Spectacular dreams of soaring through the heavens, unbound and untethered, exist among populations and cultures around the world. Possessing the ability to fly also ranks high as a desired superpower: Who among us wouldn’t love to swoop in from an aerial position to rescue the frightened child and bedraggled dog from being swept down the heartless, raging river?

Capes and wings aside, training to be a licensed pilot is one way to realize magnificent dreams of being airborne. In the real, waking world, however — whether the ultimate goal is to pilot private jets, cargo planes, fighter planes or transcontinental passenger craft — preparing for an aviation career requires a blend of dedication; skill; and rigorous, exhaustive training.

Wondering what, exactly, it takes to sit in the pilot’s seat? Details differ depending upon the specific type of certification program to which a prospective pilot is applying, but age, physical condition and level of education are factors. Practically, prospective aircraft pilots (excluding balloon and glider pilots) are required to pass a physical examination administered by an aviation medical examiner authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration. Medical certificates are first-class (required for airline transport pilots), second-class and third-class. Student pilots must achieve a third-class certificate.

Once this initial barrier has been crossed, actual training includes a host of components. Students learn to read instruments, to take off and land, to master the skills associated with turning and climbing, and how to accomplish tasks such as maintaining a specific altitude. Aviation education also mandates acquiring the necessary skills to read displays and operate automatic systems and to safely navigate a wide variety of weather conditions and landing situations, all while mastering every possible angle of approach.

PHOTO: © VITALDRUM | DREAMSTIME.COM

Pilot Ray Phillips, who flies a Boeing 787 for a major airline operating out of Denver, has an M.S. in aeronautics and serves as the flight training manager and affiliate professor at Metropolitan State University Denver. One of his projects was to interview industry leaders to learn their expectations of graduates from aviation programs.

According to Phillips and the flight professionals he interviewed, there’s more to being a great pilot than simply earning a license. These additional components may border on the intangible, but they’re nevertheless crucial to success in the role. Phillips said a personal survey among his peers revealed a high value placed on qualities including honesty in communications, humility, service and leadership — components that prove critical in a setting where safety depends upon the ability to work effectively as a team.

While the lift, climb and pitch of it all remain a magnet for many a would-be aviator (or, if you’re at a retro airline party addressing a female pilot, an aviatrix), the first decision to make is what kind of pilot a student hopes to become. Becoming a cargo pilot, for instance, requires different training than what’s demanded of a Certified Flight Instructor. Additionally, commercial pilots are generally required to have a minimum of an undergraduate degree, though many of the pilots who captain national and international carriers, like Phillips, earn advanced degrees.

Next, locate an FAA-approved flight school and apply. Programs endorsed by the FAA exist throughout the country, including large schools with their own aircraft fleets and regional schools that lease planes or partner with local airlines. In January 2022 United Airlines opened United Aviate Academy, its own flight training school in Goodyear, Arizona. Programs include private pilot training, instrument rating, flight instructor training, and various levels of pilot certification that include single- and multi-engine craft.

The next hurdle is to earn a Private Pilot License, or PPL, allowing the operation of single-engine aircraft under Visual Flight Rules flying in fair-weather conditions. Among the many skills acquired at this stage are how to use roads, bodies of water and other physical landmarks as navigational aids.

Training to become a commercial pilot means learning to control an aircraft without actually being able to see the outside world, explained Kevin R. Kuhlmann, associate chair, aviation and aerospace science department, MSU Denver. Which leads to the next stage: earning an Instrument Rating during ground school training. The IR allows flight by instrument reading, even in poor weather conditions. After this step, students move on to train for their Commercial Pilot License, which involves a minimum of 250 hours of flight time and passing an FAA “checkride,” an oral exam and practical test during which an authorized pilot examiner determines competency and assesses the pilot candidate’s skills in the air. The final part of training involves earning a multi-engine rating.

Though pilots are not mechanics, they are educated to recognize any irregularities or anomalies when conducting their pre-flight walkaround. Among the long list of details a pilot considers are the wear and tread of the plane’s tires, the condition of gear struts and hydraulic lines, the operation of external lights and the vessel’s actual airframe. This includes the fuselage, wings, flaps, spoilers and other design components specific to the individual plane they’ll fly.

