Saturday 12th November 2022 to Monday 13th February 2023 at 10:54. 94 days without a flying job and now I’ve officially been offered a place with Ryanair as a First Officer flying their Boeing 737! There’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes over this time but I’ve been saving it up to write it all in this blog for you all, so without further adieu, please let me tell you everything I’ve been up to!
I have been applying to anyone and everyone, I have been relentless in sending my CV off and submitting applications because of just how much I wanted this first job. I had to wait a little longer for my IAA EASA licence to come through so this limited when I could apply for Ryanair. I took the approach that if you don’t ask you don’t get, so numerous companies were asking for 500+ hours or time on a zero-flight time qualifying aircraft which I don’t have, but this didn’t stop me from applying. I was honest, when it asked if I met these requirements, I said no and of course this led to a lot of rejections early on. I did have some success with Jet2 however.
Jet2 run a pilot apprentice scheme which I applied to in November and I made it through the initial stage of the application where I was invited to complete some online assessments. I shortly heard back after completing these through that I would not be progressing any further forwards. Annoying and disappointing as I don’t like being rejected, especially when I meet the criteria! But I’m a firm believer that whatever happens to you happens for a reason and something better is just around the corner.
I couldn’t be without flying for long and made the decision to go and get my SEP rating added to my U.K. CAA licence. I went down to Shoreham airport with a company called Brighton Aviation Ltd. My licence previously stated that I could fly a multi-engine piston aircraft (DA-42) and fly multi-engine and single-engine aircraft in IR conditions but I couldn’t fly a single-engine aircraft. I went down to Shoreham to ad this to my licence. The first day I went up for two 1 hour long flights. The first looking at general handling of the Piper and making sure that I was up to speed with flying a single engine aircraft again as I hadn’t done so since April and that was in the Cessna 172 in Waterford. The next hour we looked at circuits and where to approximately turn to keep them a nice size and ensuring my landings and pre-landing checks were done nicely and in a good flow. It was looking likely that I could be completing my test the same day however, due to night coming in we decided to wait until the next day. The next day rolled around and I went up for just over an hour with the examiner. We completed the general handling exercises and all went well, then we headed back for the circuits to finish, and completed the exam under night. I passed this exam again and now have my SEP rating added to my licence… so watch out friends and family as I’m taking you up now!
Then a little bolt from the blue came out of no-where, a family friend of mine who was a Captain on the 787 for TUI sent an email to say that TUI have opened up a internal scheme whereby someone within TUI can put forward a pilot non-type rated with less than 500 hours – I tick the boxes! It worked out that I had 2 sponsors for TUI and was recommended by two pilots, the other being a 737 first officer based out of East Midlands who was an absolute star! This was on the 23rd December 2022 and applications had to be submitted before 3rd January 2023 so working on a tight timeframe here. I submitted my application and shortly after I was asked to fill in some further answers to questions such as when I passed my CPL and IR exam, how many attempts and other similar questions. I then received an email on 6th January 2023 inviting me to the TUI training centre at East Midlands airport where I’d undertake group assessments, a technical quiz and a case study. If I passed these I would be invited to an interview in the afternoon.
Before I attended he TUI assessments, I went back to my friends at AirlinePrep who I went to previously in 2019 before I joined L3Harris to brush up on my interview technique, group exercises and see if they could lift the lid on what to expect at TUI. The day before I went to Airline Prep, I was invited by Ryanair to their simulator assessments and interview – everything was slowly falling into place for me with 2 airlines looking like high possibilities! As before, AirlinePrep were outstanding and I couldn’t find a bad word to say about them even if I tried! I’m not endorsed or sponsored by them so this isn’t an advertising spiel, but if you have an upcoming interview and assessment with an airline or flight school, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough as I firmly believe they helped get me into L3Harris in 2019 and again with TUI and Ryanair.
While there we worked on 3 group exercises as a group of 4 of us on the course and these significantly improved throughout the day. Next we were taken for our individual interview preparation one-to-one and while 2 were being interviewed, the other 2 completed a maths test and possible questions we can expect that would be typical of an airline assessment. Both went well and identified some key mistakes in my interview that were able to be ironed out nicely and set me in a good headspace before going to TUI in a few days and Ryanair not long after. We finished the day looking out what a possible case study could be based on prior cadets feeding back to AirlinePrep and by having a glimpse at one of these before the day with TUI definitely helped a lot.
