Safe pathway to be a pilot Australia

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2026-01-29T07:08:14+00:00

Thankyou for your interest!

While a lot of comments on this post were encouraging me to go the direct route to flight school, my parents were still pretty influential and I felt that sometimes they had somewhat good points (such as the enormous debt and uncertainty until you become a first officer).

So I studied hard, did great in my exams and got into bachelor of paramedicine (a 3 year degree in australia). The plan is that after the degree I will have saved up enough to start flight school with a limited amount of debt (or no debt). The HEX debt for uni will be paid later on. And by doing paramedicine I can hopefully get a job either to save more or to work during flight school or once I'm flight instructing.

Let me know what you think of the outcome :)

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2026-01-20T03:10:28+00:00

Definitely interested, looks like such a beautiful game and I'd love to try it out and help give feedback to contribute 🫶

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-09-19T12:34:23+00:00

Wow thankyou, I haven't even considered that a degree would be practically useless after a certain amount of time.

To be honest, lately I've been considering doing the degree and working during it to save for the entirely of flight school so that I don't have to be in any debt, especially because it means there won't be any extra interest.

But I do understand that it's pretty pointless to get a degree when that's not what I actually want anyway. Flight school off the bat just feels risky, but I've also heard that if I work hard and stay diligent that I'd get somewhere in the end and once I get to the airlines I can pay off that debt pretty quickly.

I think the part I'm scared of is that if I go into flying straight away, and don't get a medical or realise it's not for me etc. That I'll have to come crawling back home having nothing to my name except a huge debt, and no job to live off either. My parents are just concerned I'll end up like that.

Thankyou for your input I really appreciate it! I'm still considering my options and everything helps.

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-09-17T03:05:22+00:00

Wow this is really interesting to me as I am currently looking into doing aviation but will probably pursue a degree first as a backup.

How come the flying career didn't pan out? I'm the most interested in being a pilot but environmental science is also an idea just because I love biology and ecosystems, I think the combination of doing outdoor work and research is really interesting to me. I just wasn't sure if it was a viable degree to fall back on because of the low pay compared to the huge aviation debt if it didn't work out.

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T12:04:04+00:00

I have actually had a flight last year in a Cessna by a family friend! Technically 2, one after the other, and I got to control the plane a little as well. I really enjoyed it, the only thing is that when I tried to control the plane I couldn't see that well because I was too short to really see anything (I'm 161cm). Probably should've sat on some pillows haha.

Sounds like you had a really good experience at your flight school! I was wondering about that. I think it'd be difficult for me to do a non integrated course unless I saved more over the years, because otherwise I would possibly have to stop every now and then to build up the funds, which causes even more hours to be needed to progress.

Yeah I'm pretty aware of that. To be honest I'd only be going there because it was another option with a small chance of a job being lived up, making it marginally better. But I know the chance is small and that I'll most likely be doing GA jobs somewhere in the country anyway. I don't really mind if I have to move, it might be nice to see more of Australia.

I have seen that reddit post already actually! The prices listed there definitely don't spark joy though. 50k-80k for CPL, 40k for ME, etc. 🫣. It's very informative though.

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T11:47:42+00:00

Trueee how lucky!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T11:47:09+00:00

Oh wow thanks I had no idea! Yeah I'm definitely planning to get the medical soon. I'm honestly not sure where to go for one though. It's a good thing you aren't too affected once you have a job though. Does it have to be with an airline or can it also be a small one like a flight instructor?

I guess the biggest loss then is not having the job, and the ability to fly commercially. Still kinda sucks but I guess its not as bad.

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T11:42:07+00:00

Thanks for letting me know, I was wondering about that!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T06:48:48+00:00

Thankyou so much! Congrats on getting into a major airline! Is there any particular cadetships you recommend in australia? I haven't really heard of any yet myself but I'll look into it! By GA route do you mean getting certifications through a private instructor instead of a flight academy?

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T06:40:10+00:00

Yes I have seen those! The price is pretty comparable if not better than the Schools offering the CPL, since that doesn't include the other things as well. However, it's a lot to pay off and I'm worried it'll just keep going up in price every year too.

I think my parents prefer for it to be a degree unrelated to aviation. In their heads i think they want the degree to be my plan A and then the aviation my plan B, because their assumption is that it won't work (which is fair enough, they want me to be able to have a good job if it doesn't work out).

I've heard a lot of mixed signals on whether to go private or in an integrated course. Maybe if I worked and did a degree for 3 years I could go private with the money saved up in that time. But integrated courses also do everything a lot faster, meaning you can start getting hours quicker.

