They witness
- Olivier Rigazio, captain at Transavia, member of the executive board of the SNPL, the national union of airline pilots
- Geoffroy Bouvet, President of the Association of Aviation Professionals (Apna)
- Stephane Larrieupilot at Air France and deputy director of Mermoz Academy
- Thomas Aoudiadirector of initial training at Airbus Flight Academy
- Thierry de Basquiatdirector of pilot training and flights at Enac
200,000 pilot hires worldwide if all goes well within 5 years
The recruitment curve for airline pilots is once again at its highest at the end of Covid. According to aircraft manufacturers, nearly 200,000 pilot hires are planned in the next 5 years worldwide. This represents 40,000 recruitments per year. So is that reason enough to get started?
Olivier Rigazio
“The recruitment of pilots is cyclicalanswers, half-fig-half-grape, the captain at Transavia Olivier Rigazio, 51 years old, 28 years of professional experience, member of the executive board of the SNPL, the national union of airline pilots, the representative structure of the profession . During Covid, 18,000 pilots lost their jobs in Europe. Now that the flights are leaving, they will have to be replaced. The sector will first hire the most experienced pilots. Then, the companies will recruit younger people. But, for now, employers have a choice”.
Still, we can imagine, without certainty – all it takes is an international event like a war or a virus to put a damper on air traffic – that 2023 will be a very good year for the recruitment of pilots.
A complex career start
Geoffroy Bouvet
Having said this, it is interesting to “Training during the post-crisis period, therefore at the start of the load as at the end of 2022comments Geoffroy Bouvet, president of the association of aviation flight professionals (Apna), a group created in 1927, “actor in the training and employment of pilots”. The need is monstrous in the USA and strong in Asia with the danger of having to start for unscrupulous employers with low wages where you pay to work… This career start can be complicated. But there will be the hope of working, after a few years of experience, for a company that pays well”.
Sharp but not very transferable skills
Stephane Larrieu
The profession of pilot has become more complex. “To be a good pilot, an employee must have technical skills but also have worked on their soft skills, such as workload management, decision-making speed, situational awareness and communication”, explains Stéphane Larrieu, pilot at Air France and deputy director of Mermoz Academy, training 80 pilots per promotion in two years (cost: 74,500 euros). The establishment also offers a work-study master’s degree in airline management.
Even more today, the airline pilot is multitasking, both responsible for his plane but also for communication with his passengers. Endowed with composure, he must also be pleasant to cohabit with another pilot, not always a friend, in a tiny cockpit, placing safety above everything else. The pilot must also speak perfect English and to progress in the career acquire notions of management.
France has nearly 8,500 airline pilots.
Source: DGAC 2020 activity reportThomas Aoudia
“It is essential to speak English well and to be sensitive to the environmental impacts of aircraft”, specifies Thomas Aoudia, director of initial training at Airbus flight academy, located in Angoulême, the reference in France according to Apna. The establishment was created by the aircraft manufacturer to help its customers find pilots.
At this level, these executives earn more than 100,000 euros gross per year. But they remain instructor pilot, technical adviser or aeronautical expert.. Not easy for these specialists to move into other sectors.
Problematic salaries at the start of a career
All companies, in terms of salary and working conditions, are not equal. To eliminate the employers to flee – there are some – it will be necessary to approach the unions of pilots who will give precise information on the good employers and the others.
It’s the same with salaries. Some companies offer remuneration close to the minimum wage (20,147.4 euros gross per year); others do not allow you to be an employee and impose a self-employed contract where the pilot invoices for the service.
Most of the time, the pilots begin, forced and forced, in these companies to acquire experience and sail towards other companies where it is good to work.
Salaries that rise with experience
In these structures that pay well, as is the case with most French companies, the salary of a young pilot will start at around 35,000 to 40,000 euros gross per year. But it also depends on the flight times. Depending on the season, a pilot’s salary fluctuates by 30 to 40%. With 5 years of experience, a pilot can then expect salaries of around 43,000 to 45,000 euros gross per year. Then, after 10 years, he became a captain, with salaries of 60,000 to 80,000 euros gross per year to then reach more than 100,000 euros gross per year.
Very expensive private training
In France, to train at the least expensive pilot schools, competition is fierce. Only a few schools offer courses with low tuition fees, such as Enac and Air France cadets. Or the interesting military route but which requires you to stay in the flag for at least 8 years. These schools are the royal road with good salaries almost guaranteed…
1410 euros tuition per year over 3 years at ENAC
Thierry de Basquiat
“For a pilot, the ideal course will begin with a quality school, adds Thierry de Basquiat, director of pilot training and flights at Enac (25 graduates per year from the Airline Pilot Student course – EPL – for 750 candidates) for university tuition fees (1410 euros tuition fee per year over 3 years). The graduate will become a pilot then co-pilot then captain following demanding and regular training. Then, it will be possible to become an instructor and obtain management positions as head of training or air operations, cumulative positions with the function of pilot”.
For the others, the majority, the pilots have to pay private courses the cost of which is around 100,000 euros to which it will be necessary to add at least 30,000 euros to qualify on a specific aircraft.
€74,500 for the Mermoz Academy pilot course
The course forms In two years 80 pilots per promotion and costs 74,500 euros. The establishment also offers a work-study master’s degree in airline management.
€100,000 for the Airbus Flight Academy course
The campus is located in Angoulême and is the reference in France according to Apna. the 18 month course to 100,000 euros concerns those over 18 years old without academic criteria but with an entry test.
To make the right choice among these courses, the SNPL warns against unscrupulous schools and advises to choose courses that have signed the charter that the union offers in order to avoid the establishment’s bankruptcy filings – it happened –. Read here the advice of the SNPL and there those of the Apna. Because flight schools do not always train in the required skills. We must therefore be suspicious and measure the risk.
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The subject was discussed in our HAPPY PARITY section to read here.