Flight Schools in North America

sehajjn

Disciple
Hi guys,
I just finished my boards, I was hoping to apply for a flight school abroad, I really don't know the procedure to it. I require some help from any pilots on this forum to help me pick a flight school for myself.
Thanks in advance,
Sehajjn
 
Worst industry to get into at this juncture. Even if you finish it, there are no jobs.

One of my pilot friends is sitting idle right now with tonnes of loans on his head. Feel sad for the guy.

If you have your own money and don't care, sure go for it. However don't expect a paying job afterwards.
 
Worst industry to get into at this juncture. Even if you finish it, there are no jobs.

One of my pilot friends is sitting idle right now with tonnes of loans on his head. Feel sad for the guy.

If you have your own money and don't care, sure go for it. However don't expect a paying job afterwards.
Hey man don't wanna sound rude, but what I think is it'll take around 1-1.5 years for me to finish my training, after that will have give a couple of exams, which will end up making this process 2 years long. I believe the airline industry would have very well recovered in 2 years and there would enough vacancies for new recruits at that point of time.
 
Something I fancied and considered years back, but the industry was going through a very bad time, at least in India. As long as you are prepared for the worst it might be worth the risk. Getting a licence is the easy part, finding an airline that will hire you is tough. I've read those from the Air Force have better prospects.
 
Covid obviously had a huge impact but I know a couple of guys who graduated in 2017-18 and still struggled to find proper jobs. I think the job market for pilots have always been in decline but COVID just made it a lot worse.

Both these guys decided to go for the career because their family members or people they knew, who were 5,6 years their seniors got high paying jobs and lives luxurious lives. So I imagine the market was much better back then.

If you're passionate about being a pilot and have the money to spend then definitely go for it. If you're just looking for a lucrative career and have to take loans to fund your education I would suggest you to look for other options.
 
Hey man don't wanna sound rude, but what I think is it'll take around 1-1.5 years for me to finish my training, after that will have give a couple of exams, which will end up making this process 2 years long. I believe the airline industry would have very well recovered in 2 years and there would enough vacancies for new recruits at that point of time.

It's your life and your money - decide on what you wish to do. Covid won't go away so easily. Also do understand that 80% of airline revenue comes from business travel. Businesses have been running just fine without any travel since March2020 and are in fact growing during the pandemic. There is no way in hell business travel will go back to pre covid levels which means airlines will tighten their belts permanently. Non essential business travel will be completely discouraged.
 
w.r.t pilot training in usa…..
you will need clearance from tsa and fbi including finger prints etc…
once you get the clearance you have to get health clearance and then you can start training for a private pilot.
after a minimum of 55 hrs of airtime you will do a check ride and get your pilots license for a single engine plane like cessna 170.
the you get instruments rating, dual engine rating then jet engine rating etc and about 1000hrs or so air time before they let you fly a commercial jet.

for private pilot, you have to pay anywhere around 300-350 per hour which includes cessna rent, insurance, instructor fee to fly with you. you have to pay fee to the instructor for ground school which would be less than when you are flying. good thing is that you pay as you go.

i only did 20hrs on cessna before giving up planes so i dont know beyond that.
 
Last edited:
My friends brother was a pilot in Emirates for a decade or so... he landed his first job somewhere in yr 2k5! Now may be he might have started his own private small airline..
 
w.r.t pilot training in usa…..
you will need clearance from tsa and fbi including finger prints etc…
once you get the clearance you have to get health clearance and then you can start training for a private pilot.
after a minimum of 55 hrs of airtime you will do a check ride and get your pilots license for a single engine plane like cessna 170.
the you get instruments rating, dual engine rating then jet engine rating etc and about 1000hrs or so air time before they let you fly a commercial jet.

for private pilot, you have to pay anywhere around 300-350 per hour which includes cessna rent, insurance, instructor fee to fly with you. you have to pay fee to the instructor for ground school which would be less than when you are flying. good thing is that you pay as you go.

i only did 20hrs on cessna before giving up planes so i dont know beyond that.
Thank you so much for this info, this is the first proper reply, pertaining to the question I asked, everyone is only concerned about the viability of the job, but this is helpful. Do you also remember the flight you did the 20 hours with?
 
