Sheffield City

RE: Sheffield City

i expect within 5 to 7 years they will look at aquiring Jets – the L188 Electra is the backbone of the fleet and spares will star becomming a bugger to find – i believe the 733 when it becomes a more widespread freighter conversion will be a possablity

RE: Sheffield City

It’s very rare to find 1 pilot who doesn’t want to progress to a jet, but a whole airline of them…

RE: Sheffield City

I suppose the sensation of flying is more so in a piston or old turboporop, than in a modern jet.

RE: Sheffield City

Bearing in mind that they fly old crates (aka lovely aeroplanes to the readers of FlyPast!) they have an astonishing statistic for keeping their pilots. Very few pilots ever leave. Perhaps they are held at gunpoint or are just plain happy!

RE: Sheffield City

When I was a teenager I wanted to be a pilot too. Not sure why I changed my mind, but I was quite keen at the time.

I wrote to Atlantic Air and asked what sort of schemes they could offer. They asked me to write back in 5 years, but I was offered the chance of a day in the jumpseat of a DC-6.

What can I say, very friendly company! Their L-188 Electras seem to be very busy too, they’re all over the place.

RE: Sheffield City

Very sensible EGNM. Get yourself on the inside of a company who will offer sponsorships. JMC are going to be doing this through the ATP Academy. Other airlines are FlyBe, Air2000, Air Atlantique/Atlantic Airways, BA, etc. In fact, Air Atlantique in Coventry would be a very good one to try to get inside as they have some very interesting flying work. At the moment I imagine they are negotiating the contract for the oil clean up work spraying dispersant off north-west Spain.

RE: Sheffield City

Easy and Ryan were one i looked at – ryanair want type ratings and around 3000 hours are required before they will really consider you, altough easyjet are a little bit better there are loks of Joblees B737 and Airbus pilots kicking about, hence why i am looking at having a couple of years in Ops before i commit – i need a firm financial backing and dont want to throw myself in the deepend and regret it – not having the cash to keep myself current or finish the course etc etc!!

RE: Sheffield City

It takes years with other airlines to DEP (direct entry pilot) into major carriers such as Qantas and JAL. I would be most interested for Monster to give us a brief career history before landing such a plum job as Emirates. You can bet he has served his ‘apprenticeship’ for many years.
In the UK less than 10% of pilots who try to progress from private aviation to commercial aviation succeed in getting a job (and the UK statistics are better than most other countries!). The rest carry immense debts for many years.

RE: Sheffield City

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 20-11-02 AT 10:38 PM (GMT)]Just a thought, but most airlines bar Easy and Ryan are on the cosh.

By contrast, airlines in other countries are doing really well. JAL has recorded record profits and Qantas seems to be expanding.

Would it be possible to qualify in the EU and then apply to Japan or Australia? I know that in my own profession (accounting) they will basically let you do that, if you spend a year “converting” and put up with the mother of all beurocratic nonsense.

PS – good luck Martin!

RE: Sheffield City

Hi Guys,

With response to some of the above posts I totally agree with wysiwyg. I have heaps of friends who have been qualified for years trying to break into their first flying job, but to no avail.
One of these friends did his flight training with cabair 3 years ago and was told that he would be sure of a job after he gained his license, and you guessed it, he is still looking for work.

With regard to elationairways and your friend in BA, I am afraid that we all have very good friends who are senior and standards Captains in BA and they can’t even help their own son’s, let alone friends.

Elation, please don’t be put off trying to become a pilot, I hope you do accomplish your dream. Just please don’t believe everything you here in the aviation world, it really is a cutthroat business.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any help, at the end of the day I was in you shoes once.

And good luck with your dream.

RE: Sheffield City

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 20-11-02 AT 10:26 PM (GMT)]I spoke to SkyCruiser on the phone today and he plans to respond to this when he gets back from his flight today. A good friend of his was ‘guaranteed’ he would get a job after training with Cabair, needless to say he is still looking now. I really hated to put a downer on your plans but I felt I must warn you about the real situation out there. On that note, there are so many CPL’s out there with no jobs that just about all the instructor vacancies have now gone as people try to keep current for the upturn in the market, when it eventually happens. I strongly recommend that you start monitoring the wannabees forum on www.pprune.org to get a feel for the current climate in commercial aviation.
You say in your post you would be prepared to fly for anyone, anywhere to get a start. Well the regrettable truth is you stand very little chance of getting a job with anyone, anywhere when you come out of Cranfield/Oxford with about 200 hours and no practical experience. Go ahead with the training BUT you must budget for several years of hours building and IR renewals before you are likely to earn a low paid job in a remote part of the country.
I know this seems really harsh but I hate to think of you spending all that cash without knowing the truth about the current job hunting market.

