Professional Airline Pilot AU
for Australian students

Why enroll with AeroCadet?

• Strategic Approach: AeroCadet understands that simply having the minimum required pilot licenses is not enough to secure a position with top aviation companies. They emphasize the importance of standing out and being unique among other candidates. AeroCadet provides a strategic approach to help pilots differentiate themselves and make a lasting impression on airline recruitment teams.

• Comprehensive Support: AeroCadet offers a personalized team of strategists, career mentors, and airline employment consultants who provide invaluable guidance and support throughout the pilot's career journey. These experts offer insights, advice, and mentoring to help pilots enhance their experience, knowledge, qualifications, and employment references, setting them apart from the competition.

• Industry Knowledge: With their deep understanding of the aviation industry, AeroCadet is equipped to provide pilots with up-to-date information on airline hiring standards and requirements. This knowledge helps pilots align their efforts effectively and efficiently to meet these standards and increase their chances of securing their dream job.

• Career Development: AeroCadet is committed to the long-term success of pilots in the competitive world of commercial aviation. They provide career development resources and assistance to ensure pilots are well-prepared and positioned for growth opportunities in their aviation careers.

• Prestigious Airline Opportunities: By enrolling with AeroCadet and benefiting from their expertise, pilots can increase their chances of receiving job offers from prestigious airlines. AeroCadet's insights and support can help aspiring pilots fulfill their dreams of working for the world's leading aviation companies.

As a leading aviation training and airline pilot career development consulting agent serving the largest international market, AeroCadet offers a tailored approach, expert support, and valuable industry knowledge to help pilots maximize their potential, stand out from the crowd, and achieve their desired career goals in the aviation industry.

Why holding a commercial pilot license will not land you an airline job?

Let's face the truth: the top airlines have high pilot recruitment standards that go beyond the basic qualifications of a newly-graduated commercial pilot. The goal for student pilots is to attain the necessary flight time, licensing, and aeronautical experience to become employable by these airlines, which means gaining an edge over the vast applicant pool competition, not just satisfying the basic legal commercial pilot qualification requirements.

Most international student pilots aim for first officer positions with prestigious passenger carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, AHK, Fly Dubai, ANA, and more. These airlines hire pilots from diverse citizenship and ethnic backgrounds on multi-year contracts. However, securing these coveted positions requires meeting specific requirements that newly-graduated commercial pilots may not fulfill.

These requirements typically include holding a full, unrestricted Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) issued by a recognized ICAO member state. Preferably, the license should be from a developed, English-speaking country like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and others. This ensures a high level of English language proficiency, which airlines consider crucial. It also helps verify that the pilot has acquired their qualifications legitimately and not through fraudulent means, which unfortunately can be an issue in some developing countries' flight training industry.

Furthermore, significant aeronautical experience is necessary, usually exceeding 1500 flight hours, with a balanced combination of propeller and turbine/jet flight time. For a newly-graduated CPL holder with only 200 hours of flight time, achieving these qualifications and experiences can be a significant challenge, considering the high cost of acquiring flight hours. This is why many new pilots face the dilemma of gaining the required transitional aeronautical experience, leading them to search for underpaid and potentially risky jobs like bush-flying or banner-towing. Some even give up on their aviation dreams in frustration and let their pilot licenses expire, seeking employment in other industries. However, there are alternatives to this discouraging path.

Aerocadet, with its team of consultants who are experienced current (or retired) airline pilots, has developed fully-integrated flight training and internship programs to address this transitional experience challenge. These programs offer a comprehensive solution, taking students from zero experience or any other level they have already achieved to obtaining a full FAA (United States) and TCCA (Canada) ICAO Airline Transport Pilot Licenses. In the process, students gain valuable propeller and/or turbine experience, meeting the pilot recruitment requirements of major airlines that hire contract pilots for long-term, well-paid positions.

By providing a structured training program and internship opportunities, AeroCadet equips its students with the qualifications and experience necessary to stand out and succeed in the competitive airline job market.

How does this program achieve your career objectives?

