by David Santo -

Finding pilot jobs on the web – Bookmark this site for your job search!

AeroStar Flight Training Services prepares students for careers as captains or first officers of A320s and B737s, which are the most popular airliners in use today. Finding pilot jobs is one of the big things on the minds of our students!

finding pilot jobsHere are some of the sites that list jobs for these types of pilots, as well as individual airlines sites.

We understand that some of these sites are confusing or difficult to use, so it takes initiative and diligence to use the web in your career search.

Leave a comment and let us know what you’d like to see in the ideal job search site for pilots!

Of course, any such list is incomplete, but we’d like to grow this one. Please leave a comment if you know of a site that we’ve left out!  (Especially if you’ve used it successfully to obtain an airline job!)

Pilot Job Sites

Airline “Careers” or “Human Resources” links

 

  • AirTran
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Allegiant Air
  • American Airlines
  • Continental Airlines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue
  • Southwest Airlines
  • SunCountry Airlines
  • U.S. Airways
  • United
  • Virgin America
by David Santo -

How “You Get What You Pay For” Applies in Advanced Flight Training

Ever heard the old adage “you get what you pay for”? The reason it’s an old adage is because it’s a true one.

advanced flight trainingThere are a lot of schools who offer type ratings and advanced flight crew training. AeroStar is one of about a dozen schools approved to provide type ratings under FAR 142. However, not all these schools are built the same. Unfortunately, most are not focused on helping your career dreams take flight.

It’s sad that many of these schools prey on the passions and career aspirations of aviation enthusiasts for selfish reason.

Many schools care only about their “bottom line” rather than their customer’s career success. One key way to help you identify the school’s motivations is to look at the qualifications and background of the people who own them.

Are they pilots? Have they ever been professional pilots? Do they really know anything about training pilots? How can they help you achieve what they themselves have never accomplished?

Most type rating schools are owned by career business people and some by aerospace engineers. These owners have never pursued the dream of being an airline pilot. They have never experienced what it’s like to train to airline standards nor do they have a proven track record of successfully flying airplanes.

To learn about the school’s owners check out their website, call and ask or inquire via e-mail.

Sure they deliver what their customers pay for but all too often this is nothing more than the bare minimum. These companies share an unspoken motto to get training done cheaply and get clients in and out as quickly as possible – the cheaper the better. To them a marginal pass rate is good enough. To them their clients are just numbers and dollars not fellow pilots.

If you’re looking for business advice, talk to a business man. If you want really cool aviation software, talk to an aviation software engineer. However, if you want to train to be an airline pilot then enroll in a school founded and operated by career pilots – pilots who care about your success, pilots who have a proven track record of helping others fulfill their career dreams.

No, AeroStar is not the cheapest. Our programs frequently cost more than some while less than others. Why? Because we care enough to offer the best training at the best value! Our fee structure has allowed us to price competitively while recruiting and retaining the best instructors, offering the best simulators, deploying the best learning tools and creating the best courses. Our pricing reflects our belief that quality and experience matters. It reflects that you get what you pay for and that the customer expects a return on their investment.

AeroStar Training Services, LLC was founded by career airline pilots with thousands of hours of flight experience. They created their unique and highly successful training programs to help others succeed the way they had.

At AeroStar we don’t create software nor do we build simulators, we train professional airline pilots. Our organization utilizes the best training tools available to deliver the best training experience. Each AeroStar instructor has been hand-picked based on his/her experience, talent, and a passion for teaching.

