{"id":118987,"date":"2023-09-20T11:59:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T11:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/?p=118987"},"modified":"2023-09-20T11:59:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T11:59:07","slug":"ba-first-officer-busts-the-myths-about-becoming-a-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/travel\/ba-first-officer-busts-the-myths-about-becoming-a-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"BA first officer busts the &apos;myths&apos; about becoming a pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>I&#8217;m a British Airways first officer and here I bust the &#8216;myths&#8217; about becoming a professional pilot, from the costs to the qualifications (spoiler alert &#8211; you don&#8217;t need to be a maths genius)<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>BA has launched a new scheme that covers costs for prospective pilots<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Speedbird Pilot Academy programme pays the \u00a3100,000 fee<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: The world&#8217;s 50 best hotels for 2023 named<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Prospective pilots can now apply for a place on a new British Airways scheme that will see the \u00a3100,000 cost of their training covered entirely by the airline.<\/p>\n<p>The national flag carrier&#8217;s Speedbird Pilot Academy programme will lift the previously prohibitive cost barrier of training to become an airline pilot for up to 60 successful candidates a year \u2013 &#8216;helping to level the playing field and make a flying career a realistic option for all&#8217;, says British Airways.<\/p>\n<p>Successful recruits will also have accommodation and food costs covered during their 16-month training period. Sean Doyle, British Airways&#8217; Chairman and CEO, said: &#8216;The Speedbird Pilot Academy will make the ambition of becoming a British Airways pilot a reality for people who&#8217;d previously written the option off because of the cost barrier.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>British Airways&#8217; Senior First Officer and former cadet Hannah Vaughan, 32, described the scheme as &#8216;groundbreaking&#8217;, and said it was important for the airline to attract the top applicants and remove barriers that may have put people off previously.<\/p>\n<p>To encourage more applicants to apply, Hannah here &#8216;busts some of the current myths&#8217; about becoming a professional airline pilot.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/20\/10\/75632499-12539457-image-a-33_1695202395554.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Prospective pilots can now apply for a place on a new British Airways scheme that will see the \u00a3100,000 cost of their training covered entirely by the airline. Above &#8211; a BA A380 cockpit<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> You need to be rich to train as a pilot.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH<\/span>: &#8216;This is false,&#8217; says Hannah. &#8216;The British Airways Speedbird Pilot Academy is entirely funded by the airline.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> You can only become a pilot if you have a university degree.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH:<\/span> &#8216;This is false &#8211; the new cadet scheme offers a great career without the need for a degree,&#8217; says Hannah.<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH<\/span>: You need to have A-Level qualifications to apply for a role as a pilot.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH:<\/span> &#8216;A-Levels are not required,&#8217; stresses Hannah. &#8216;You just need six GCSEs to apply to the cadet scheme. Six GCSEs grade A-C or 5-9 including maths, English and a science or equivalent qualification.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> You need to be a maths or science genius.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH:<\/span> &#8216;A lot of people think this, but it isn&#8217;t true,&#8217; says Hannah. &#8216;As long as you meet the GCSE requirements, you can apply.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/20\/10\/75632511-12539457-image-a-34_1695202505698.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>British Airways&#8217; Senior First Officer and former cadet Hannah Vaughan has busted several myths about becoming a professional pilot. Above are flight simulators at BA&#8217;s Global Learning Academy near Heathrow<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> You need perfect eyesight \u2013 if you&#8217;re short-sighted you can&#8217;t apply.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH:<\/span> &#8216;No, you can fly for commercial airlines with glasses or contact lenses,&#8217; says Hannah.<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> You have to be under 40 to apply.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH: <\/span>&#8216;Anyone who will be between the ages of 18 and 55 when they start their training can apply,&#8217; says Hannah. &#8216;Everyone has an equal chance of being successful.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span>MYTH:<\/span> If you&#8217;ve got no flying experience you&#8217;ve got no chance of being considered. You need a private pilot licence first to train as a commercial pilot.<\/p>\n<p><span>TRUTH:<\/span> &#8216;Having flying experience or a private pilot licence isn&#8217;t a requirement to apply for the cadet scheme,&#8217; says Hannah. &#8216;That said, if you can, you may wish to try a short trial flight, which can be in a glider or light aircraft, to make sure that you enjoy the feeling of flying. There are many scholarships available which may help with this.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>More information can be found, and applications made, on British Airways&#8217; careers site &#8211; careers.ba.com\/future-pilots.<\/p>\n<h3>How to sign up to The Mail&#8217;s WhatsApp Channel<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/20\/08\/75383141-12512879-Scan_this_QR_code_and_you_ll_be_taken_to_a_page_to_join_the_chan-a-236_1695194307163.jpg\" height=\"284\" width=\"284\"><\/p>\n<p>Scan this QR code and you&#8217;ll be taken to a page to join the channel<\/p>\n<p>To follow the The Mail on Channels, simply click on this invite link.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, you can search for the The Mail&#8217;s Channel in WhatsApp, or scan the QR code below.<\/p>\n<p>If you can&#8217;t see Channels, try update WhatsApp via your app store.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You will then need to close WhatsApp and open it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve joined The Mail&#8217;s channel, make sure you tap the bell icon at the top of the screen to receive notifications.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/20\/08\/75628919-12512879-The_Mail_WhatsApp_Channel_on_iPhone-m-237_1695194319042.jpg\" height=\"1208\" width=\"586\"><\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve joined The Mail&#8217;s channel, make sure you tap the bell icon at the top of the screen to receive notifications\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/travel\/article-12539457\/Im-British-Airways-officer-bust-myths-professional-pilot-costs-qualifications.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m a British Airways first officer and here I bust the &#8216;myths&#8217; about becoming a professional pilot, from the costs to the qualifications (spoiler alert &#8211; you don&#8217;t need to be a maths genius) BA has launched a new scheme that covers costs for prospective pilots The Speedbird Pilot Academy programme pays the \u00a3100,000 fee [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BA first officer busts the &amp;apos;myths&amp;apos; about becoming a pilot - leviolonrouge.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/travel\/ba-first-officer-busts-the-myths-about-becoming-a-pilot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BA first officer busts the &amp;apos;myths&amp;apos; 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