Many Australian pilots aspire to join prestigious airlines in the Middle East like Emirates, Qatar, FlyDubai, and Etihad, as well as leading carriers in Asia such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and Japan Airlines. However, a significant challenge arises as these airlines typically require pilots to have a minimum of 2000 hours of flight time on passenger category jets with a maximum takeoff weight of at least 30 tons (or 67,000 lbs). Acquiring such specific operational experience proves challenging in Australia, where the aviation market is limited and often biased against non-cadet program pilots, with a tendency to discriminate against older pilots. To address this barrier, the FPAP-AU Program offers Australian pilots the opportunity to undergo comprehensive integrated flight training and internships in the United States, leading to a full unrestricted FAA/ICAO ATPL level. This is followed by support and assistance with the E3 visa application process, culminating in jet pilot internship placements with regional airlines in the United States, allowing pilots to accumulate the requisite 2000+ hours of passenger category jet experience.

The amassed experience gained from flight training and working in the United States positions our graduates as top contenders for the aforementioned Middle Eastern and Asian airlines, for the following reasons:

1. Enhanced Standards: The FAA maintains rigorous training and safety protocols, attracting international students seeking top-tier pilot training. Choosing the United States for training showcases a commitment to meeting globally recognized aviation standards.

2. Integrity in Training: In contrast to practices in certain regions, FAA instructors and examiners adhere strictly to anti-corruption measures. Graduates from FAA programs are esteemed for their compliance with stringent examination standards, free from any hint of impropriety.

3. Emphasis on Safety: The U.S. aviation industry prioritizes safety, reflected in its low accident rates and pioneering safety programs. FAA-trained pilots benefit from exposure to advanced safety concepts, instilling confidence in their abilities.

4. Efficient License Verification: The FAA's Integrated Airman Certification and/or Rating Application (IACRA) streamlines license verification, offering swift access to certification. This efficiency is advantageous for employment opportunities and license conversion processes.

5. Enduring License Validity: Obtaining an FAA ATPL through programs like Aerocadet's license conversion ensures a perpetual, standalone license without expiration. This stability contrasts with some ICAO licenses, enhancing the value and longevity of the pilot's qualifications.

FInally, graduates who decide to continue their aviation careers in the United States will be able to either renew their E-3 visa indefinitely, or apply for a more permanent EB-2 NIW visa, which has a pathway to the permenent residency and even citizenrship in the United States.

This program is structured in such a way that every segment leads our students to the ultimate goal: employment in the airlines. The program is divided into the following stages:

Total duration of the program is approximately two and a half years, including flight instructor internships in the United States, which takes another 18 months. All stages of flight training are conducted in the United States to a very high standard by an accredited flight academy "Pelican Flight Training". After the completion of flight training phases, student will be offered internship as a flight instructor and an ability to build a very important to his/her career development flight time. After pilot achieves 1500 hours of flight time, student will be able to obtain his/her full, unrestricted FAA/ICAO Airline Transport Pilot License and proceed with the option application for the US E-3 visa for the Australian Citizens which allows you to work in the US airlines for the duration of 2-3 years. This visa is renewable every 2 years with no ongoing renewal restrictions.

More details about the program and its phases:

At this phase student will be required to complete enrollment application form (here >>>) and provide documents for initial consideration by our company. After application details and document screening, student will be contacted for the initial interview. Applicants must be high school (or equivalent) graduates, hold international passports and be of good health with no disqualifying medical conditions. Applicants must also meet the financial requirements. Once all the docuements have been verified, student will be furnished with the flight training agreement, visa support paperwork, preliminary aviation training study materials and TSA security clearance. 

Once students arrive at our flight training center in the United States, known as "Pelican Flight Academy," they will undergo a brief medical examination required by the FAA. Following this, they will begin their theoretical and practical training, which includes classroom instruction and actual flying. Our goal is to provide students with 3-4 hours of classroom instruction each day, alongside 2-3 hours of flight training. The flight training is divided into Private, Instrument, and Commercial courses, each progressively advancing the student's aeronautical skills and qualifications. Upon completion of this phase, students will attain full certification as Commercial Pilots with FAA/ICAO licenses, allowing them to fly single-engine and multi-engine aircraft under both normal and limited visibility conditions. This stage of training typically requires 200 flight hours to complete.

