If you hear about piloting course or any aviation topic, definitely you will say it is something high or challeging. Actually, both have the same risk and their own advantage. Right now, i'm so confused about my decision want to be a Pilot or Aircraft Engineer (LAE). Because i'm currently studying at Institute of Aviation. Here i will learn about the engineering of aircraft and will graduate as aircraft technician. After that, i will futher to be an Licensed Aircraft Engineer (LAE) at any airliner that i wish to fixed their aircraft. Both is suitable profession with me. Before that, i have to describe about this two job.
PILOT
A lot of people have this ambition of becoming a pilot. Certainly, the path of becoming one of those people navigating a plane or aircraft would not be that straight forward. There are lot of huddles to clear, from the basic education, physical requirements, as well as the financial aspect, which requires some thoughtful consideration.
There will be rewards for those finally attaining a status as a pilot. The job comes with good pay and compensation and the benefits of traveling to new places, learning about new cultures and so on.
Pilot is a respectable profession, and usually comes with good pay, benefits and perks. There are 3 types of pilot licenses. By obtaining a Private Pilot License (PPL) you can fly planes throughout Malaysia carrying passengers but without charging fees for your services. Here, you become a private pilot.
One can work for a commercial airline after obtaining Commercial Pilot License (CPL) – you are a commercial pilot. And finally, you can fly as a captain on a large aircraft with Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) – you are airline transport pilot. Pilots with CPL and ATPL are classified as professional pilots.
Another important element consideration by a pilot wannabe is the cost associated. Here, the cost will depend on the type of licenses. A Private Pilot License (PPL) can cost between RM26,000 to RM28,000, while a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) may vary between RM150,000 to RM170,000 which exclude the accommodation.
Presently, there are more than 10 flying clubs in Malaysia. The flying clubs can basically conduct only PPL (Private Pilot License), which will be according to the approved syllabus for flying certification. On the other hand, there are 5 approved flying schools in Malaysia today, with more to come. These are flying schools and academies that offer different training structure, environment, classroom size and aircraft types. You can become a commercial pilot by enrolling into these flying schools.
Getting a license is one thing. Keeping it is another thing.
To keep your current license, you need to perform a minimum of 3 take-offs and landings within a period of 3 months. The take-offs and landings must be of the type of aircraft you are entitled to fly. Additionally, you will need to take flight test which will be assessed by DCA (Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia) approved Authorized Examiner. This is imperative as to demonstrate your continuous level of competence and maintaining the required standard of flying.
Private Pilot
Most pilots in Malaysia get the PPL (Private Pilot License) first, and then either stays as a private pilot or pursue licensing for commercial pilot. A full PPL license requires at least 45 hours of flying, but most of the students will go up to 70 hours before taking the test. You can enroll yourself into one of the flying clubs, where you will can apply for a Student Private License, SPL. This works just like the driving school’s ‘L’ license, where you can fly instructional (dual) sortie with an instructor as a company.
A PPL can be obtained when you reach a minimum age of 17 years old. Getting the PPL license will require you to sit down for medical, practical and written assessments. The medical assessment, which is the pre-requisite (that means you cannot get the PPL license by failing the medical test) encompasses the general health, hearing and eyesight tests.
Commercial Pilot
Currently, there are about 2500 pilots holding the CPL and ATPL licenses in Malaysia. These are professional pilots which are paid to do their flying job. They can either fly as pilot-in-command on aircraft with only one pilot, as well as a pilot or co-pilot on an aircraft consisting a number of crew. A Commercial Pilot License, CPL can only be obtained by those who have reach a minimum age of 18 years.
Just like the PPL license, CPL license requires you to sit down for medical, practical and written assessments. A minimum flying hours of 200 must be met before one can take the licensing test. Qualification-wise, you will need to have at least Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) with credit in English, Mathematics and a science subject. No license will be issued to those who fail this qualification requirement.
A pilot with CPL may pursue getting the ATPL license by enrolling again in a flying school and meet additional flying hours and another round of assessment. ATPL license is only applicable for those who are 21 years old or above, and has a total flying hours of 1500 in an aero plane. APTL also comes with 7 different written examinations and a flight test with an approved pilot examiner.
Basic salary for Second Officers (SO):
- Upon endorsement, a Cadet Pilot will be paid a basic monthly salary of RM4,229
- On posting to the fleet, without supervision of co-pilot – RM5,069
- Second year on fleet – RM5,360
- Third year and onwards – RM5,668
Basic salary for First Officers (FO):
- Narrow body aircraft – RM5,984 – RM9,501
- Wide body aircraft – RM9,146 – RM17,009
Narrow body and wide body aircrafts are differentiated by a number of factors including the plane size and width, seating and so on. Typically, a narrow body aircraft has less than 200 seating, while a wide body can accommodate between 200 to 600 (Note: This is just a general definition).