In the lead up to my assessments with TUI, my mentor who flew the 737 phoned me to discuss what I’d likely be facing in the day as he recently was on the interview panel for other people applying for TUI! He gave me all that he could remember about interview questions and what they’d be looking for and some of the right things to say – be customer orientated, be thoughtful and be a good team player; everything that TUI looks for as a brand basically. He was so helpful and provided me with so much good insight that I really felt a lot more confident going into my interview in a few days time. He said to look out for little things such as making sure you’re involved in a group exercise, read the questions carefully in the tech quiz and looking at all the information provided for the case study.
18th January 2023 and it was the day of my TUI assessments. There were 24 of us on this day and 24 the day prior, so to make it into the final 48 already I saw as an achievement. We were given a few powerpoint slides and briefings on what to expect from the day and what to expect from TUI as a company and explaining the process of the two days for this who didn’t know. We then were split into groups of 6 for our group exercise where the basic premise was; ‘your TUI flight is supplying a TUI cruise but the bags aren’t loaded due to a malfunction, do you a) leave without the bags b) wait for the bags but don’t delay the cruise or c) wait for the bags and delay the cruise. We had 10 minutes to discuss and come to an answer, my group decided option A but others on the day went for options B and C so there really wasn’t a right or wrong answer. Once we made our decision we were given a list of 5 items to prioritise, again in 10 minutes. From memory, they were a) a passenger has medication in their hold bags and wants a word b) a new load sheet needs completing c) company directors wants a word for not having their suits d) a front has passed over the runway and the runway direction has changed e) the toilets are 40% full. I can’t remember what order we put these in, but again had a discussion and came to an agreed list of priorities.
Next, I was the first to be called for my case study so when I got back into the room I was like a hot commodity with everyone asking questions what it was about and what to do! In simple terms, we were given a full flight plan and had to formulate a brief for the captain who was running late in 20 minutes time. I’d never done anything like this before so was all new to me so I went through those 10 pages of information with a fine tooth comb trying not to miss anything but also paying attention to the time limit! I wasn’t sure on how to structure this brief so I went back to basics of what I knew and structured it as a WANT (weather, aircraft, NOTAMs, Threats & error management) for all of the information. When the captain came in, I thought about people first, I made sure they were okay, if they wanted a glass of water and ensuring they would be safe to fly. Next we ran through the brief and I tried to brief him the best I could, and given I had never done it before, I believe I did quite well and covered all of the information included.
I was then invited to my tech quiz where there were 10 questions on ATPL theory, 10 numerical reasoning tests and then 5 tabled questions. I didn’t find this the easiest, I was most confident on the ATPL section and then struggled on the other two sections, the tables in particular as also being under time pressure you had to work out what the table was telling you before you could begin to answer the question. We then went on lunch and waited to hear if we were going to be called for an interview in the afternoon. I was called and it was a great bit of news to hear! We were then taken in for another presentation explaining what the contract would look like if we were successful and also explaining that there are 3 spaces – 2 based in Newcastle and 1 in Cardiff. 48 people for 3 spaces, a 6% chance of being successful, and the competition was tough.
In my interview I was with a 737 captain and the TUI pilot manager. Now I knew I had to be on my game here to impress and big myself up as much as I possibly can which I hate doing! The interview was fairly relaxed through, and the questions were HR based as opposed to testing my technical knowledge. They asked me to speak about myself, what I knew about TUI, what was my most stressful event was and how I coped, why I should share my opinions even to someone with more experience, and the ‘pro’s and con’s’ of teamwork. I believe the interview went well and built a decent rapport with the two interviewing me. I believe I painted myself in the best light that I possibly could.
I must’ve done something right as the next day I received a phone call while at a funeral explaining how they’d like to invite me to the final stage, the simulator assessment! Most people were walking round with somber faces and tears on their cheeks but having just heard news like that, it was rather difficult to keep the smile off my face! I was absolutely delighted with the news and it felt like Christmas had come late as I never expected to make it this far. I didn’t have long to prepare though as I found out on the 19th and my simulator assessment was on the 23rd in the Boeing 737 which I had never flown before. I wasn’t going to be unprepared as it’s just not like me I want/need everything to be perfect for me to be happy.
I booked sims with a place local to me near Gatwick called Motion Flight, and to say they were fantastic is an understatement. As before with AirlinePrep, I’m not endorsed or sponsored by Motion Flight and only speaking form my own personal experience so this isn’t an advertising spiel, but if you have an upcoming simulator assessment with an airline or flight school or simply want some fun, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough as I firmly believe they helped me massively with TUI and again Ryanair. We looked at the take-off profile, general handling and after coming from the Airbus A320-200, getting used to trimming the aircraft again rather than it doing it itself! We then flew a couple of ILS approaches only on raw data as this is what the whole flight would look like in my simulator assessments and I felt a lot more prepared going into TUI.