Next, students will work towards obtaining their Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) license. This step is crucial for the internship part of our program, where students will serve as commercial pilot flight instructors. This role not only helps them accumulate important flight hours but also allows them to earn money for their work. Achieving the CFI license typically involves completing 25 flight hours of training.

After becoming a fully certified FAA commercial pilot and flight instructor, students will have the opportunity to work as flight instructors in our FTP. This opportunity is made possible through the CPT (Curricular Practical Training) program, utilizing the special employment permit benefits of the F-1 visa. During this period, students can gain up to 500 additional flight hours, with about 25% of that time spent on multi-engine aircraft. All of these flight hours will be logged as Pilot-In-Command (PIC) and in a multi-crew environment. Instructors are expected to fly around 80 hours per month, earning between $800 and $1200 USD per month.

Students with an F-1 visa can take advantage of the OPT (Optional Practical Training) program for an extra 12 months. This program lets pilots gain more experience flying piston or turbine aircraft, either at a flight school or in a passenger/cargo charter setting. To qualify, students must have finished their CPT, logged over 600 flight hours (200 during training and 400 during CPT internship), and completed CPT with no incidents, accidents, and with praise from the flight school's chief CFI.The OPT phase also allows pilots to apply for employment outside of the flight school environment and pursue employment as commercial pilots flying light turbine aircraft, such as Cessna 209, King Air C90 or Short 1900. (More information about building turbine Flight time in the United States while on F1 visa is available here).

Once the student completes both their CPT and OPT internships, and accumulates over 1500 hours of total flight time, they will qualify to apply for a full, unrestricted Airline Pilot License issued under both FAA and ICAO regulations. This license, known as a full ICAO ATPL, grants the student the authority to serve as a commanding pilot on large passenger category aircraft. An unrestricted ATPL license is a standard requirement for First Officer positions with most major airlines worldwide, representing the pinnacle of a pilot's certification. This phase can be completed in just 2 weeks through our partner, ATP Flight School.

At this stage, the student will submit an application for the E-3 visa, which grants a two-year work permit in the United States. With this visa, graduates can work for regional airlines in the US to gain crucial experience flying jet aircraft. Aerocadet will assist by providing professional recommendation letters and references to improve the chances of E-3 visa approval. The E-3 visa is a United States visa category specifically designated for Australian citizens. It allows Australian nationals to enter the U.S. to perform services in a "specialty occupation." including working as commercial/airline pilots. The E-3 visa is similar to the H-1B visa but is exclusively available to Australians. To qualify for an E-3 visa, applicants must have a legitimate offer of employment in the U.S., possess the necessary qualifications for the job, and meet certain other requirements. The visa is initially valid for up to two years and can be renewed indefinitely in two-year increments. Spouses of E-3 visa holders are also eligible to work in the U.S. under certain conditions. Aerocadet will provide all the required support paperwork for the E-3 visa applicants.

After obtaining the E-3 visa, graduates can seek employment with U.S. airlines. One popular option for E-3 visa holders is SkyWest Airlines, which offers a complimentary CRJ-700/900 or ERJ-175 type-rating for pilots. After gaining 2-4 years of experience with a regional airline, pilots can then apply for positions with major U.S. carriers. Frontier and Atlas Airlines are among the most favored choices for E-3 visa holders. Aerocadet and its consultants will assist with the airline application process, providing support letters and professional references to facilitate the hiring process.

Just like in the prior stage, our consultants will offer Australian graduates thorough consulting and support for employment placement. This includes guidance on applying to golf and Asian airlines, assistance with technical interviews, providing helpful information, and furnishing professional reference letters.

Students will receive the following amount of flight training hours during the licensing phases of the program:

Students will receive the following flight crew licenses during this program:

The Academic segment of the theoretical training is an important factor for those students who are planning on advancing their education to an Associate or a Bachelor's level. Although most airlines in the Middle East and Asia do not require a college degree for pilot employment, having such a degree certainly gives a candidate marginal advantage over other applicants in a competitive airline pilot employment market, and allows for significant expansion of his/her employment market spectrum.