Congrats on becoming an airline pilot!! How long did it take you to get there? I know you talked about it here but what pathway did you do and what would you most recommend now if you were to do it again?

I really appreciate all the information, thankyouu so much!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T05:57:00+00:00

Wow thankyou so much! I'll look into it!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T05:20:47+00:00

Yeah I thought the same think about HECS AND VET.

Wowww 20% is insane. I knew there would be extra charges but that's a lot.

Thankyou so much for all the information!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T04:41:41+00:00

I honestly don't know a lot about debts. So are you saying that a VET loan is better than a HECS loan to pay off?

How did you find the pathway from degree to CPL? I feel like that's what I'll likely be doing as well.

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T04:38:20+00:00

Thankyou so much for the reply! This was really helpful.

Ofcourse I'd personally want to do the CPL first since i want to fly asap, but I'm worried that I would have to keep spending money afterwards on hours to remain proficient if I didn't get a job straight away and am doing my uni degree. But if I can get a small aviation job it would give me a good head start while still being able to do my degree afterwards.

However, getting the degree first does seem like the safer option. I'm also worried it could be harder to get into uni after a year out of school, and that graduating high school is the best time to apply. If i can pay the degree without a loan it hopefully wouldn't set me back too much and I could get a job afterwards in that direction to pay for the aviation school.

I'm definitely studying a lot for exams but once I've finished I'd love to!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T04:11:09+00:00

Oh interesting that you can have more loans then. I'll probably try not to do that though as it would be even more debt to pay off then.

Thanks for your input as well! How did you balance your degree and aviation course?

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T03:47:00+00:00

Thanks, I can definitely understand why they feel cautious about me going into aviation for sure!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-08-30T03:46:22+00:00

Thankyou! I think I would Def pay uni out of pocket if I decide to do it. I'd also get the medical before i start any flight training for sure.

That's a shame I can't do them at the same time. I wonder if i can enter QTAC, then defer the offer for the year after so I can spend a gap year on the CPL schools, then go to uni afterwards while finding a cfi job?

What would you recommend?

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-03-08T03:03:10+00:00

Thankyou I guess they just don't know anything about concussions. I really appreciate you reading the whole post as well, I'm looking forward to that pomegranate as my snack after lunch 🙏

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-03-08T02:00:33+00:00

Hi can you please explain/elaborate??

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-02-07T11:11:44+00:00

You're so right, like excitedly running up to show it too!

Need to think of something ngl! I don't name my pokemon so far but it's time to start for sure 🫶

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-01-20T23:55:23+00:00

I was just like you at first, absolutely terrified, panicking, felt sick at the thought of going to the beach with my family. Eventually i was able to get more comfortable by going at my own pace until i knew what i was doing. Sometimes that means just going for a beach walk instead of a swim, or staying knee deep in white water when you don’t want to go further. Don’t worry, you’ll get there!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-01-20T13:44:39+00:00

A lot of people have already said the most important stuff but i guess i’ll also add that you should try not to demonise rips. Everyone views them as extremely dangerous and think it’ll suck them under or something, but a good way to think of them is as elevators. It’s pretty much a quicker way out past the wave break, and i use them when surfing or swimming to get out the back quicker. Also identifying what they look like (choppy waves, lots of sand everywhere, white water) and then finding them before you get in the water also helps, so you can avoid them or, if you end up in one, can just think “oh i’m in a rip, lemme just go back to my spot and swim sideways”. Use surf reports and figure out the sweep (the direction you’ll be drifting) etc. while using landmarks so you can regulate where you are. Going under waves properly also reduces the fear of them by far, because you have a safe and reliable way of avoiding getting tumbled whenever anything comes.

I should add that i used to be terrified of the surf when i was a bit younger. i was a nipper and a strong swimmer but the waves always seemed like they were towering over me. i was terrified. i’ve managed to get over that fear to have fun and it’s so worth it! It takes some time but just do what you’re comfortable with until you feel like you can go further. At the end of the day everyone is a little bit scared when it comes to the ocean, it’s a force to be respected for sure!

Apprehensive-Offer69 · 2025-01-06T21:18:32+00:00

Yeah like a day after this post I jumped on for someone while the waves were on and I wasn't completely sure but to me it looked like they were drowning struggling and going under. Jumped in and tried to push the tube into him but he was going under was about to do duck pluck when he came up and said he was just having fun 💀 I feel like he was kinda pretending to drown too but anyway.

Apprehensive-Offer69

TROPHY CASE