UK flag-carrier British Airways has committed £21m to training 200 new pilots in 2025 in a move which marks the largest investment in ab-initio flight training by a UK airline for decades. In a game-changing move, BA will pay the full training costs of 200 aspiring airline pilots, having already enrolled 100 pilots into its ‘Speedbird Academy’ programme in 2024. The scale of the British Airways programme is unprecedented in modern times and, say airline insiders, is firmly aimed at attracting the most talented applicants to become BA pilots, regardless of their financial means. BA says that the fully-funded commercial pilot training programme is designed to remove the financial barriers to becoming a pilot, making a career in the flight deck accessible to individuals from all backgrounds – saving successful applicants more than £100k in individual training costs.
Basic application criteria for the programme include having the right to live and work in the UK without sponsorship; being between 17-55 years of age to apply and 18 to start training; being fluent in English; being able to obtain a UK CAA Class 1 medical with no restrictions and have completed BA referencing and pre-employment checks as well as supplying UK and international Criminal Record Checks. Applicants whose application meets the basic criteria then have to pass four on-line tests – a Situational Judgement Test (SJT); Maths Test; Detail Checking Test and Passenger Announcement Exercise. Applicants who pass these tests go to an in-person flight school assessment day, and there are further selection stages with BA at their London Heathrow base including group exercises. Interestingly, the airline recommends that applicants undertake at least one flight in a light aircraft prior to applying, stating: “…we would recommend at least one 30-minute trial flight, either in a glider or fixed-wing aircraft. This is to ensure you enjoy the feeling of flying. There are many scholarships available in the UK, most of which are listed on the Flight Training News website.” BA says that any flying experience, for example working towards a PPL, will help show motivation to becoming a pilot, but this is not part of the application criteria. A pilot who has started ‘hour building’ may apply with no upper limit on flying hours, but those hours will not be credited. A person who has completed any ATPL exams (EASA or CAA), will not be able to apply.
Successful applicants will train at one of the two schools that BA are using for the scheme – FTE Jerez and Skyborne Airline Academy. Training is conducted as a full-time integrated course for a ‘frozen’ UK Airline Transport Pilot Licence (fATPL) and begins with six to eight months of ground school for the ATPL written examinations – one of BA’s training requirements is that cadets must pass their ground school in the first series with a minimum 85% average and no more than three re-sits. Trainees then undertake six months of basic flight training, followed by multi-engine and Instrument Rating training expected to take around four to six months (trainees must achieve a first series pass at the CPL & IR). After Upset Prevention Recovery Training (UPRT), the final course module is an Airline Pilot Standards Multi-Crew Cooperation Course (APS-MCC), usually completed on an A320 or B737 simulator. During the course the trainee pilots are provided with paid-for accommodation and food or a food allowance.
…while there are some academic requirements for the scheme …in general there is a move away from strict academic criteria and more emphasis is being placed on aptitude and core competencies such as team work and leadership
Speaking with FTN, British Airways Director of Flight Operations, Simon Cheadle, enthused about the opportunity that the Speedbird Pilot Academy is opening up to aspiring pilots, who may not have the financial means to fund their own training to the tune of £100K or more. Around 20,000 candidates applied for the programme when applications opened last year and initially 100 trainee pilots were selected for 2024, with a plan to start a further 100 pilots in 2025 – with that second number now increased to 200. Simon also told FTN that while there are some academic requirements for the scheme (Six GCSEs grade A-C or 5-9, including Maths, English and a Science or equivalent qualifications), in general there is a move away from strict academic criteria and more emphasis is being placed on aptitude and core competencies such as team work and leadership. The ability to remain calm under pressure and a strong ability to solve problems, collaborating and demonstrating you are a team player also have a high priority with BA. The airline is working with a range of organisations such as the Air League and Fantasy Wings to widen access to its schemes and indeed Simon has become a regular attendee at Air League functions for scholarship winners and young aviators. It is his intention to increase ‘outreach’ beyond aviation organisations, to promote awareness amongst people who may not have even considered that a career in aviation might be an option. Asked the ‘£21 million question’, Simon was adamant that getting funding for the scheme from the airline was “not a difficult conversation” and that the scheme has the full backing of Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO. In a press statement, Sean Doyle said: “I’m incredibly proud of the Speedbird Pilot Academy and the opportunity it provides to those talented individuals who have held a lifetime ambition of becoming a commercial airline pilot, but have perhaps found it difficult to independently fund their training. The standard of applicants we see for this programme are consistently high so as part of our commitment to attracting the very best candidates from right across society, we’ve increased the 2025 cohort to give as many people as possible the chance of realising their dream.”
