Overview
Your career as a professional pilot
Start your career as a professional pilot or an instructor while you work towards flying in a commercial operation or airline.
What you will study
You'll gain the practical and theoretical skills you need to achieve CASA certification as a Commercial Pilot and start your career in the sky.
We now have a new option to study at our Point Cook Campus, as well as Bendigo.
You will gain the aeronautical knowledge, practical skills and appropriate behaviours required to achieve CASA certification as a Commercial Pilot, and fly an aircraft safely and reliably.
The RMIT flight training course is designed to help you meet the commercial pilot licensing requirements of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the pathway to gaining a commercial pilot licence. You’ll also develop the necessary and knowledgeskills to apply for a recreational pilot licence (RPL), a private pilot licence (PPL) and required knowledge for an air transport pilot licence (ATPL).
RMIT Flight Training has successfully trained over 3,000 pilots since 1994. You will be well-situated for employment given the continuing shortage of pilots and flight instructors in Australia and in the Asia-Pacific region.
Career
Qantas and RMIT have partnered to offer an exciting career path to aspiring pilots.
The Qantas Future Pilot Program provides aviation students with access to experienced pilots during their degree, and selected students will be invited to complete an intensive 12-week airline transition course.
Upon successful completion of the 12â€week airline transition course, graduates will transition to employment with QantasLink and complete their training under the supervision of QantasLink's experienced training team and become qualified as first officers flying the airline's Dash 8 200/300 or Q400 fleet.
To be eligible to be considered for the course, students will need to be enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Science (Aviation) or Associate Degree in Aviation (Professional Pilot), and be actively undertaking flying training in one of these courses. Students also need to have an equivalent GPA score of 4.0 (based on a seven point scale) or above for the duration of their degree and Australian work rights.
This course is available to students studying AD023 at the Point Cook or Bendigo Campuses.
Career outlook
If you successfully complete this course, you will be eligible to apply for a CASA Commercial Pilots Licence, plus either Command Instrument Rating (multi-engine) or Flight Instructor Rating (single engine).
Roles you may find immediately after graduation may include charter and freight operation, air-work/agricultural operations, major and regional airlines, emergency services, flight training organisations, seasonal bushfire spotting and beach patrols
As an RMIT Flight Training graduate, there are a variety of paths you can take. You may choose to undertake flight instructor training and work as an instructor while you complete further studies. This can be a rewarding way to build your hours, or become a long-term career.
With further experience (typically more than 200-300 flight hours), you may find work in multi-engine charter operations flying high-performance aircraft with regional airlines, or within high-performance general aviation activities, such as the Royal Flying Doctors Service or Border Protection Command services, and in the role of first officer in major airlines.
Major airlines typically require approximately 1,500 hours total time for direct entry first officers. With further experience and managerial qualifications, you'll be able to seek positions with major airlines as a:
- chief pilot
- fleet manager
- flight operations manager or inspector.
You must have successfully completed an Australian Year 12 or an equivalent senior secondary school qualification with a minimum average of 50% (see calculator below).
Equivalent qualifications may also include completion of the RMIT Foundation Studies program or a recognised post secondary diploma in the relevant discipline with the required grades.
Meeting the minimum academic requirements does not guarantee entry. Your application will still need to be assessed and accepted.
