Unemployed Pilots – Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve been made redundant, what do I do?
Firstly, try to remain calm and recognise that many things will be outside of your control, so just control the ‘controllables’.
- Register with Job Centre to find out what financial support you can receive from the Government.
- If you are a BALPA member, engage with the process, because BALPA have assisted many pilots through the redundancy process.
- Speak to your bank, mortgage lender and utility companies to see how they can help.
I need to talk to some for support. Where can I get this help?
- For career and application support, talk to us at AirlinePrep!
- For mental health support, we would recommend getting in touch with ou partner at Aviation Insider Pilot Wellbeing , Pilots Together or Resilient Pilot.
- For industrial and contractual support, contact BALPA or the union that represents your workforce.
I haven’t created a CV, cover letter or application form for a long time. What advice can you offer?
Send us an email to info@airlineprep.co.uk and we’ll send you a guide about creating your application documents. You may also like to read our free CV blog!
I haven’t applied for a pilot job for a long time. Where are the best places to look on the internet for jobs?
There are many websites that post the latest available jobs. We recommend Flight Deck Friend’s latest jobs page as one of the most up to date sources of information!
I’ve never used a pilot recruitment agency. Are they trustworthy?
When you are unemployed, you don’t always have the luxury of choice, so using a pilot recruitment to ensure your CV is registered for as many potential jobs is advisable. The main agencies have been acting on behalf of pilots for a long time, so you shouldn’t have any concerns.
At AirlinePrep we recommend Jet Pathway, McGinley Aviation and Yufeng Consulting (should you wish to work in China).
Should I be keeping my licence and medical valid?
Yes! To apply for most jobs you’ll need to have a current licence, rating and medical. Keep reading below to see who we recommend for this! Keeping current will also help to prevent skills fade.
Can I get financial support from the Government for airline pilot interview preparation, LPC renewals/revalidation and class one medical renewal?
Yes! You need to get accurate advice from your Job Coach at Job Centre Plus, but in the meantime:
- For funding for airline pilot interview and assessment preparation, visit our Department for Work and Pensions page. (DWP)
- For LPC renewals you must use an approved training organisation (ATO), and we recommend Jet MASTERCLASS also approved to help you access DWP funding. Jet MASTERCLASS also perform licence revalidation, APS MCC and type rating courses.
- For licence revalidation and refresher training we recommend Aviation Insider who are also approved to help you access DWP funding.
- For medical renewals, we work closely with Centreline Aviation Medical Services who are also DWP approved.
What happens if my LPC expires?
Firstly we would recommend not allowing your LPC or medical to expire. You have up to 3 months after the date of expiration to revalidate your licence. If you do allow it to expire your will need a renewal, which comes at additional cost due to the extra training likely to be required.
How will Brexit affect my licence and job prospects?
We’ll be honest and say that this isn’t our area of expertise.
- For UK/EASA licences after Brexit, then consult the UK CAA.
- For job prospects, we understand that British Citizens no longer have the right to live and work in Europe. What this means for low cost carriers such as Ryanair, Wizz Air or easyJet employing UK nationals in foreign bases is unknown.
I’m at flight school, or have recently graduated from flight school. Can I access unemployment support from AirlinePrep?
It’s always been the case that flight school graduates can contact AirlinePrep for any kind of advice! Whether you can access funding from the government for IR or medical revalidation, will be down to whether you are unemployed or not. If you registered with a Job Centre Plus, then your Job Coach can give you the best advice.
I’m on an MPL course or have graduated with an MPL. Am I employable?
This is a good question – The MPL licence is transferable from one airline to another (if the receiving airline has incorporated the transfer requirements into their Ops Training Manual – OMD), providing you have completed the type rating with base training. Without base training, the licence is ‘restricted’. The reality is that the MPL was designed bring flight training into the future, focussing on multi crew skills, with airline sponsorship resulting in a type rating and job at the end of your flight school course.
As a result of the pandemic, many airlines aren’t employing pilots, whether you have an fATPL or MPL. But the fATPL allows you to apply for any job, whereas the MPL would only allow the licence holder to apply for multi-crew jobs.
You can get additional privileges on your MPL to operate single pilot PPL, CPL and IR with additional training and to do this you will need to talk to the UK CAA or read this excellent guide from our partners at FTA Global.
To summarise, whilst you are still employable with an MPL, you aren’t eligible to apply for as many jobs as a holder of an fATPL and this is something you should consider whether you are in training or have just graduated.
What should I do after flight training?
We recommend finding any job that will help you build your competencies in team work, communication, leadership and decision making etc. This will give you evidence based experiences to convey on your CV and during assessment?
What about skills fade?
If you don’t fly for a considerable amount of time, then your flying and aircraft management skills will likely degrade. We can help you source B737 and A320 simulator time at competitive rates through our partners at pmFlight. Skills fade is more than manual flight proficiency, it’s also about maintaining technical and operational knowledge as well as competencies to a high standard . AirlinePrep can help with this, so get in touch if you would like to find out about our flight deck management skills courses.