BA bought some of their 2024 intake of trainee pilots to the Farnborough Air Show in July and sitting in an A320Neo G-TTNY, which is one of the latest additions to BA’s short-haul fleet, FTN had the opportunity to speak with Ryan Street, who has dreamed of a career in aviation since he was a young boy. Ryan joined Stockport (162) Air Cadets Squadron at the age of 12, where he rose to the rank of Cadet Warrant Officer, before beginning work at Manchester Airport for a ground handling company in order to gain experience in the airline industry. He held various roles including ramp loader, aircraft dispatcher and load controller before being selected for the Speedbird Pilot Academy. Now three months into his ground school training at Skyborne Airline Academy, Ryan has just passed his first five ATPL exams with an overall 95% mark. Ryan has another four months of ground school ahead, before heading to Vero Beach in Florida for his basic flight training – but he is not new to flying. For the past three years Ryan has been training for a PPL with LAC Flight School based at Manchester’s Barton aerodrome, and he passed his PPL skill test just one week before starting training at Skyborne. He said that having the PPL Theoretical Knowledge has helped “massively” with the ATPL ground school training, and his background of working in the aviation industry and flying General Aviation (GA) aircraft is proving to be a good starting block for his studies and his career. After completing basic flight training, Ryan will return to Skyborne’s Gloucester base for the Multi Engine / Instrument Rating (MEIR) training phase. Ryan has been trying to get onto some form of flying scheme for the last six years and he told FTN that if he had not been successful with his Speedbird Pilot Academy application, he would have kept trying until he succeeded.
Graduates from the Speedbird Pilot Academy can expect to join BA’s short-haul fleet, flying the A320 or Embraer 170/190 (the cost of the type-rating is also covered by BA) with a starting salary of £34,000 plus allowances. The new recruits will be ‘frozen’ on the short-haul fleet with BA, EuroFlyer or CityFlyer for six years before being able to bid for other fleets.
With around 4,000 pilots currently in its workforce, BA is also continuing to recruit Direct Entry Pilots, as well as continuing with its Self-Sponsored and Military Managed Paths. The Speedbird Pilot Academy is not currently accepting applications, but says that the application process is expected to re-open next year.
For the wider airline industry, still facing a shortage of pilots to fly the growing airliner fleet, BA’s vote of confidence in paying the training costs of its future flight crew should be a very loud wake-up call. For some time, senior pilots have bemoaned the difficulty of getting quality new pilot recruits for their airlines, whilst the accountants at the same airline pointedly refuse to invest in pilot training. The result has been an airline pilot workforce noticeably lacking in social diversity and often with limited loyalty to airlines which treat them as profit-centres rather than valued employees. Although UK CAA statistics are woefully out-of-date, BA’s investment in training means that over the next two to three years, around 10% of the UK’s new professional pilots will have had their training costs covered by one British airline. BA’s commitment to making a flying career accessible to all those with the talent and aptitude to succeed, if not the funds, is undisputed. For those waiting for Speedbird Pilot Academy applications to re-open, the airline has some wise words of advice: “Extracurricular activities which help you develop the skills necessary to be a pilot are great. The Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, Air Training Corps, or sports teams as examples. Any customer service experience you can get will also help you prepare. Any time in the air whether fixed-wing or gliding too. There are lots of scholarships available most of which are listed on the Flight Training News website.”
