How To: Becoming a Comercial Airline Pilot? [Ontario Canada]?

Question

Hey so i want to be a commercial airline pilot.

im in grade 10 and i want to know any suggestions or advice on which university or courses.

Can anyone tell me about the program that waterloo offers.

Science and Aviation . And is it any good ?

Answer 1

Hey,

Grade 10 is the perfect time to be thinking about becoming a pilot. It gives you a couple of years to look into things and figure out what route is right for you.

In Canada, and Ontario specifically, you have a number of options for becoming a pilot. There are University programs, College programs, and lots of individual flight schools. Each option has their pros and cons.

Three Colleges in Ontario - Seneca in Toronto, Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie and Confederation College in Thunder Bay have subsidized aviation programs. This means you pay regular tuition and have your flying included. These programs are very well recognized by the airlines in Canada and offer top notch training. Seneca's program is a 4 year Bachelor of Applied Technology, Sault's is a 3 year diploma program and Confed's is a 2 year diploma program. All these programs are something you should look into.

Both the University of Waterloo and The University of Western Ontario offer aviation programs that lead to a degree. Both of these programs are relatively new, but have been well received by the industry. If you want to get a degree, they are good options. However, the degree programs are extremely expensive, and in Canada (this is different from other countries) having a degree will not necessarily fast track you to the airlines. You still have to 'pay your dues' and build up your hours before the airlines will look at you. This usually takes 5-10 years during which the pay is quite low. While I am a strong proponent of getting a degree, be wary about taking on too much debt to pay for an expensive degree program.

I've written a few posts specifically about Waterloo's program, Seneca's program and the necessity of getting a degree to become a pilot in Canada on my blog http://www.piloteh.blogspot.com and will be adding more updates in the near future.

There are quite a number of other college aviation programs in Canada - I've listed most of them in my book, but feel free to send me an e-mail for more suggestions on where to look.

Hope this is a good start. Feel free to contact me if you have anymore questions.

Cheers,

James Ball

Author of "So, You Want to be a Pilot, Eh? - A Guidebook for Canadian Pilot Training"

http://www.piloteh.com

http://www.piloteh.blogspot.com