Aer Lingus Pilot Training Programme

Would anyone know the pay scale in aer lingus for first officers

There is an incremental payscale in Aer lingus which starts at approx €55,000 basic salary for a newly qualified First Officer. This rises to a max of €206,000 basic salary for a Captain.

You also earn sector pay, which is a payment for every flight that you complete. That would average an extra €10,000 per annum tax free for both a captain and First officer.

You also earn a bonus for every hour you fly annually above 620 flying hours. So, if you fly a full 900 hours you can expect to earn a further €21,000 a year for a First Officer or €28,000 for a Captain.

You will also receive a defined benefit pension which is worth a contribution by Aer Lingus to you of 21% of your basic salary annually.

You will also receive an allowance of €60 per annual leave day you take and you will be paid for any time away from your home base.

As a captain with 24 years total service as a pilot in the company you will earn approx €250,000 plus a further €29,000 in pension contributions. There is no differentiation between a long haul or short haul pilot. You all earn the same.

As a newly qualified fresh First Officer you will earn approx €90,000.

If you go down a path of becoming an instructor, either as a First Officer or Captain you are additionally remunerated.

There is an ongoing pay process in progress at the moment where it would be expected that the above figures will rise by a moderate percentage. Pilot pay in the United States for example has just returned as the highest paid profession in the country, having recently overtook the Medical industry. This is in part due to a pilot shortage over there which hasn’t hit Europe as severely as yet. Many operators around Europe are increasing pay significantly at the moment.

Its a good package for anyone interested in a flying career in Ireland. The competition for a place on a cadet scheme is intense, and only a very small percentage will be successful. From memory approx 5000 applied for 12 or so positions last time around.

For anyone interested in the career it is welcome to have the opportunity to apply for a fully funded training programme which would normally cost well over €100,000 to complete on your own in a similar training organisation.

Any realistic chance of a fit, healthy 47yo with 6/6 vision, looking for a career change, getting on the programme?

slight tangent, my daughter (not school leaving age yet, but slowly getting there) finds the idea/ job of a pilot very interesting.

My question though is whether the cadetship is limited to irish based candidates or can folks living abroad also apply? She has an irish passport in case they are just discriminating on basis of passport rather than residence.

Having submitted my application and uploading my CV, I received a link to submit a formal application, and upload a CV again.

This formal application has some questions about candidates education and flying experience, if any.

I have a level 9 PGDip, yet the drop down menu doesn't give options in terms of the NFQ. I'd imagine the odds of getting a place is comparable to a lottery win so every detail counts.

Although my qualification is at Masters level (30 creds short) I don't want to put Masters in case it goes against me. Similarly, I have a higher level than the other option of Bachelors degree so I don't want to select that either.

There is also a yes/no question about aviation experience. I don't have commercial aviation experience yet I was a member of the Irish Air Corps for a number of years, working in a service support.

The stress 😅, not what you want for a prospective pilot.

Could anyone offer any guidance?

Not true whatsoever. They do this to collect the info because previously they did it in person at the group assessment stage.

Flying experience is completely unnecessary, but could strengthen your application. It is just about the individual sitting in front of them and how they perform in the assessments. Previously people have gotten through with zero hours and with a PPL.

Ádh mór gach duine!

Also, how did people find the assessments? Found the verbal reasoning tough.

Think everything else went well for me except verbal reasoning. That part didn't go well at all.

I applied weeks ago but didn't get anything about an assessment. When did this happen?

Is there any other conversation going on about this elsewhere?

Just over on pprune, that’s the only other conversation I can see.

Anyone hear anything

Declines gone out today.