Our bottom line is that we care about the customer’s success. Our motto is to “help your aviation career dreams take flight.”

by David Santo -

AeroStar Participates in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Career Day

On Wednesday, October 19th AeroStar participated in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Career Day event. As a vendor, AeroStar was able to host many ERAU seniors and graduates in our booth to answer lots of questions about training with  AeroStar,  careers, and how AeroStar can enhance their pilot opportunities both domestic and internationally. Over 1,000 students participated in the one day event. AeroStar will be participating in other on campus events, and hosting tours of our training facility on a regular basis,  as we continue to work with ERAU to develop a training partnership.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

by David Santo -

Piloting Adventures – the Vintage Airways DC3

by Scott Patton

Piloting adventures - the Vintage Airways DC3 - vintage advertisement Piloting adventures - the Vintage Airways DC3 - advertisement Piloting adventures - the Vintage Airways DC3 Piloting adventures - the Vintage Airways DC3 - Vintage NoseartMy greatest thrill as an airline pilot was not at thirty five thousand feet on autopilot, but rather at the controls of the legendary DC-3 at  eight hundred feet flying out of the west at sunset in a two ship formation and peeling off overhead Key West on a champagne sunset flight as WWII era music played in the cabin.

I had the honor of flying tine DC-3 for a WWII themed tour operator from Orlando to Key West, with fly bys of the Kennedy Space Center and champagne sunset flights over Key West. The theme celebrated VE Day, May 8, 1945, complete with period uniforms, actual Life Magazines and fabulous “Big Band” music set to each leg of the flight.

I will admit, with every takeoff, as those huge 1350 horse power radial engines roared into the sky, and the sound of Benny Goodman music played in the background, there  was a smile on my face every time!

Now as an instructor for AeroStar, I get to introduce people to this fantastic career opportunity. You may get to fly a DC3. You may be flying spacecraft in the future!  We never know what adventures await our students in the future.

What we do know for sure is that your future is much brighter when you prepare and invest in your skills and abilities to do what you love.

We look forward to seeing you in class, and helping your aviation career dreams take flight!

 

by David Santo -

Stories from Our Students and Graduates – First Officer Kenian Jabbour

As the Admissions Director of AeroStar, I learn a lot about our students and their careers.

Stories from our students and graduatesThe career path for pilots has changed in the last few years.  The career path used to be something like this:

  1. Get your multi-engine and commercial license
  2. Become a CFI
  3. Build time as an instructor
  4. Work for a Regional Airline or 121 to build more time
  5. Apply to a major airline or for a corporate flight department

Airlines were also willing to pay for type rating training for new hires.

A more typical (and better!) career path for today’s pilots goes like this:

  1. Get your multi-engine and commercial license
  2. Get your A320 or b737 type rating from AeroStar
  3. Get hired by an overseas airline (many of whom are hiring our graduates!)
  4. Get paid while you build time
  5. Apply for a major U.S. airline (if you like.)

Many of our students do exactly this.

It is good to see people who are so excited about their success.

A few months ago, Kenian Jabbour had had his doubts about our program.   His crew partner was getting his flight training at a competing academy (PanAm) and had been quoted a lower price than AeroStar was offering.   But Keenan toured our facility, compared the quality of the program, and started with us.

Kenian spent 10 days on site with us getting his a320 type rating.   He was hired as a first officer for an airline, and recently stopped by our office while his aircraft was being fueled. They had just returned from France and were planning a trip to Casablanca.

Since then, his crew partner has actually spent MORE money on additional training and was still working on his type rating.

Why do AeroStar students get hired?

  1. Our students stand out from the pack by showing that they’ve made a smart investment in their career.
  2. Our students save time for the airlines because they are already fluent and proficient and no additional training is needed.

A big thank you to Sunrise Aviation for helping students like Kenian get started and referring them to AeroStar for advanced flight training. Together we help aviation career dreams take flight!

by David Santo -

Will There Be Jobs for Pilots?

It seems not a day goes by that we hear about rising unemployment rates and huge problems with the world economy.

How is that impacting us here at AeroStar?

Sure, we’re facing the high cost of gas on our daily commute, and prices of our lunches have gone up in our cafeteria.  We all have friends, neighbors and relatives who may be out of work.

With all that going on, it may seem somewhat “out of touch” or “out of fashion” to be as happy and optimistic as our students, instructors, and business partners are.

