. Even when using supposedly "free" tickets the taxes and charges vary wildly between the various airports and can be expensive. If you know your dates are fixed well enough in advance it is often not much more expensive to book a confirmed ticket on your own airlines website as the extra charges are often absorbed in the discounted airfares on sale.

eatmyshorts

£3 return Dublin - Derry on a draughty Shorts 360

Fionn101

Thanks to all the pilots for their answers so far. Great thread altogether...

Can I ask:
when was the last time you scared yourself flying ?

did you ever squawk incorrectly ?

what type of General aviation flying wold you most like to do? gliding , mountain ski flying etc

What was the last joke you played on your fellow pilot in the cockpit ?

which is your favourite approach and why ? difficulty , imagery etc

who was your greatest mentor in flying ?

thanks a mill , hi to Smurf and FR3 , keep it up ;-)
Fionn

smurfjed

1: Most times that i fly in the left seat

2: Yep, finger trouble, but not serious enough to have the fighters chase us

3: Yikes havent flown general aviation aircraft in about 7 years, keeping planning to do it, but get lazy, for me it will be either aerobatics or helicopters.

4: Locked him out when he went to the toilet !!! Sorry way too soon for that.... No jokes done!

5: The nice easy one that brings me home.

6: Richard Bach

KoolKid

Number 5 got me thinking.
Which airport approach do you hate/dread most.?

eatmyshorts

KoolKid wrote: »

Number 5 got me thinking.
Which airport approach do you hate/dread most.?

Any where that's non-radar procedural in India.
Oh... and Kabul....hot, high, no radar, surrounded by mountains, full of gung-ho military cowboys, shoulder launched missiles, small arms fire, mortar bombing of the airfield....and goats on the runway.

eatmyshorts

Fionn101 wrote: »

Thanks to all the pilots for their answers so far. Great thread altogether...

Can I ask:
when was the last time you scared yourself flying ?

did you ever squawk incorrectly ?

what type of General aviation flying wold you most like to do? gliding , mountain ski flying etc

What was the last joke you played on your fellow pilot in the cockpit ?

which is your favourite approach and why ? difficulty , imagery etc

who was your greatest mentor in flying ?

thanks a mill , hi to Smurf and FR3 , keep it up ;-)
Fionn

1) Taking flight plan fuel to a forecast CAVOK destination and finding it 200m in fog on approach. Enough fuel for 1 approach and divert straight to the alternate.

2) Twice this afternoon. (thanks to African ATC radio quality)

3) would love to potter around the circuit in a 152 anytime.

4) Don't think I've ever

5) Canarsie 13L in JFK or Seychelles 13.

6) Everyone you fly with is a mentor. Sometimes because they're good and sometimes because they're woeful.

smurfjed

Getting out of bed at 2am for ground training is a PITA..... but when it involves this, it somehow becomes worthwhile :)

Lockheed

smurfjed wrote: »

Getting out of bed at 2am for ground training is a PITA..... but when it involves this, it somehow becomes worthwhile :)

Is that a 757?

jamo2oo9

Lockheed wrote: »

Is that a 757?

No, it's a 777

TheBoss11

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

No, it's a 777

It's a 320

JCX BXC

TheBoss11 wrote: »

It's a 320

No, its the Bede BD-5

TheBoss11

Carnacalla wrote: »

No, its the Bede BD-5

Could be a C152

billie1b

Some model of scarebus I reckon

eatmyshorts

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

No, it's a 777

Indeed it is. A 777-200ER (with GE90's?!) to be exact.

eatmyshorts

smurfjed wrote: »

Getting out of bed at 2am for ground training is a PITA..... but when it involves this, it somehow becomes worthwhile :)

Give it a few months, and it'll become a pain in the ass again!

P.S. smurfjed... Blank the standby V2, blank those R minimums and switch CDU R to IDENT page!! :-)