The Complete Path to Airline Pilot
Building 1,500 Flight Hours With AeroGuard
Become A Commercial Airline Pilot
AeroGuard’s Direct Path to 1,500 Flight Hours
To become a commercial airline pilot for airlines in the United States, aspiring pilots fundamentally need to meet two primary requirements: Obtain certifications up to their Commercial Pilot License and build flight time experience to approximately 1,500 Hours.
During their initial flight training to become a commercial pilot, students typically log around 250 flight hours. To be eligible for airline employment, they must then accumulate an additional 1,250 flight hours. Because paying for additional flights to build this extra time is expensive and other pilot careers are difficult to obtain without prior flight experience, most student pilots become a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), the most common approach to building those flight hours.
AeroGuard’s Solution
As The Commercial Pilot School, AeroGuard trains and prepares our students for their future careers as professional airline pilots. We don’t believe in supporting students only halfway to their goal where they’ve paid for their flight training costs but fall short of the 1,500 hour requirement, keeping them from reaching their ultimate goal at the airlines.
AeroGuard is confident in our flight training curriculum and bringing our students on as Flight Instructors, hiring 98% of our graduates. AeroGuard offers a Guaranteed CFI Job Interview to our graduates because we want to provide our students with every opportunity to reach their commercial airline pilot career. We know that our high-quality training leads to the highest quality instructors, providing our students with an exceptional learning environment and our instructors with a full pathway to their careers.
What About Other Flight Schools?
Many flight schools will offer their graduates a similar opportunity of becoming Flight Instructors for the school after their initial training. So, what is the difference between their offer and AeroGuard’s Pilot Pathway Program?
Few flight schools are strategically structured like AeroGuard to be able to consistently hire 98% of graduates to work as Flight Instructors, allowing them all to build their flight hours at an accelerated rate to start their careers. Since these pilots are required to accumulate 1,500 flight hours, with 250 hours already gained during initial training, they still need to log an additional 1,250 hours. To do this, they would essentially need to train 5 more students to accumulate the necessary flight time.
1,250 remaining hours ÷ 250 hours per student = 5 students
In order for these schools to hire every graduate in their program, this is only possible within the following structures:
Perpetual Growth
A flight school training commercial pilots and hiring its graduates as flight instructors would have to grow 5x per year to continue accommodating its U.S. student to instructor ratio. For them to hire every new graduate completing the program, this growth would need to remain consistent year after year. Starting with just 5 students in its first year, the school would need to increase to 3,125 students within 5 years! This level of growth is unrealistic and is not occurring at flight schools today.
Few Flight Hours
Another approach utilized by flight schools is to offer graduates CFI positions on a contract basis, where they are paid hourly without any guarantee of students, or hours. While graduates may be given the opportunity to work as flight instructors, they might not have any students to teach. This not only prevents them from accumulating flight hours but also hinders their ability to earn income and progress toward their goal of landing a job with an airline.
Recreational Flight Training
Another possible option where flight schools could hire all their graduates as flight instructors is if most of their students are casually training, perhaps aiming to obtain their Private Pilot License for personal enjoyment or to explore a new hobby. For Instructors, this approach only provides inconsistent students, unpredictable flight hours, and this type of training won’t provide the professional experience that airlines typically seek when hiring. At AeroGuard, you’re surrounded by hundreds of like-minded individuals who are as motivated and as dedicated as you are to your goals, building a strong network of connections for your future career.
AeroGuard's Approach:
At AeroGuard, we train cadet pilots for the world’s leading airlines including Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, China Airlines, and more. These students complete their training with AeroGuard and don’t require 1,500 flight hours, so they return to their sponsor airline to start their careers. This means that AeroGuard can continuously hire 98% of our Pilot Pathway Program graduates to become Flight Instructors, where they’re able to consistently build their flight time and reach their airline careers.
AeroGuard’s Instructors gain valuable experience by training future commercial airline pilots for top airlines across the globe, helping them build an impressive resume that makes them stand out to hiring airlines.
Pilot Pathway Program
AeroGuard’s Pilot Pathway Program is strategically structured to bring students through initial flight training to their 1,500 hours and beyond, providing these dedicated individuals with a clear path to their future careers as commercial airline pilots.
An AeroGuard student’s flight training covers all 7 FAA Certifications and Ratings from their Private Pilot License to their Multi-Engine Instructor rating. After completing the program, graduates receive a Guaranteed Job Interview to become a Certified Flight Instructor at AeroGuard, continuing this clear path to build their 1,500 hours. Upon completion of their required hours, graduates within the SkyWest Airlines Cadet Program receive a Guaranteed Interview with SkyWest to start their professional airline career. SkyWest also offers their pilots with Guaranteed Interviews with Three Major Airlines: United, Delta, and Alaska Airlines!
The Pilot Pathway Program provides aspiring pilots with this clear path with valuable career opportunities, but no commitments along the way so that they can pursue any career opportunities that are presented to them. AeroGuard also offers full financing options and student housing, allowing prospective students to fund their training, relocate to the most ideal flight training environment, and start building a rewarding pilot career.
Talk to an Enrollment Advisor today, and begin the clear path to your future career as a commercial airline pilot!