We have to wipe the smiles off our faces before we leave the building.

Why is that?

We know that our students are better positioned than anybody to weather the recession and to have great careers for many years to come, doing something that many of them have been passionate about since they were small children.

Our instructors are passionate about flying. We love what we do.  But since we really care about our students, we also need to be able to go home at night feeling like we’re doing something that is good for them as well.

We know these same students that are in our classrooms and simulators today are the same people that will be sending us letters and postcards from all over the world  for years to come, telling us about their careers, their jobs, their promotions, and the locations they’re visiting.

After nearly a four-year drought of job openings, the airline industry is on the brink of what’s predicted to be the biggest surge in pilot hiring in history. Aircraft maker Boeing has forecast a need for 466,650 more commercial pilots by 2029 — an average of 23,300 new pilots a year. Nearly 40% of the openings will be to meet the soaring travel market in the Asia-Pacific region, Boeing predicts, but more than 97,000 will be in North America.

“It is a dramatic turnaround,” says Louis Smith, president of FltOps.com, a website that provides career and financial planning for pilots. “Pilot hiring was severely depressed in the last three years. The next 10 years will be the exact opposite, with the longest and largest pilot hiring boom in the history of the industry.”

The demand for pilots will be so great that the industry could ultimately face a shortage, sparking fierce competition among airlines across the globe vying for candidates qualified to fill their cockpits.

Demand for airline pilots set to soar – Charisse Jones, USA TODAY 6/2011

 

Pilots for airlines, regional flight services, and corporate flight departments have a very bright future.

Here are some of the facts that add up to make this the ideal scenario for today’s flight students:

  • In 2007, President George Bush signed a bill that raised the retirement age for commercial pilots from 60 to 65, allowing more pilots to stay on the job longer.  A number of pilots that were allowed to stay on because of that rule will be retiring before 2012.
  • Emerging markets such as China, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East are seeing huge growth in the aviation industry.
  • The economy has kept many potential flight students from pursuing their training. ATP issuances last year were at a 10 year low and 60% less than in 2000.

This all adds up to an unprecedented opportunity that I would wholeheartedly recommend to my own family and friends.  And it’s yet another reason I can’t stop smiling, even if it’s out of fashion these days.

by David Santo -

Questions about getting started in an aviation career?

If your dream is to get a great job as an airline pilot or flight attendant, you’re in the right place!  We would like to help you get started with your aviation career. Visit this blog often or subscribe today!

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Get a great aviation career! We can help.
Get a great aviation career! We can help.

 

Get a great job with an airline! We can help.

What questions do you have about any of the following topics?

  • Choosing the best training program for you
  • Which type ratings and other credentials are the most important
  • Specifics of training programs
  • Costs for various aspects of your training and job search
  • Where to find airline job listings
  • How to prepare for a job interview with an airline
  • Using social media to help you find a job

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by David Santo -

Reduced Minimums for Pilots with Type Ratings

By Kevin Teeter

Kevin Teeter talks about reduced minimumsI recently attended an Airline job fair and stumbled upon something I wasn’t expecting – Reduced minimums for pilots with type ratings!

In speaking with the various recruiters I noticed that many of them offered to waive a significant number of multi engine hours if the applicant possessed a type rating.  In some cases they would waive up to 400 hours of multi.  If you consider the average multi engine rental costs $220 per hour/wet, then they would spend approximately 96,000 to get those hours.

The cheapest time building package I have found online is $181 per hour/wet, which equals $72,400 for 400 hours.  The cost of a type rating would yield only 72 hours of multi time.

Many of the presentations by these airlines project the hiring of pilots in the next two years to be in the tens of thousands. 

The airlines in attendance were:

  • GoJet
  • ASA
  • Skywest
  • Air Wisconson
  • American Eagle
  • CapeAir

We have known for some time that a type rating is an advantage for any career-minded pilot – but it’s always good to have confirmation from an outside source!