How to become a airline pilot?

[everythingisfigureoutabble]

Hi my son is still young (12) and I'm just trying to get my head round how he would qualify as a pilot? How much money I am going to need to save basically.

He is type 1 diabetic if that changes anything in regards to any funding he may get.

I know he can qualify for a private pilot Lisence and then needs to build up his hours but basically need someone to spell it out and break it down for me how it works so we know what we are working towards.

Can you get sponcered or will a large loan be needed? Or a combination?

You start off towards your solo licence. Then PPL, CPL then ATPL plus navigational ground school and various ratings. It costs around £120,000-£160,000 usually. Funding is rarer than rocking horse poop! It just doesn't happen without a backstory or a tremendous amount of luck.
It's often a bit cheaper if you go to live in the US or Canada to do it for a few years for example. There are however, very strict medical requirements.

It's also worth remembering that on top of the cost of the actual training, you also have to survive whilst training for 4-7 years. I do think the time it takes is getting quicker these days though.

You can be an Airline pilot with Type 1 diabetes in that it's not against regulations. However some airlines may include it on their list of excluded conditions. Conversely though, there are airlines who do not! I believe there are measures in place

Join Air Cadets too. I mainly replied though because I've been wondering; there are so many planes, where do all the pilots come from, train etc?

If he's T1 diabetic the first step will be to ensure he can obtain a class one initial medical. It used to be disqualifying but perhaps not now. You could ask a Dr who is also and Aeromedical Examiner (AME) to advise. The CAA will list those in your area.

Have a look at the difference in cost between the modular and integrated routes. Modular is cheaper.

At 12 it's still a long way off though. I would caution against creating a big sense of expectation and entitlement. Just the training requires a lot of self effort and discipline. If your heart's not really in it it's painful.

I have spoken to several type 1 pilots and I have looked at UK requirements for getting a grade 1 medical certificate and believe he would be able to get this. It is only in the last few years it's become possible to get the certificate as a type 1. Us, Canada and UK all don't disqualify for it. This was the first thing I researched. However he couldn't join the RAF. There are strict factors regarding keeping himself in range a certain percentage of time and testing before flights etc but he would meet these requirements at the moment.

It is not me pushing this it is all he has ever wanted to do and I'd really like to help him achieve it if possible hence me posting. He had a flight lesson for his birthday which fuelled it further.

He's a very smart kid, so I think academically he would be okay.

Can you get loans for the amount it costs? Like a student loan? Or would it all need to be funded?

You could take him to a Pilot Careers Live event where you can speak directly to training companies and airlines.

There are loans available sometimes in the UK for training costs but these can be long term and possibly high interest rate. Unlike student loans they are not income contingent for repayment as far as I'm aware.

The advantage of the modular route is he could start training for his ppl at 16/17, get a job in the industry e.g ground ops/despatcher while building hours and saving for the cpl course. Could end up debt free and with a load of life experience that he won't get on an integrated course where you've taken on the cost or liability as guarantor for the loan. It will take a little longer but he's got his whole life.

Airline recruitment is very cyclical some years lots, and then nothing for a few years. Given the length of training it is hard to time the market on that.