Your chance to be a pilot

JMC (through the ATP Academy) are going to train 4 pilots from scratch next year and then dump them in the right seat of one of my lovely 757’s. We have a lot of young talent on this forum so why don’t we get one of ours in.

copied from http://www.thomascookpilots.com

The Route to the Pilot’s Seat in a JMC Aircraft
Pilots have traditionally come to JMC via a number of routes. Some recruits will be experienced pilots, perhaps from other airlines, the military or other aviation specialisations. Others will recently have completed their ‘licence’ training and will have been taught to become airline pilots on the CTC ATP Scheme. For people with little or no flying experience, there is a long and often expensive training road ahead, before we can consider them for employment as a pilot.

The first stage of training, obviously, is to learn to fly. You must reach the level of skill, knowledge and experience necessary for the award of the licence needed to fly as an airline pilot; the ‘frozen’ Airline Pilot’s Licence (fATPL). A full time “ab-initio” or “Basic Training” course will last about 14 months and can cost well over £70,000. Part-time this can take considerably longer.

The next stage of training will introduce you to flying as a member of a team, rather than as a single pilot, and involve your first look at larger jet aircraft. This is called “bridge” or “Intermediate Training.”

Finally, you need to convert onto the airliner type that you will fly with JMC. This stage of training is called “Type Rating” or “Advanced Training.” It comprises a number of steps: first you will learn about the aircraft and sit an examination. Then you will learn to fly and operate it, on a series of more sophisticated simulators. Finally you will do you “base training” when you will actually fly a jet passenger aircraft for the first time.

At that point you will have the aircraft rating added to your licence, although there is one more step before you can fly unrestricted as a JMC crew member. You need to fly for a while under the supervision of a training captain. This is called “line training” and culminates with a test. At last, you are a fully fledged JMC First Officer.

In practice, however, most pilots follow a lengthier route to a Jet Airline like JMC. After their Basic training, most will find lower paid employment in the aviation industry. Only after establishing a track record as a pilot and building their experience will they be able to move onto larger jet aircraft. Many would-be airline pilots find out during this lengthy process that they are not suited to the role of an airline pilot, sometimes after great personal expense and time commitment. The cost of self-funded training puts many off. In fact, the training described above could cost well over £100.0000! Very few people can afford to pay for it themselves, without assistance.

The final course, called type rating or Advanced Training is when you will learn to fly the first airline aircraft type that you will be operating as a JMC pilot; eventually, after a series of demanding tests you will have the new aircraft entered on to your ATPL. Once properly licensed, you will then undergo an extensive period of flying with a Training Captain on the JMC routes. This is called “line training” and provided that you have attained all the skills needed you will, at last, be fulfilling your dream: you will be a JMC pilot flying jet passenger aircraft.

JMC, part of the Thomas Cook Group, is a major UK Charter Airline. We need highly motivated young men and women to help us staff our future. We have therefore decided to assist a number of applicants each year through sponsorship of their training costs and provide a fast-track route into the airline.

JMC has teamed up with CTC McAlpine to offer you this opportunity. The scheme will enable you to enter the profession in the most cost effective way and ensure that you get the very best opportunity of achieving your ambition with as little risk to you as possible.

How much money will I have to find to pay for this training?

None – there is an incredibly good financial arrangement available to anybody who can fulfil the qualification requirements. It works like this: CTC McAlpine and JMC will pay for all the training throughout your course. Because this is a significant exposure to both the airline and CTC McAlpine, you will be required to deposit a cash bond for £60,000 in 14 payments at 5 week intervals. The difference between £60,000 and the full cost of training is paid by JMC. Don’t worry, if you don’t have access to this large amount of money required for the bond, there is an excellent low cost arrangement with a high street bank available through CTC McAlpine’s scheme.

If you take the loan, repayments are not required until you become employed with us. On employment, we will pay you the appropriate Cadet Entry Pilot scale of salary for the first seven years and also, each month, a repayment of the bond that you gave us initially. Our bond repayments will amount to £84,000 over the 7 years. Thus you will be able to repay the bond loan from the bank over that same seven year period. Additionally CTC McAlpine will pay JMC Cadets a living allowance of £5,000 spread over the months of the basic and intermediate training. During the groundschool phase of the advanced training, you’ll get a living allowance of £500 per month and this will rise to £1,000 per month when you start flying.

When do I start earning a salary? How much will that be?

Once you have successfully completed your basic, Intermediate and Advanced training you will at last start flying with JMC on the line, there will be an initial period of 6 months during which the line training and consolidation training will take place – during which time you will be paid a monthly allowance from CTC McAlpine. It will only be on completion of that period, when you have proved to us that you are what we are looking for in pilot recruits, that we will be able to offer employment. This will normally be a total of about two years from the start of the Basic Training course. At that time you would join us on the Cadet Entry First Officer scale (see the Salaries and Benefits page) and of course would also receive sector pay and other benefits.

Where can I get more information and how do I apply?

Further information is available on CTC McAlpine’s website. Due to the very large number of applicants that we will receive, we regret that neither CTC McAlpine, nor ourselves, will be in a position to answer any questions by telephone, letter or personal visits. Applications can only be made through that website.

What qualifications do I need?

Age: You must be at least 18 years old and not yet 27 years old when you apply

Nationality: You must have the unrestricted right to live and work in the EU

Education: You must have at least passed 2 A’ Levels (or equivalent) at grade C or above

What are my chances of getting through the selection?

We are looking for the very best pilots, so only a small percentage of applicants will be successful. You will have to prove to us that you are the sort of person who will fit into JMC, with aptitude needed to become a first class pilot.

How long does each part of the training take?

The Basic Phase takes about 14 months to complete. The Intermediate Phase lasts about 3 weeks and the Advanced Phase about two months. With the 6 months of line training and consolidation flying, together with leave and holidays, the whole process will take about 2 years from the day you start.

Where is the training done?

CTC McAlpine has developed a special course for this sponsorship which will be conducted in both New Zealand and in the UK. During the first year, you will spend about 10 months in New Zealand and the rest of the time in the UK.