Regards
Ian

PS If you can get onto that BA cadetship that is probably your best chance of succeeding.

RE: Sheffield City

Hi wysiwyg!

Thanks for the advice. I’ve been given the same warning from my Friend at BA about the promise of jobs at the end of training. I’ve heard that BA are planning to restart their cadet scheme within the next 18 months as they have quite a number of pilots retiring quite soon. Fingers crossed I might be one of the 1% that do get accepted.
However rest assured I will not give up, I’ve wanted to do this for 12 years and so I’ll stick in there!
I’m prepared to fly for anyone, anywhere! At the moment I’m also looking at the option of being a flight instructor when I first qualify so that I can build up enough hours.

Anyway thanks for the advice! 😀
Martin

RE: Sheffield City

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 19-11-02 AT 10:46 PM (GMT)]Elation – Believe me, I really don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm but take what Cabair’s sales people say with a very large pinch of salt. There is absolutely NO guarantee that their training will get you a job in preference to any other training provider and OATS cannot legitimately claim that either. They are desperate to sell their courses (many UK commercial training schools have gone bust in the last year) and are very happy to give you the feel good factor of telling you what you want to hear. We all hope that the job situation improves over the next few years but the fact remains that there are still many more qualified people out there than jobs available. I am still trying to help place friends of mine that qualified over 5 years ago find their first jobs.
Having contacts in places such as BA is a great thing but other than giving you a reference he can do nothing to sway your application process. The BA selection process is unswayable. On top of this, if you havn’t been through the BA cadetship program you would have to join as a direct entry pilot requiring considerable experience with other airlines.
If you want any advice about your plans I would be happy to advise.

Note for SkyCruiser and Monster – can you please post your thoughts on this.

RE: Sheffield City

2 of us in the same boat – if u have msn give us a shout – i’m applying at the moment but may delay a couple of years to give myself a firm financial backing!

RE: Sheffield City

Sadly, I haven’t been accepted for sponsorship, no one other than flybe are offering it at the moment and sadly I don’t meet the age requirements for them.

I’m 17 and so I’m still at school, but I’ve just been accepted to train with Cabair at Cranfield, however I’m having to pay my own way 🙁

I’ve been told that I’m pretty much garenteed a job after graduating from Cabair, however I’m also applying to OAT (Oxford Air Training), as they are very local to me and they are also probably one of the best training schools out there.

Luckly I have a referee at British Airways who I have known for a very long time, he is a Senior Captain on the 777 fleet ther and he seems to think that judging by my current flying knowledge and experience I should get on to the 734 fleet pretty easily 😀

RE: Sheffield City

Martin – from your message I gather you have just been accepted for a sponsorship. Who with?

RE: Sheffield City

I suspect they will be back next summer season on the JER charters.

RE: Sheffield City

I dont think anything is operating out of Sheffield at the moment, probably the last services were Jersey charters

RE: Sheffield City

My local airport is Liverpool and i understand the owners of Liverpool (Peel Airports) have bought an interest in Sheffield Airport. I am quite often in Sheffield for work reasons, as i was today. I usually drive pass and sometimes stop for lunch a the airport. It is normally quiet.

RE: Sheffield City

Hi all, i live very close 2 Sheffield City Airport, i dont think too much of it, i like it because it is nice and locan and that i dont have 2 travel 2 far 2 an airport. The walk around the airport can take up a good hour of your visit, and i love the walk, shame there isnt much activity there. I took some snaps there a few week back and I am going to get them developed, if any of you want some pictures just drop me an E=-Mail and I will send u them :). If anyone lives nearby just drop me and E-mail too and we could meet and start the first Sheffield City Airporrt fans club, lol.[BR]E-Mail – bapilot2b@ic24.net[br]Web Address – http://www.aviation-careers.net[br] Cheers!