Thank you so much for this info, this is the first proper reply, pertaining to the question I asked, everyone is only concerned about the viability of the job, but this is helpful. Do you also remember the flight you did the 20 hours with?
oh btw, this was in 2015-16 timeframe. there are many schools in usa due tonthe number of small airports and almost everyone owning a cessa like plane.

i did my training at https://mcairaviation.com/ in colorado. i think learning in a place like colorado would be good because of mountains and high altitudes. Try calling them and explain your situation and they will definitely help you out on next steps.

Also i talked to a swiss i think and he said it is much more expensive to learn in europe compared to usa.
 
Hi guys,
I just finished my boards, I was hoping to apply for a flight school abroad, I really don't know the procedure to it. I require some help from any pilots on this forum to help me pick a flight school for myself.
Thanks in advance,
Sehajjn
My advice (and it's by no means the best):
1. 2 ways to go about this - either you have someone you can stay with in the US (which will cut down your overall training costs dramatically) or you find a school which offers you the ability to lodge with them (saves you the hassle of looking independently for accommodation). Trust me - by the time you add up the bills factoring boarding and meals etc - it'll be a tidy sum. In either case - my recommendation would always be to first get a school to quote you the pure cost of flying training and licensing - take some extra trouble and do your own housing and meal planning independently - but do it.
2. If you have to go about approaching it by the school first - then I'd recommend you look up schools preferably in US states which have an excellent reputation, are SAFE above all and are FAA certified. The most popular States are Florida, Texas, Arizona etc. Not only do they have established and well managed, reputed flight schools, they also usually have good weather for the most part which will help you log those hours without much disruptions. Well - nobody can really predict hurricanes - but you can avoid hurricane season altogether for your training plan to minimize the possibility of impact.
3. Sign up on pprune if you can and post there - you'll get a lot of free advice and healthy participation - just know which stuff you need to ignore.
4. You'll most likely need to have to show proficiency in English - I'm not aware if the FAA have a mandate on IELTS/TOEFL as a minimum criteria on acceptance into US flight school programs - but if you look at in another way - I'd actually tell you to look at some good college courses in aviation or just management while your at it - there are several good proper colleges in the US that allow you to get a license done while you pursue a formal degree course.. kill 2 birds with one stone! Embry Riddle for example arguably sits at the top of the list - but is also $$ - Purdue (iirc) and a few other colleges are good too. AFTC (Arizona Flight Training Centre) / Phoenix flight School are worth checking out too.. but again they'll be premium. CAE has a school tie up as well but then again $$. Tip: go through the FAA's website - they used to have a tool to search for flight schools by State - you can use that to narrow down the list and then check out the individual websites.
5. If you're doing your ratings: do the whole hog. PPL+CPL(ME) at bare minimum with a plan to get the ATPL done as well (at least with the theory/ground papers done if that's allowed nowadays still). Don't rush for a TR if you can avoid it.. figure that out later. Don't forget after all the above - you'll need to come back and convert to the Indian license which will require certain mandatory tests to be done.
6. Lastly - email these schools directly - most of them have ready brochures etc which they'll be more than happy to share with you - and feel free to negotiate.

And before all of this - get clarity on your ability to clear a Class 1 Medical FIRST! Make sure you ask around on the Indian Class 1 Medical testing and requirements (these can usually vary from country to country if I'm not wrong - maybe not by much but still) - many a painful story to tell about a person being in absolutely fine "general" health but being ruled out on specific medical grounds that are only picked up during testing.

Lastly - my genuine suggestion - think about this career long and hard - and this is coming from someone who's been in aviation for over 15 years now, this is a BRUTAL industry. LUCK plays a MASSIVE role.. if you can stomach the volatility - it's worth it, but as they say - expect the best, prepare for the worst. Passion is a brilliant thing - just not everything and everyone's passion works out like those cheesy one liners and motivational shit you come across, it can all come crashing down and suck worse than a lemon too.

Good luck!
 
