Radical career change (aviation industry)

flyer31

Hi all,

I hold a PhD in Computer Science but now at the age of 31 I have completely lost interested in this subject. My new passion is to get
actively involved in the aviation industry (but not as programmer).

Obviously, becoming a pilot would be a really cool thing, but the research that I did so far implies that I might be too old for this career path, for instance at Lufthansa in Germany the just allow applicants up to the age of 28. Is anyone aware of some pilot education program that I might join?

Another interesting option I looked into was becoming an airtraffic controller. But again, it seems my age might be a problem. In Germany you have to be less than 24 when starting the education, while here in the UK I thought the maximum age for training is 30.

Does anyone know of any options that would allow me to follow my passion?

Thanks flyer31!

dizzyrascal

Is there a reason why you are referring to German employment issues and not UK ones.
The only reason I ask is that it can be difficult to get work with aviation companies that have contracts with the UK government if you do not hold a UK passport

DreamerV

I heard from a BA recruiter I happened to be at a conference with last September, that they were recruiting pilots from a much wider field than previously and training them up, and I remember the age limit being fairly high (something like 50) so that they could recoup their training costs. I assume she would have been telling the truth, so may be worth looking into.

agrinnall

DreamerV wrote: »

I heard from a BA recruiter I happened to be at a conference with last September, that they were recruiting pilots from a much wider field than previously and training them up, and I remember the age limit being fairly high (something like 50) so that they could recoup their training costs. I assume she would have been telling the truth, so may be worth looking into.

I don't disbelieve you, as I have no knowledge of the scheme, but the reason you mention seems odd, surely if they want to recoup their training costs they would want to recruit younger people so that they have a longer career in which to get the money back?

DreamerV

I wasn't implying that they are looking actively for older people, merely saying that they are not "discriminating" until around 50, at which point they would no longer recoup their money. There is a cutoff after which it is no longer worth it for them. I remember that being a good 20 years older than myself. I am 28.

Also discriminating is not quite the word I am looking for, as they have valid reason for not employing people at very high cost to themselves, if there is no business benefit to be gained.

Edited to add: that may not have been obvious from my sentence structure.

flyer31

dizzyrascal wrote: »

The only reason I ask is that it can be difficult to get work with aviation companies that have contracts with the UK government if you do not hold a UK passport

Oh I see. I hold an Austrian passport but have been in the UK for over 5 years. I do not necessarly need to work in the UK, it is just about getting the training for "affordable" money .

flyer31

DreamerV wrote: »

I heard from a BA recruiter I happened to be at a conference with last September, that they were recruiting pilots from a much wider field than previously and training them up, and I remember the age limit being fairly high.

Do you think this is the training scheme of BA?

ctcwings[dot]com[slash]ba

It says something about they are giving you a loan, but it does not state anywhere how much it actually costs ...

dizzyrascal

I think the course takes about a year and you get to be a pilot at the end of it but from memory it costs about £20k or possibly more now. The person who I knew that did the course went to New Zealand or Australia to train. Sorry, can't remember which.

dizzyrascal

I found this thread on MSE which might be useful
It does mention loans of £80k though but has some useful links
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2879898

DreamerV

flyer31 wrote: »

Do you think this is the training scheme of BA?

ctcwings[dot]com[slash]ba

It says something about they are giving you a loan, but it does not state anywhere how much it actually costs ...

To be honest I am not sure. Even though I wanted to be a pilot for years, I had just gone back to uni to retrain in a different field at much cost, and wasn't going to re-consider at that point (one year into my course) so I didn't ask anything further. I'm not in touch with the lady now or I would have asked for you She did suggest though that British Airways were paying for the training from their own pocket (as long as you were likely to be beneficial to them). She said it was very unusual for them to be doing it this way and it was the right time for me to go for it if I wanted.

dizzyrascal

It is possible to do some pilot training whilst at university, either through a degree like aeronautical/aerospace engineering or through a society
If you look for a degree with PPI (Private Pilots Licence) as part of the course it only costs about £1,000 more. Whilst this does not allow you to be a commercial pilot it might allow you to make connections, get a feel for flying and get some flying hours under your belt.
Look under courses at UCAS or at Prospects.ac.uk for postgraduate study.
I realise that the last thing the op probably wants is to go back to university but it might be an option for others reading this thread

Perhaps it would be worth looking at getting the PPI done, it might save money in the long run.