Pilot – Licenses and Qualifications

Perfectionists who wouldn’t mind travelling around the world while being paid handsomely for it could look to Ian Woods for the key to their dream job.

Woods, a 747-400 pilot for Qantas and the President of the Australian and International Pilots Association, gets to fly across Australia and the world for a living.

“With piloting you get instantaneous satisfaction,” he says.

“Every take-off and every landing will give you an adrenaline rush. Euphemistically, that can be addictive to certain personality types.”

And there is no doubt Woods, who has held a pilot’s licence since he was 16 and now has more than 20,000 hours flying time, has one of those personality types.

Woods, 55, joined the Royal Australian Air Force after leaving school in 1970. Since 1977 he has been flying commercial aircraft in Australia and overseas.

Landing an enormous jet aircraft on a runway – at 200km/h – is much the same as sinking a putt in golf, he says. It’s all about “finesse”.

“For the passengers, that’s demonstrated by a smooth landing,” he says.

“But a pilot would say a good landing is where everybody walks away.”

Being a pilot also carries a huge responsibility.

“Four hundred lives and $200 million in machinery,” says Woods.

“There is unrelenting pressure on pilots to make sure they maintain their commitment over their lifetime.”

Being a pilot takes a commitment to learning, he says … and great spatial awareness.

The good news: the arrival of several new low-cost airlines in Australia over the coming months is set to cause a prolonged pilot shortage, Woods says.

“The number of commercial licences being issued in Australia is at a historical low, which is good for aspiring entrants,” he says.

Qualifications: There are four ways of becoming a commercial airline pilot.

The first option is to join the Australian Defence Force and pursue a flying career. The second is to apply for the self-funded Qantas cadet pilot program.

Another avenue is to enrol in a commercial airline course at a flying school, such as the school at Bankstown airport.

The fourth option is to enrol in a three-year Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) at the University of NSW. To enrol in a Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) at UNSW, students must have completed 2 unit maths and physics in high school.

Course description: To qualify for the basic commercial airline licence, students must log 150 hours of flying time.

To be licensed to fly at night, in bad weather, or in multi-engined planes, students must log additional hours and undergo further training.

Costs: Joining the Australia Defence Force is the cheapest route but you must commit for at least four years. A cadetship at Qantas costs up to $87,000.

Flying school will cost about $28,000 for a basic commercial pilot’s licence.

A degree will cost $6979 a year (Government supported) plus $22,560 a year for flying costs.

From the inside: Pilot Ian Woods says pilots need to have a good spatial awareness and the job would suit students thinking about pursing a career in the sciences.

More information: qantas.com.au, www.defence.gov.au, www.aviation.unsw.edu.au, pacificflight.com.au