Meals and Night Stop Allowances:
Allowances range between RM150 to RM160 per night, depending on city of stop over.
Flying/Pilot Productivity Allowances (PPA):
- Narrow body aircraft – RM48 for Captain, RM29 for co-pilot
- Wide body aircraft – RM72 for Captain, RM43 for co-pilot
Average Gross Salary (inclusive of basic salary & allowances):
- Second Officer, SO – RM6,000 – RM8,000
- First Officer, FO – RM10,000 – RM16,000 (also depends on craft size)
- Captain – RM15,000 – RM35,000 (also depends on craft size)
So, after looking at the salary, are you thinking of becoming a commercial airline pilot too?
LICENSED AIRCRAFT ENGINEER (LAE)
If you were working as a Licensed aircraft engineer, the situation is critical and stressful. you can have 400 passengers on the aircraft waiting for you to fix the problem. What would you do?. You are expected to act professionally and do the job.
Licensed aircraft engineer is the person responsible to maintain the aircraft in a good and safe condition.
How is the job like? Probably the best way is to equate it to a car that you have at home. The are a lot of differences, between a car and an aircraft, the maintenance system is also different and the design concept is different. Despite the differences, there are also similarity.
A. Similarity between car mechanic and aircraft engineer.
Both are technical work, require hand on to repair and fix the defects on the car and aircraft. Both require the basic engineering skills and the usage of tools and equipments.
B. Differences between car mechanics and aircraft engineer.
- The aircraft systems are complex, a deeper knowledge are required.
- The maintenance has to be done in a systematic ways, a lot of planning and advance plans had to be done.
- Aircraft work are connected to the legal enforcement to safe guard the safety of the passengers. For example, it is an act of parliament that pass the ANO- air navigation order on the qualifying of the aircraft engineer and the maintenance work.
A system has to be designed for an airline, consists of the organisation structure. The head of the aircraft maintenance has to be approved by the DCA (Departmental of Civil Aviation). In some country it is called CAA or FAA. The other critical position is the Quality Assurance Manager,
Using the BCAR system as an example, the engineers are divided into either airframe, engines,avionics, electrical or radios. There are more sub-categories. The engineers are also licensed to certify an specific aircraft type, so you can have a B747 Airframe qualified engineer.
How do you get to become a licensed engineer?. There are at least 3 paths to choose from. You can attend an approved training school, or you can join an airline as an apprentice or you can work with an airline and study on your own for the examination. There are pro and cons against each of the method.
1. Attending an approved school: The are many aviation schools offering courses and they are relative more expensive compared to the public university. This is mainly because the training require a lot of practical works which require heavy and expensive equipments. However, as the school are approved, then the duration is shorter. The apprenticeship program may take four years to obtain the license, whereas an approved school will do it in three years.
2. Apprenticeship program. The program is offered by an airline to train personnel to meet their requirement. As an apprentice, the person will be working and studying at the same time. A training program will be designed for the group which include work posting to different work areas to gain experiences. The classroom trainings are scheduled to cover the required subjects.
3. Self Study . This can be a difficult path. Mainly because a person may not have the time to study while doing a full time job. Very small percentage of licensed aircraft engineer qualified through this method.
The pay is different for each airlines, but for MAS, it should be around RM3,000+ without overtime for a fresh LAE with a single aircraft type rating.The allowance will be paid depending on how many trade (A,C,E,I,R) and how many type rating (737,747,a330,777, etc). Air asia should be more i think. For contract/expatriate LAE, they earn a lot.
I've seen a foreign contract LAE, who worked in MAS who got around RM100+ to around RM200 per hour.
The Basic RM5500 is for fresh LAEs.. and depending on your LWTR(single,dual or more trades) PLUS the number of years experience, your basic will be adjusted accordingly.
So roughly there will be 3 basic pay:
1. Fresh/new LAE
2. Up to 7 years experience
3. More than 7 years experience..
The job can be rewarding. This is because the airline may be paying the staff based on the number license the staff has. It is possible for a senior staff to earn an equivalent amount in license allowance as his salary.
p/s; So, the conclusion is i have to finish my study here first. After that, i wil take a license for LAE because i already learn the basic about aircraft maintenance. Then, i will futher my career as a pilot. With God Willing.
This is some of the input about the aviation world. ;)