The day arrived for TUI and I was nervous as I only had 2 hours flying the Boeing 737 before, and now I’m going into it for my potential first job, not to mention this is the first time I’ve ever been in a simulator assessment. The actual assessment was an hour long, 30 minutes both pilot flying and pilot monitoring. I was PM first and this went well, I made a slight mistake calling 1,000ft to go in the descent a little too early, but admitted my mistake and no harm was done. However, when I was PF, it didn’t go so well in my eyes. My general handling was a bit ‘wobbly’ and my speed and altitude deviated a fair bit from the datum set so I wasn’t too happy. We then set up and flew the approach, but where I didn’t push the nose down hard enough on glide slope capture, this meant I needed to push down a lot harder to regain the glide slope but in doing so went 10-15kts too fast on the approach. While I was trying to correct the combination of these, keeping my localiser was messy. Approximately 500ft above minimums where we make our decision if we’re landing, my glide slope went more than half scale and that’s deemed unstable so I elected to go-around, not to mention at this point, my localiser was also drifting towards the half-scale mark. We then discussed what went wrong, and I knew what did and explained in my eyes to the sim assessor, and he agreed and said I made the correct decision to go-around. I was then repositioned at 6nm to run in for the approach and this time there was very little deviation on my glide slope and localiser so was a lot better. That was it, the sim assessment done. I felt awful for messing up and at this point I knew that I wasn’t going to be successful and felt rather low inside.
A few days later I received an email saying I was unsuccessful with TUI but can ask for feedback. I did this and the feedback I received was very positive. Essentially they said I made the exact right decision to go around and felt it played very strongly for me for having the guts to call go around in an assessment and not try to push on and correct it, and I narrowly missed out on one of the 3 places, only due to the other candidates being more suited, another time and it’s likely I would’ve been successful. I’m still in two minds whether this is reassuring or still a bit of a kick in the teeth as I was so close! However, this gave me great experience and a boost of confidence going into my Ryanair sim assessment.
Now, as I’ve mentioned throughout, I had Ryanair also as an application at the same time as TUI, but I want to discuss this application in full and give it the proper attention it deserves as (spoiler alert) this is the one I was successful with and one I’m so over the moon with!
I applied for Ryanair on the 24th December 2022 under their AFA Cadet Pilots scheme. The application was simple and filling in basic information required for the scheme, uploading my documents necessary for the application. I wasn’t quite expecting to hear back so soon given it was the Christmas period, but on the 4th January I was asked to complete online assessments for Ryanair – again, this was welcome as each stage I get to, I don’t think I’m going to quite make it! I prepared for these assessments using a company called PASS pilot assessments where I could practice all of the tests for Ryanair. These included psychometric and reasoning tests, personality questions, HR interview questions on a camera and an ATPL/maths test.
I completed the test above with not too much difficulty as I had already practiced them as much as possible, focusing on the ones I struggled with as opposed to the ones I enjoyed more! I also mentioned we had an ATPL/maths test where there were 20 questions in 15 minutes so had to be quick and know your stuff as opposed to spending time thinking and deliberating about the answer. Some of them were guesses as I didn’t have the time to think through all the steps completely in the time, such as (and this is numbers made-up in my head) what is 5.14 m/s over 12 km in knots? This required serval translation of units so I guessed, flagged it and moved on to questions where I could get the answer and pick up marks easier. I then had to answer 3 online interview questions where I was effectively talking to myself. Finally, the personality question was horrible! You had to pick which statement you agreed more with and couldn’t go down the middle; some were easy so when it asked on one side, “I am highly organised” and on the other side “I am disobedient when it comes to rules” for me it was easy as I’m the most organised person I know, borderline OCD! However, when it said “I am highly organised” on one side and “I like to work in a team” then both highly apply to me, so I don’t know which way to go!
On the 12th January 2023 I found out I was successful on the online tests and to wait for when a simulator assessment date would be available. It wasn’t a long wait, only until the 26th January 2023 when I was asked to attend on the 10th February 2023 in Dublin. I booked 4 simulator sessions on the Boeing 737 with my friends at Motion Flight and another one at Airline Flight Academy in Dublin as part of their training package – this was separate to where I’d be going the following day. This time I would be prepared following what happened at TUI and I wasn’t going to have another rejection at the simulator stage again. I completed the first 2 simulator sessions at Motion Flight and the guy doing it said I didn’t need the other two and would feel bad for taking my money. A mixed reaction on my part, good he feels I’m ready but at the same time, I would also like the practice. I then had my simulator session in Dublin with AFA the day before on the 9th February 2023 and I backdated 3 other sessions before my own, so when it was my turn to take the PF seat, after an hour the instructor said I was fine and would refund me the second hour as I didn’t need it. Now this filled me with a lot of confidence going into my Ryanair assessment the next day.
