Explore: Science

Airline Pilot (and Specialist Biomedical Scientist)
Jet2

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Hi, my name’s John, and I’m here to talk to you about careers in aviation.

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I’m an airline pilot and I work for one of the largest airlines in the UK.

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We fly holiday routes, regional routes all around Europe, going

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as far as places such as Turkey, Cyprus, Black Sea

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and occasionally over to the United States all the way down to places like the Canaries

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and occasionally to Africa.

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So my education has been long and varied.

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I would describe it.

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And that’s not actually required for an airline job.

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The A-levels I did were geography, chemistry, biology,

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and general studies and then went off to university.

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My initial plan was to join the Royal Air Force, and I did zoology

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with veterinary medicine because I needed to have a subject that

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that wasn’t aviation just in case it didn’t all work out.

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The Royal Air Force didn’t work out.

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I became a school teacher briefly and then after two years, a very difficult job.

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I changed direction, went back to university and

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and into laboratory medicine, where I did

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a master’s and a doctorate – ended up in the hospital,

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being an examiner and assessor and quite senior.

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I’ve never really given that up.

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I still do a little bit – pull the odd shift

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and help the hospital out, which works very well for both of us.

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I keep my registration, keep my skills up, and they get a very experienced examiner

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turning up to handle difficult situations.

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Meanwhile, while I was doing that, I was learning to fly

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and I did that all along right from the very start.

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And I worked part time as a flying instructor for a good number of years

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and then eventually got to a point where I could take an airline job.

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And so that’s exactly what I did.

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I simply switched the careers round – did the airlines full time,

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did the hospital part time and and I’ve never looked back there,

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and I like having that varied life of both the airline job and the hospital job. It keeps me grounded.

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So what are the good bits and the bad bits of the job?

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Well, my favourite bits are the travel,

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quite frankly, to sit and look out the window.

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I love the views as we travel all around Europe and fly over mountains

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and volcanoes and cities and and all sorts of other bits of scenery.

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And it’s fantastic and surprising how quickly you get used to

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what you’re looking at – just like on any car journey if you do it often enough you start

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to recognize all the features and know your way around.

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The ability to adapt to change – it’s not unusual to turn up

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to work in the morning and then be told that you’re going somewhere else.

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If you like the kind of job where you do the same thing every single day,

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flying is probably not the job for you.

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You have to be able to just switch up a gear

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where required and move on and put things behind you.

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I guess my main advice really

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would be to be yourself and to know yourself.

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I think it’s really,

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really important to be the kind of person who looks critically at yourself

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and tries to improve,

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and that will come out really,

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really strongly in any interview when when you turn up

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and you can demonstrate

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how you’ve been able to do that and turn negatives into positives.

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You don’t have to necessarily be the cleverest person in the room.

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You just have to be the person who works the hardest and applies yourself the best.

John has parallel careers – working both as an airline pilot and as a specialist biomedical scientist – and has followed an unusual path. After a degree in zoology, his dream of joining the RAF didn’t work out. He became a teacher, before returning to university to study laboratory medicine, and then worked in hospitals.

In his spare time, he learnt to fly and became a part-time flying instructor before making the switch – he now works as a full-time pilot but keeps up his hospital work on a part-time basis.

More information about Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

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£96,200

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

90% male

10% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

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Description

? Aircraft flight deck officers check, regulate, adjust and test engines and other equipment prior to take-off, navigate and pilot aircraft and give flying lessons.

Qualifications

Entrants with GCSEs/S grades and A levels/H grades, an Advanced GNVQ/GSVQ Level III or a BTEC/ SQA award can apply for an airline sponsorship. Private residential training is available to candidates with GCSEs/S grades or appropriate BTEC/SQA or GNVQ/GSVQ awards or to holders of Private Pilots Licences who have 700 hours flying experience. Normal colour vision is required and candidates undergo a medical examination. Training lasts up to 15 months and consists of courses of study and flying instruction. Airlines may have additional age and height requirements.

Tasks

Studies flight plan, discusses it with flight deck crew and makes any necessary adjustments;
Directs or undertakes routine checks on engines, instruments, control panels, cargo distribution and fuel supplies;
Directs or undertakes the operation of controls to fly aeroplanes and helicopters, complying with air traffic control and aircraft operating procedures;
Monitors fuel consumption, air pressure, engine performance and other indicators during flight and advises pilot of any factors that affect the navigation or performance of the aircraft;
Maintains radio contact and discusses weather conditions with air traffic controllers;
Performs specified tests to determine aircraft’s stability, response to controls and overall performance;
Accompanies pupil on training flights and demonstrates flying techniques.

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Air transport 11033

Warehousing, etc 7788

Public admin. & defence 2440

Education 1396

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