PROFESSIONAL PILOT PROGRAM

Professional Pilot Program

You are preparing for an exciting career in aviation. At the end of this course, you will feel fully prepared and qualified to apply for pilot jobs. Through this program, you are training for something more than a License – you are training for a job as a Pilot.

When we looked at the traditional way of commercial flight training in Canada, we noticed a few disturbing facts:

To earn a commercial license, one has to prove 200 hours of flight experience. There is no quality control that would assign a higher value to purposeful, task-oriented flight training versus just flying around the home base in circles for 200 hours. In fact, most graduates from flight schools have done very little cross country flying – the required 300 NM flight is for most the one outstanding cross country experience.
For reasons of economy, most schools have a standardized fleet of one or two types of aircraft only. Students often earn a commercial license and have only experienced one aircraft type – often a Cessna 152 or 172. Since it is considered a higher insurance risk, very few schools offer training in tailwheel aircraft despite the fact that it helps train better pilots.
Training in marginal weather conditions, flying into unimproved or short airstrips, landing on grass, gravel or beaches is often avoided to minimize any risk of damage to the propellers.
Students are often trained inefficiently, leading to high flight hours. Requiring 80 hours and more for a Private Pilot License is excessive, and some schools graduate their students with more than 100 hours – in fact doubling the training cost from a normally anticipated budget.

At Canadian Flight Centre we realized that, in order to train students for their first job, we have to enable them to deal with the challenging flying environment that Canada stands for. Our students are exposed to a challenging curriculum that is rarely offered by other schools but fully equips the student for their flying career and journey. Our cross-country flights include ocean flying, mountainous terrain, desert climates and cold winters. Students experience the kind of landing strips that prepare them for flying in the Canadian wilderness.

When it comes to advanced flight training, we use multi-engine aircraft like the Piper Seneca V and the King Air C90 – few schools in Canada or the US have similar equipment. And while most schools typically restrict their flying to a small local area, our aircraft are capable of holding training flights from Alaska to California, both in closely controlled airspaces and in the vast uncontrolled airspaces of Northern Canada and Alaska. Due to turbocharged engines, we have no altitude restrictions that would prevent us from going over the Rocky Mountains, and due to certification for “known ice conditions” we can train in extreme weather conditions.

Two-Part Professional Pilot Program

We get frequent inquiries from people that are not able to commit full 1 year at a time towards their training. Reasons can be many – family commitments, needing to keep the job etc. Yet they are still interested in pursuing professional pilot training. For these future pilots, we developed a two-part option of the Professional Pilot Program.

The two-part PPP allows you to combine the benefits of the online training from the comfort of your home with shorter periods of intense full time flying. Here how it goes.

Professional Pilot Program, Part 1, PPL&CPL:

Phase 1a (online): Online studying PPL, CPL and related theory classes via online and zoom – from home.

Phase 1b (in person):

Written TC exams to validate your prior theory studies (PPAER, CPAER)
Intense 6 months of flying in Canada
Flight test for PPL and CPL
You will complete 200 hours of flying
Obtain Canadian CPL

Professional Pilot Program, Part 2, Multi, IFR + IATRA:

Phase 2a (online): studying Multi, IFR and related theory classes via online and zoom. We will add the IATRA preparation also – not mandatory for the PPP program, but optionally available. From home.

Phase 2b (in person):

Written TC exams to validate your prior theory studies (INRAT, IATRA)
Intense 3 months flying in Canada
Flight test for Multi and IFR
You will complete 50 hours of flying
Obtain Canadian Multi-IFR and IATRA

By completing the Professional Pilot Program in two parts you:

Achieve all the goals of the Professional Pilot Program PLUS
Gain additional 50 hours of flight time – required for IATRA
Obtain IATRA – required for obtaining a type rating and being a co-pilot in most airliners
Have more flexible schedule to accommodate other commitments in your life
Still have the option to “fast-track” if you choose so

Program Admission, Cost, Information

Admission Requirements:

17 years old or older. English language proficiency.

Duration:

12 months full time

Locations:

All CFC locations. Usually mix of several locations throughout different phases of training.

Career Occupations:

Commercial Pilot, Charter Pilot and similar.

Program Cost Estimate:

All prices are in CAD. The Program cost estimate consists of CFC delivered component and Partners’ delivered component. CFC delivered component tuition is as follows:

Domestic Students

Tuition: 53,175

School Supplies: 19,655

International Students

Tuition: 58,493

School Supplies: 19,655

CLICK HERE for CFC Student Handbook with all CFC Policies, incl. attendance, accommodation, financial incl. fees and refunds, ground school etc.

Partner delivered component (online academics) cost estimate: 2,760-3,037

Certifications

Federally, our flight training is regulated by Transport Canada (TC). To learn more about Transport Canada, click here.

Provincially:

in Alberta: this Program delivered as part of our Airline Pilot Program, which is designated by Education Alberta. Link here.
in British Columbia: this Program has been approved by the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit (PTIRU) of the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. Link here.

PROFESSIONAL PILOT PROGRAM (PPP) INCLUDES:

PPL
CPL
Multi-IFR
Time building for CPL

PROFESSIONAL PILOT PROGRAM