What is the quickest way to fly the A350?
Posted by Mattee28@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 20 comments
Hi, I’m a student pilot in Italy, I’m 16 and of course I’m flying to high with my dreams.
I know that in a way or another I can get my ATPL at 21, by getting my license in USA and then studying here.
My dream is to fly for SAS but also to fly the A350.
Does anybody know how I could achieve that quickly? Instead of staying in Ryanair for 14 years.
JPAV8R@reddit
Quickest would probably be to get your licenses in Europe. Get to 1500 hours convert your EASA to FAA and by the time you get that hope an ACMI is flying a 350F. They’d need to be hiring foreign pilots at the time.
Thats probably the fastest way to be physically flying a A350. Not the most glamorous.
lordtema@reddit
The A350 is very senior at basically every airline that operates it so you are not going to be flying the A350 for probably another 10-15 years after joining whatever airline operates it. SAS also has a requirement (i believe) that you speak one of the 3 Scandinavian languages and you will be starting out on the A320 or the E195.
Focus on getting your ATPL first and take it from there, but you are not going to be flying a A350 for a very very long time regardless.
Bartaaron04@reddit
SAS doesn’t require you to speak a Scandinavian language anymore, at least when you get hired to the Embraer or the A320 (though people say it gives you an advantage). Not sure if you have to learn one them to progress onto widebodies or not
Mattee28@reddit (OP)
would it be better to start in a low cost or directly get inside SAS?
For the language, since I’ve always loved Sweden, I’ve started studying swedish at 8 ahahah
lordtema@reddit
Getting hired directly by your destination airline is always going to be the best, you are not going from flying 15 yrs at RYR to flying A350s for SAS.
minfremi@reddit
A quick and sure way to get licensed in the A350 is self sponsoring your type rating training. My friend did his initial ATP with a B787 type (granted he does have jet time in a smaller jet).
There’s no guarantee you’ll be assigned the type even if you do find a job.
That being said, if anyone knows of a school that trains in the A350 in FAA-world, I’d be interested to know.
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
In EASA world, getting a A330/350 type rating on your own, outside of the airlines is pretty much unaffordable, since you have to do 5/7 circuits in the real airplane.
Good luck first finding someone willing to give you the real airplane for that, and then paying for it :)
minfremi@reddit
I said quick and sure, didn’t say affordable!
lordtema@reddit
Airbus Americas Training Center apparently does A350 typeratings. I remembered a post from a guy that somehow popped up on my FB that had just recently gotten his A350 tr and thus adding the final Airbus FBW TR to his resume after having flown every other type apparently.
minfremi@reddit
Thanks I’ll look into it.
I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS@reddit
And a quick and sure way to ensure no airline will hire you on type.
CockpitExplorer@reddit
At SWISS, the current stay as a short haul F/O is about 2-3 Years, then you can change to longhaul F/O on the A330/350. Although you need to be able to speak german, it is a requirement. They at the time also require an experience of 600h unless you graduate from their own flight school.
Soafp_@reddit
If you want to fly in Europe/the EU why would you get an FAA license instead of staying in Italy/Europe and getting an EASA license?
Mattee28@reddit (OP)
because I could get PPL and IR way faster and doing the ATPL i could get them converted
AntiPinguin@reddit
Converting from FAA to EASA would mean redoing the entire theory exams AFAIK.
Integrated ATPL in Europe is the fastest way from zero hours to flying a jet. Not saying it’s the smartest.
Defining your entire career based on wanting to fly a specific aircraft type is also not a smart move (and also not realistic).
Mattee28@reddit (OP)
Idk a flight instructor that I know told me that it was maybe the smartest choice.
It’s not the A350 but the long haul flights. The A350 I said it only cuz I find it, in my opinion, better than the 777 ahaha
lordtema@reddit
Your instructor is wrong and it`s literally not the smartest choice. It will take close to two years to convert your licenses.
Mattee28@reddit (OP)
he told me that like with the cpl they get automatically converted, but maybe I’ve missed some part
lordtema@reddit
You have. There is no automatic conversion from FAA to EASA land. Your very best way to get quickly into a cockpit is to find a fully integrated school in Europe and doing everything there.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hi, I’m a student pilot in Italy, I’m 16 and of course I’m flying to high with my dreams.
I know that in a way or another I can get my ATPL at 21, by getting my license in USA and then studying here.
My dream is to fly for SAS but also to fly the A350.
Does anybody know how I could achieve that quickly? Instead of staying in Ryanair for 14 years.
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