CTC Wings Cadet programme

Prepare

‘To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail’  Benjamin Franklin

As an airline pilot you will be responsible for the safety of your passengers, crew and aircraft. A daunting prospect perhaps, but if you enjoy the challenge responsibility brings, it makes for an extremely rewarding career.  We are looking for individuals with motivation, commitment and determination.  Our selection process ensures the right people make their way onto our training programme.  Making sure that you are fully prepared is all about thorough research.  Find out what makes the industry tick by reading relevant publication and understand what the training involves and what the job is like by chatting to experienced pilots.

This website will answer most of your questions, but you may also wish to meet us in person and visit our facilities to get a feel for what it will be like training with us.

We run a number of ‘Open Days’ throughout the year for just that reason.  These take place at our simulator centre just outside Southampton, United Kingdom.  A key attraction of these days is our guest speaker programme which features Senior Management from our partner airlines at each event.  You will also have the chance to try out the sims, chat to our training and assessment teams, talk about the finances and funding options with the BBVA bank and our own finance team.  Perhaps even more importantly you will get to meet some of our graduate pilots who can tell you all about their experiences training with us and working for their airlines.

We regularly attend events such as the Professional Flight Training Exhibitions in Heathrow, Dublin and across Europe and we also take CTC Wings ‘on tour’ to various universities across the UK and Europe…visit our CTC events page to see where we will be and we shall look forward to meeting you there.

You may also like to keep track of our news stories by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and receiving our newsletters.

Entry Criteria

Have you got what it takes to become a CTC Wings pilot? Check that you qualify for a CTC Wings place. CTC Wings Cadet places are strictly limited to those with the right skills to become a professional airline pilot with any one of our partner airlines. To qualify you must:

• be at least 18 years of age
• have the unrestricted right to live and work in the EEA or Switzerland*
• hold a minimum of 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) Grade C or above including maths, science and English language
• be able to demonstrate that you have successfully completed secondary or high school education (or equivalent)
• be fluent in English (verbal and written)**
• produce a CRC (criminal record check) Basic Disclosure Certificate before training can commence
• minimum height 5'2" (157.48cm) , maximum height 6'5" (195.58cm)
• Be able to obtain an EASA Class 1 medical without restrictions

Phase 1: Apply

All you now need to do is click on the ‘apply now’ button towards the top of this page and complete the online application form at your own pace.  When you first log in you will be given an application number and asked for a password.  This information will then enable you to save your application and log back in to complete it at a later date if you wish.  You may choose, for example to start your application while you are awaiting certain exam results. Then, the minute your results come through you can log back in, complete the results section and send your application off for screening by our CTC Wings selection team.  

You’ll receive an email acknowledging receipt of your application and a further email will advise you of the next steps…

Assessment

If we think you are a suitable applicant, we will invite you to take part in an assessment day. These are normally held at our Crew Selection Centre – Dibden, which is located just outside Southampton on the south coast of the United Kingdom.  

We know that people may have to travel long distances for their assessment, so we have developed an assessment programme that is normally completed in one day.  You will be invited to attend the full day 

Phase 2: Aptitude and Interpersonal skills

During the morning of your assessment you will get the chance to assess us!  We will deliver a detailed presentation on CTC Wings and CTC as a wider organisation.  This will give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about any aspect of the programme, our partner airlines and the placement opportunities available.

You will then take part in various exercises designed to assess your interpersonal team skills through group discussion and aptitude using the world’s leading pilot assessment tool, PILAPT.   We will also test your numerical ability, so it is well worth your while practicing some mental arithmetic examples before you come along.  

Phase 3:  Interview

Those who successfully pass 'Phase 2' during the morning, will be asked to stay on for the afternoon interview stage. 

This final phase of your selection process involves an interview with our selection team, which also provides an opportunity for you to ask any remaining questions you may have about the programme.  We haven’t trained you to be a pilot yet, so we would not expect you to be able to answer technical questions.  The interview focuses on you.  Think about what sort of interpersonal skills an airline pilot should have and be prepared to tell us about your experiences that demonstrate you have those skills.

Remember to top up on your research; not just about the training programme but also about what is going on in our industry and our partner airline news.

What next?

We don’t believe in keeping you hanging on tenterhooks awaiting the outcome of your assessment.  We will be in touch with the result within 48 hours.  Uniquely, regardless of the outcome, we offer all candidates the opportunity to receive feedback on their selection process.  Whether you were successful or otherwise, this feedback could prove invaluable to help you make the right career decisions and prepare for future interviews.

Thinking positively, you receive good news! You will now be invited to book onto a course with us.  Courses start approximately every 2 months, so you are now on finals for the career of your dreams!  

If you haven’t already, you will need to take your JAA Class 1 Medical examination with the CAA before your course start date - details

A few days before you start training with us we will invite you and the rest of your course colleagues for an ‘Airline Preparation Day’ at our Crew Training Centre – Nursling, just outside Southampton.  This is a great opportunity to start to bond with the rest of your course and gradually introduce yourself back into training.  It is on this day that you will get the keys to your accommodation for the ATPL phase of your training and move in with your course mates.

We also invite your parents and friends along that same afternoon for a celebration to mark the start of your new career and give them the opportunity to meet some of the CTC team and tour the simulator centre so that they can picture you in training.