Airbus A319/320/321 Training Captain TRI & TRE, based London Luton

I hope you will find it useful in planning your own journey, or at least just find it an interesting read!

My parents emigrated from Jamaica and Guyana, and I enjoyed a modest upbringing in North London, dad in newspaper printing and mum a nurse. On our first family holiday overseas to see family in the USA I was invited to visit the flightdeck, which shows you how long ago this was! I was 8 years old, and it was there and then I decided I was going to be an airline pilot when I grew up. I was hooked. 

There are many choices available today from traditional ATPL courses, through to all-inclusive MPL cadet courses such as the recently launched Generation easyJet program in conjunction with CAE where the company intends to recruit 1000 cadets over the course of the coming 5 years. You can even now do a University degree that includes commercial flight training!

Whichever option you choose, you can expect a minimum of 18 months full-time, or longer if your choice is to work alongside your training. The key point is that there is no single simple way of achieving your dream – the key is to choose the route that suits you and your personal circumstances best, and to recognize that the path may not be easy or immediate. But with the right attitude, hard work and resilience, you can turn the dream into a reality.

Today, I have had the opportunity to progress from Airbus A320 First Officer to Captain and now Line Training Captain, Type Rating Instructor and Examiner and am glad I took the decision to change careers. As the old saying goes, if you love what you do then you never work a day in your life. I’m loving my life!