How much do you earn as an airline pilot? How do you pay €60,000 in tuition fees? | Newsweek Romania

Airline pilots have a prestigious job especially because it provides regular salaries and status in the community. In addition, the pilots have the opportunity to see everyone.

The not so good part is that a young person who wants to become a commercial pilot, in addition to skills, must have a decent amount in the account to be able to pay for the courses. It is at least 20,000 euros.

Read also: The plane came on the route Bucharest – Malaga, back to Otopeni Airport. What is the reason?

First, I had the Higher Civil Aviation School (SSAvC) to train as an ATPL pilot (air transport pilot license), which allows flights to operate with passenger planes that cost 43,325 euros. All SSAvC training costs are included, but exam costs are not covered. In total, the total costs for obtaining the permit can reach up to 60,000 euros. Be careful! Romanian banks do not provide loans to finance these courses which last almost 2 years.

How much do you earn as an airline pilot? How do you pay €60,000 in tuition fees?

You should know that to get into that school you need to have a first class medical certificate, a Baccalaureate diploma and a deep knowledge of English, mathematics and physics. During the school, students must complete 220 flight hours (with some of them on the simulator). When the courses are completed, theoretical tests, including meteorology, and practical tests are taken to obtain an ATPL license, which determines the highest qualification of a pilot.

It’s cheaper elsewhere

There is a pilot school with lower fees in Slovenia, in Maribor. It is the Aviation Careers Center which claims that in 18 months, a person can become a commercial pilot, with no previous experience. These courses start with flying a single-engine aircraft and then progress to multi-engine aircraft. In total, we are talking about more than 200 hours of flight and 760 hours of theory. Applicants must be at least 17 years old, be healthy and have a good command of English. The cost of this pilot school is 49,900 euros with all taxes included. Payment can also be made in stages, in 12 installments, with a 50 percent advance.

Read also: TAROM resumes flights, according to schedules. The company reached an agreement with the pilots

In addition, those with only 20,000 euros have the opportunity to attend an airline pilot school. This is because the tuition fees for the Wizz Air Pilot Academy are 65,000 euros, and the difference of 45,000 euros will be pre-financed by the low-cost airline operator. The student who chooses such a loan has to pay 51,000 euros in the end because the effective annual interest rate (APR) amounts to 2.40%.

The loan is granted for a period of 89 months, but the payment in installments is made over a period of 60 months, and repayment of the loan begins after the 30th month In the last phase, the rates are lower (340 euros /. month), after that they reach 985 euros / month. The courses take place in Hungary.

It must be said that a captain can even earn 200,000 euros per year, while one of the lowest paid pilots earns 36,000 euros per year. Among the airlines that pay the best are Lufthansa, Sas Scandinavian, Condor, TUifly, KLM, or Easyjet which offer minimum salaries of more than 100,000 euros to flight captains. At Tarom, a captain receives around 48,000 euros per year. Per diem is paid separately.