The next day on 10th February 2023 I arrived at Ryanair Head Office in Dublin at 07:30 for an 08:00 start – I was told the taxi would take 20 minutes but took only 5! We were given a brief tour of the Ryanair offices and taken into a room where we were given 2 presentations; the first being about Ryanair and what to expect when working for them, then a second on the 737 simulator and what to expect in the sim. We were then left with our SID and approach plates. On the day there were 8 of us in total; myself from England, 4 from Italy, 2 from Spain and 1 from Luxembourg. My sim partner was from Italy and a really nice genuine guy. We briefed how we were going to fly the SID both as PF and PM and how we were going to fly the approach.
We were group 3 for the sim so 4 people (2 groups) were in before us. They also tried to do the interviews while you were waiting for your sim. However, just the way it worked out I didn’t have mine until after my sim. Finally, it was our turn to go for our simulator session at about 12:00 so by this point I was itching to go. I was PM first, and for both of us on the SID, we then completed our general handling, then faced our emergency. We then set up for the approach and both flew in on a long final so plenty of time to bug up, flaps 1, flaps 5 and stabilise before intercepting the glide, and when we captured the glide, flew all the way down to landing and it was done nicely.
My turn in the PF seat and everything was the same up until my emergency, I gave my partner a quick PIOSEE brief and said that we were returning departure. I then set up for the approach and there are 7 items to set up; course, minimums, pressure, approach mode, ILS frequencies, brakes, CDU select flap 30. I did this twice run through to make sure I had done everything correctly. I then flew my approach and this was done nicely and a decent landing off the back of it too.
Shortly after, I was called in for my interview which was comprised of two parts; HR and technical. The HR part went really well, I was happy with my answers, built a good rapport with the two people in there, including finding out he was an Arsenal fan and having a brief stray to talk about how they’re doing well this season and my team, Liverpool, are not! The HR side finished and as I mentioned I was happy with how it went. Then the technical side was super difficult. Asking about my previous aircraft which I knew like the back of my hand, then asking about the 737. I did my very best and managed to get an answer to all of the questions, even if I led or ended with saying, I don’t know much more or asking for a bit of clarification. I’m never scared to ask questions as I learn best when asking questions to come to an answer and satisfy the problem I have, and this is the same in my interview. The interview finished and I asked a couple of questions to them and left from Dublin airport back to the U.K. again.
Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for a response and at 10:54 on Monday 13th February 2023 I saw an email come through from AFA/Ryanair. I was working at the time, so when I got the chance to look at my phone I did, and when I read the best words I’ve read all year, I started welling up; “We’d firstly like to congratulate you, as you have successfully Passed the assessment, and have been offered a position as a cadet on the Airline Flight Academy LTD cadet programme to qualify as a pilot operating for Ryanair.” I thought of all the hard work that had got me to that point, a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and I wanted to thank and tell everyone who’d helped me along the way. And then I thought of my Grandad and how proud he would’ve been of me for getting the job, and I know he was there and will continue to be by my side every single step of the way. The only downside was I had to continue working until I finished my shift! I went and bought 2 bottles of champagne and wrote on the labels 4 words that’ve been used throughout all of my flight training. I drove home and gave one to my parents and huge hugs and celebrations, then drove round to my Grandma and again the same, before finally driving round to Liv’s to do the same but with chocolate – I know what she likes! Later that evening the celebrations continued with myself, parents, brother, Grandma and Liv all going out for a meal to celebrate.
It’s been 94 days since I completed my training with L3Harris and in that time, I’ve worked tirelessly to get a job with anyone who’ll take me, and I’m just so delighted that I’ve managed to secure it with Ryanair flying on the Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-8200 across Europe. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the help and support you’ve given me and stuck by me when I’ve faced countless rejections. I’ve always maintained that I will get there and that’s exactly what I’ve done and I cannot wait to get started with my type rating in the coming months!
I’m afraid it’s likely to be a bit more radio silence from my end as I’m preparing to start my type rating, but once I start, the blogs will be flowing again, explaining everything that I’m up to and doing and learning. I can’t wait to start and begin learning again and being that step closer to flying passengers all across Europe! Until next time, take care and I’ll catch you all again really soon!
