COMMERCIAL
PILOTS
After receiving your PPL you will train for various aircraft endorsements and ratings including a night rating, retractable undercarriage and a more advanced propeller system. You will also be trained in more challenging navigation exercises and to a higher standard. You will be expected to fly in stricter tolerances with tighter deadlines for flight planning and decision making.Before you can attempt the CPL flight test you must pass 7 theory examinations, covering similar subject areas including navigation, meteorology, aerodynamics, engines and systems, aircraft performance, human factors and air law. While you may undertake the 3.5 hour flight test for the CPL at 17, the licence cannot be issued until your 18th birthday.You will be flying with an Approved Testing Officer and will be tested on similar issues as the PPL except that the knowledge and skill areas will be covered more comprehensively.Passing the CPL test and being issued with the licence entitles you to carry passengers for hire or reward, in association with a licensed air service operator. This licence is needed to operate as a light aircraft charter pilot. You will now be able to fly as pilot in command of single pilot aircraft or as co-pilot in multi-crew aircraft on charter.A full time student will easily be able to complete the training within 12 months. Students have achieved the training from start to finish in 8 months. If you only fly on 2 or 3 days a week, you should allow 2 years. Although there is no formal time frame stipulated the course is designed to be a fairly intensive course and will work out substantially cheaper if you maintain continuity in your training. Extended breaks mean that money will be wasted while you revise previously delivered sequences.A conservative budget for a Commercial Pilots Licence can be found on our FAQ area. This budget includes all supplemental equipment (medical/documents/headset/etc) that is required for your training. Please be aware that the hours stipulated are based on realistic hours rather than the CASA minimums. It is probable that you may complete your training in fewer hours, which of course would mean your costs would be lower.Our courses commence on a basis of rolling starts. This simply means that courses can commence at any time. The nature of flight training is that it is done on a one to one basis for the initial training. This means that you do not need to wait for us to gather a group of students in order to commence a course.Once you have graduated it is very rare that you would commence straight away with an airline. Generally a graduate will take one of two career paths.Some students will choose to move to one of the more remote parts of Australia. Generally, in the Northern Territory or in Western Australia. In these areas the community is heavily reliant on light aircraft for the movement of people and goods. Newly qualified pilots use these jobs flying light aircraft to build up their flying hours. Depending on how the economy is going you may need to work for between 1 to 3 years to build up your hours to be eligible for an airline application.The second option is to complete an Instructor Rating. Although this path costs an extra $15,000 it can be cost effective, as it allows you to build up your hours working in a capital city rather than a remote area while you build up your hours. The Instructor Rating can also be a desirable additional qualification when you commence your airline application process.A
pilot in his first job flying a light aircraft with 4 to 8 seats
would expect to earn approximately $35,000 to $45,000 per annum
increasing to approximately $50,000 once he has a couple of years
experience. Once progressing to a regional airline or the RFDS
that would be in the $50,000 to $90,000 range and an Airline Pilot
with one of the major Airlines would earn between $100,000 to
$250,000 once some seniority has been achieved.
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