My advice (and it's by no means the best):
1. 2 ways to go about this - either you have someone you can stay with in the US (which will cut down your overall training costs dramatically) or you find a school which offers you the ability to lodge with them (saves you the hassle of looking independently for accommodation). Trust me - by the time you add up the bills factoring boarding and meals etc - it'll be a tidy sum. In either case - my recommendation would always be to first get a school to quote you the pure cost of flying training and licensing - take some extra trouble and do your own housing and meal planning independently - but do it.
2. If you have to go about approaching it by the school first - then I'd recommend you look up schools preferably in US states which have an excellent reputation, are SAFE above all and are FAA certified. The most popular States are Florida, Texas, Arizona etc. Not only do they have established and well managed, reputed flight schools, they also usually have good weather for the most part which will help you log those hours without much disruptions. Well - nobody can really predict hurricanes - but you can avoid hurricane season altogether for your training plan to minimize the possibility of impact.
3. Sign up on pprune if you can and post there - you'll get a lot of free advice and healthy participation - just know which stuff you need to ignore.
4. You'll most likely need to have to show proficiency in English - I'm not aware if the FAA have a mandate on IELTS/TOEFL as a minimum criteria on acceptance into US flight school programs - but if you look at in another way - I'd actually tell you to look at some good college courses in aviation or just management while your at it - there are several good proper colleges in the US that allow you to get a license done while you pursue a formal degree course.. kill 2 birds with one stone! Embry Riddle for example arguably sits at the top of the list - but is also $$ - Purdue (iirc) and a few other colleges are good too. AFTC (Arizona Flight Training Centre) / Phoenix flight School are worth checking out too.. but again they'll be premium. CAE has a school tie up as well but then again $$. Tip: go through the FAA's website - they used to have a tool to search for flight schools by State - you can use that to narrow down the list and then check out the individual websites.
5. If you're doing your ratings: do the whole hog. PPL+CPL(ME) at bare minimum with a plan to get the ATPL done as well (at least with the theory/ground papers done if that's allowed nowadays still). Don't rush for a TR if you can avoid it.. figure that out later. Don't forget after all the above - you'll need to come back and convert to the Indian license which will require certain mandatory tests to be done.
6. Lastly - email these schools directly - most of them have ready brochures etc which they'll be more than happy to share with you - and feel free to negotiate.

And before all of this - get clarity on your ability to clear a Class 1 Medical FIRST! Make sure you ask around on the Indian Class 1 Medical testing and requirements (these can usually vary from country to country if I'm not wrong - maybe not by much but still) - many a painful story to tell about a person being in absolutely fine "general" health but being ruled out on specific medical grounds that are only picked up during testing.

Lastly - my genuine suggestion - think about this career long and hard - and this is coming from someone who's been in aviation for over 15 years now, this is a BRUTAL industry. LUCK plays a MASSIVE role.. if you can stomach the volatility - it's worth it, but as they say - expect the best, prepare for the worst. Passion is a brilliant thing - just not everything and everyone's passion works out like those cheesy one liners and motivational shit you come across, it can all come crashing down and suck worse than a lemon too.

Good luck!
Thank you so much for the detailed advice, will surely be going through all of this
 
And before all of this - get clarity on your ability to clear a Class 1 Medical FIRST! Make sure you ask around on the Indian Class 1 Medical testing and requirements (these can usually vary from country to country if I'm not wrong - maybe not by much but still) - many a painful story to tell about a person being in absolutely fine "general" health but being ruled out on specific medical grounds that are only picked up during testing.

Lastly - my genuine suggestion - think about this career long and hard - and this is coming from someone who's been in aviation for over 15 years now, this is a BRUTAL industry. LUCK plays a MASSIVE role.. if you can stomach the volatility - it's worth it, but as they say - expect the best, prepare for the worst. Passion is a brilliant thing - just not everything and everyone's passion works out like those cheesy one liners and motivational shit you come across, it can all come crashing down and suck worse than a lemon too.

Good luck!
The most important part. I had a friend fail a medical. Back then (2009) it was worse.

Won't even talk about actually getting a job, etc as I have seen first hand how crazy it is.
 
Back
Top