Careers in Aviation
Now is the time to begin an exciting career in aviation. Whitehorse Air Services offers professional pilot training to get your career started. Come in and talk to us about job opportunities, training requirements, financial assistance, pre-requisites or how to get started. Learn to fly with the experts. Our flight instructors are highly experienced northern pilots, with 45 years and 17,000 hours of flying time in the Yukon.
The following are the first 4 steps to getting your first job as a commercial pilot;
PRIVATE PILOT LICENCE Welcome to the exciting world of aviation! Your pilot's licence is your ticket to personal and business travel, as well as many exciting recreational opportunities. The Private Pilot Licence is also the first licence obtained on the road to the Commercial Pilot Licence. The Private Pilot Licence allows you to fly single engine aircraft on wheels by day in accordance with Visual Flight Rules, and to carry passengers, although not for profit. With further training, you licence may be endorsed so that you may fly on floats, at night, in multi-engine aircraft, or by Instrument Flight Rules. Average students require about 55 hours of flight time and 60 hours of groundschool.
COMMERCIAL PILOT LICENCE If you plan to fly for hire, either in an aviation career or for business, you must have a Commercial Pilot Licence. While the Commercial Licence allows you to fly for hire, it does not provide you with the additional training and experience generally required to make you hireable, for example, the Instructor Rating or the Multi-engine Instrument Rating. This additional training is completed after obtaining the Commercial Pilot Licence. The Commercial Licence requires a total flight time of 200 hours.
INSTRUCTOR RATING This rating is added to your Commercial Pilot Licence, and allows you to teach people to fly. For most career pilots, being a flight instructor is their first flying job. 30 hours of flight time and 25 hours of groundschool are required to get this rating.
ADVANCED FLOAT / BUSH TRAINING While not a rating, this training gives you 50 hours of training including extensive float training and experience in remote areas and rough strip operations. This training may be required by employers and / or insurance companies and is generally considered to be the minimum hiring requirement for this type of flying.
Not sure if flying is for you? Ask us about our low-cost introductory flying lesson. Come in and talk to our staff about aviation career opportunities.