AVIATION CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
The aviation and aerospace industries offer a wide range of career options and opportunities including jobs in aircraft design, systems engineering, testing, search and rescue, human factors, piloting, air traffic control, jet mechanics, electrical engineering, computer systems, airport management, space exploration, customer service, and much more!
The opportunities available for licenced commercial pilots are extensive. Licenced pilots can explore a variety of career paths including working for one of the many airlines, regional service providers, on-demand aviation service providers (charter flights), and a variety of specialty aviation services such as MEDEVAC, forest firefighting, agricultural spraying, and surveillance, among others.
Today, commercial pilots are in high demand and this demand is projected to grow during the next 10 years as many current pilots retire and the overall fleet expands with new aircraft. This is opening the door for new pilots to take the helm and explore a challenging career in Canada’s aviation industry.
Genesis Flight College is an approved private career college.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS
A Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) allows you to fly for “hire or reward” and work for a Commercial Air Service in Canada. This opens the door to your career as a commercial pilot as you work your way towards your career goals. Some typical entry level positions for pilots with a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) are as follows:
VFR Charter Air Taxi
IFR Charter Air Taxi
Photo Survey Pilot
Forest Fire Detection
Entry to the airlines
Medical Evacuation
Airborne Traffic Watch
Airborne Banner Towing
Parachute Dropping
Forest Fire Suppression
Entry to the airlines
Flight Instructor (with valid Instructors Rating)
CPL REQUIREMENTS AND PRIVILEGES
COMMERCIAL PILOT LICENCE
Requirements:
Private Pilot Licence (PPL)
14 years of age for first solo (PPL), 18 for commercial flight test
Valid Category 1 Medical Certificate
60% on the written examination
80 hours ground school
Privileges:
Fly single-engine aircraft
Fly internationally
Fly in daylight under Visual Flight Rules (VFR)
Fly VFR at night
No passenger limit–restricted only to size of aircraft endorsed on your licence
VFR Over-the-top
Have the option of expanding privileges with endorsements for float planes, heavier aircraft, instrument flying, multi-engine flying.
Experience:
200 hours total flight time, including;
35 hours post-private dual instruction time, which shall include: 5 hours night, including a minimum of 2 hours of night cross-country
5 hours cross-country, which may include the cross country experience from (a) above
20 hours of instrument light time in addition to the experience required for PPL. A maximum of 10 hours of the 20 hours may be conducted on an approved aeroplane simulator or flight-training device.
30 hours post-private solo flight time, which shall include: One solo cross-country flight to a point a minimum of 300 nautical miles in radius from the point of departure and shall include a minimum of 3 landings at points other than that of departure.
5 hours solo flight time by night during which a minimum of 10 takeoffs, circuits and landings were completed.
RATINGS & ENDORSEMENTS
NIGHT RATING
Typically, a private pilot will get a night rating for safety reasons in case of a late landing. This rating allows a Private Pilot to fly after dark. Without it, you will be restricted to flight during daylight hours only. The night rating adds flexibility and utility to the Private Licence. It cannot be applied to the Recreational Pilot Permit.
VFR OVER-THE-TOP
The VFR-Over-the-Top Rating allows Private and Commercial Licence holders to fly on top of cloud layers, in weather that is otherwise good. This allows you to reach some destinations that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get to.
INSTRUMENT RATING (IFR)
With your Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) rating, comes the advanced knowledge of avionics and your airplane’s instruments needed to navigate through and above clouds without visual reference to the ground. This course uses both the flight simulator as well as actual flight time to cover IFR procedures, meteorology, instruments, radio and radar systems, and navigation.
MULTI-ENGINE RATING
The Multi-Engine Rating allows the holder of this licence to fly non-high-performance multi-engine aeroplanes as endorsed on their licence. The ability to fly a multi-engine aircraft widens the realm and flexibility for the private pilot in terms of the number of aircrafts one can choose to fly. It is also one of the ratings pilots pursuing a career in aviation complete early on in their training.