This is why we have partnered with a fully-accredited universities in the United States: Thomas Edison State University (New Jersey) and Liberty University, to provide 100% online admission and educational programs to our program graduates who have already earned their ATP licenses. The university issues fully-accredited Associate, Bachelor and Master level degrees via online-only academic programs, while giving maximum amount (of all US and Canadian Universities) academic credits for previously obtained pilot licenses such as CPL, CFI and ATPL, and certain aviation practicum, such as turbine type-ratings or airline experience as FO or CA. No student visa is required to continue studying for the Bachelor's degree with TESU or Liberty U. Studies can be conducted from any country in the world.

Each pilot license and rating earned by our students carries the following academic course equivalent:

More information about pilot licenses/ratings conversion into academic credits may be found on TESU website here >>>

More information about pilot licenses/ratings conversion into academic credits may be found on Liberty University website here >>>

The listed above academic courses and their respective credit hour ratings may be converted into any college or university accreditation scale using the standard European Academic Credit Transfer System.

Please note: all academic credits are approximate and subject to admissions board review and evaluation by the target college or university. Normally, the level of education and practicum upon completion of the training and internship phases equals to Associate Degree in Aeronautical science. Hence, most pilots are able to obtain a full Bachelor's Degree in just 2 years after transferring the academic credits.

During the primary stages of training, flight students are required to stay near the flight training center. The accommodation types are flexible and available on demand. Because students will not be able to work for the initial 12 months of this program (the flight training phase), we have to include the cost of accommodation in the program cost estimate.

Improvised campus apartments are located only a few minutes walk from the airport and approximately 10-15 minutes drive from the beach.

12 months of standard shared accommodation is included in this program. After the initial 12 months lapse, the students are normally allowed to enter internship with the flight academy using the CPT and OPT internship authorization, and can earn sufficient income to cover additional accommodation needs.

The Full Program Cost Estimate

The full cost estimate is based on student's compliance with the FAA flight training curriculum, 12-month accommodation costs, and estimated government fees. The cost is broken down into the following segments: [a1] estimated cost of training 0-CPL/CFI/CFII/MEI: $66495.00; [a2] estimated cost of training of full, unrestricted ATPL certification: $4995.00; [b] 12 month accommodation: $9000.00; [c] government fees (medical, visa, TSA): $775.00; [c] 12 month foreign student medical insurance: $900; [d] basic administrative and consulting fees: $1100.00 USD.

Minus: Potential earning as a flight instructor: $28,800.00 USD

Total cost after compensation for instructor work: $59,449.00

Cessna 172 Upgrade Fee

Out of the 237 total flight and FTD hours offered in this progrram, 108.8 of them will be conducted in a Cessna 152. Should a student want an upgrade to fly only Cessna 172, the cost of upgrade will be $4570.00 USD.

Additional Expenses

Should a student fail any of the required check-rides, or not adhere to the curriculum set forth by the flight school, he/she will be liable for additional fees resulting from the additional training hours. Such fees will be billed separately and depend on the type of additional training and type of aircraft or FTD.

Living expenses besides accommodation are not included in the cost estimate. Living expenses are normally considered food/entertainment. We recommend that students include at least $10 per day in food expenses. Because students will not be eligible for employment for the first 12 months, at least $3650 USD (365 days x $10 USD) must be included in the living expenses budget.

Discounts

Also, some students will be eligible to discounts. The discounts include the following items:

So, What is Included in the Base Cost?

Our academy does not require students to pay for the entire flight training program in advance. We have a payment structure that needs to be followed by all students, with some exception. Students must submit the following payments:

Please note: conditions of deposit refund are outlined in the flight training agreement, which students are required to sign upon enrollment and before any payments are due.

Our company can provide administrative support for students to obtain Financial Aid from their respective banks and financial institutions. Such support is offered by providing conditional employment offer letters and training bond contracts. Read the details here >>>

Please note: Aerocadet does not provide flight training sponsorships. Please read the student loan information located via the above link thoroughly before applying for enrollment. 

To enroll into this program, an applicant must have the following documents:

If you need a personal consultation regarding the flight training program, please email one of our highly qualified consultants with a full list of your questions, and receive a structured response within 24 hours.

Download program base structure and pricing break-down here:

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