If you’re one of the many travelers who’ve been left stranded — or never got off the ground to begin with — because of flights canceled due to pilot shortages, you may be wondering where all the pilots are.

COVID, as we’ve all learned, posed a challenge to travel regardless of the angle from which it’s approached. The sudden screeching to a halt of outlets catering to wanderlust saw planes parked and shuttered, their wings drooping in light of the pandemic. Because cutting operational costs often proved a necessary strategy to ensure the survivability of airlines, many aviation specialists — including pilots — opted for the early retirement being offered.

As travel comes back on line, the need to staff up often results in big carriers pulling from the ranks of regional pilots to fill empty cockpit seats. The lure of legacy carriers — and the trappings of glamor that still cling to them — can prove an effective enticement for many pilots working at regional airlines who accrued the necessary flight hours to qualify. The trickle- down effect of these job moves, however, means your international flight may depart without you if you first need to make a connection on a regional carrier to reach your international departure gate at a distant airport.

“Flights went away during the pandemic,” said Kuhlmann. “While airlines got a government bailout, more was needed, and many offered their pilots the option of early retirement. Now, as we come back to 2019 levels, they’re having a hard time keeping up with the training. After they’re hired, pilots also have to be trained into that airline’s system. It’s a pipeline issue at the major airlines.”

PHOTO: © FLYJETS

While scooping up available pilot resources at the regional level proved a successful tactic for larger carriers, many regional carriers found it necessary to park their aircraft and suffered the most with canceled flights. In response, charter companies, such as FLYJETS, that act as travel aggregators, stepped in to fill the gaps in travelers’ plans.

“We view charter aircraft as a viable alternative and/or complementary service to commercial airline services,” said Jessica Fisher, CEO and founder, FLYJETS, “and hope to include commercial airline options, in addition to charter aircraft, on our platform in the future. By promoting access to the charter landscape and effective routing among flyers and aircraft providers alike, FLYJETS will continue to contribute to accessing ‘harder to reach’ destinations impacted by regional flight cancellations.”

Meanwhile, as news stories surface speculating the required number of flight training hours for commercial certification may be lowered (the FAA did not respond to a direct question on this matter), many travelers express concern that pilots of the future may be less qualified.

“Flight education and training is a vital part of aviation and will of course continue to be with new (and less costly) aircraft coming online in the future,” said Fisher, who attended Danny Waizman Flight School. “Via FLYJETS’ marketplace, flyers and aircraft providers are connected directly to initiate the booking process, and the safety rating associated with the fleet of specific aircraft is always listed up front. While exact pilots are sometimes booked closer to the date of specific flights (and sometimes assigned after, rather than before, charter contracts are completed), flyers can always receive direct information — including hours of training logged and other details — about the pilots in each operator’s fleet prior to and at the time of booking.”

New incentives to attract prospective pilots into flight programs are underway. Earlier this year, the FAA awarded $5 million in grants to fund aviation classes at the high school level. Additionally, the FAA partnered with organizations such as Women in Aviation International, Dreams Soar, the National Air and Space Museum and USA Science and Engineering Festival (SciFest).

Recruitment efforts, mentoring programs, scholarships, funding and better education about what an aviation career entails are all necessary to attract future pilots and aerospace professionals and help them to narrow their education focus.

“I think many students in aviation programs know they want to be a pilot, while some just want to be in the aviation field,” said Phillips. “I learned recently that one of the women in my class specifically wants to fly for United Parcel Service (UPS). I asked her if she’d ever talked to an actual UPS pilot about what that career path entails. She hadn’t, so I called one of my more senior pilot friends who works in this area of the industry so that my student could ask questions.”

That mentoring effort allowed Phillips’ student to adjust her expectations and tailor her studies to meet her personal goals. If the future of the evolving aviation industry — in all its incarnations — is to be cleared for takeoff, a new generation of qualified pilots and flight professionals will be needed. For aviation professionals working hard to secure that future, the message is clear: Received Order Given, Expect Results. Or, in pilot-speak, ROGER that.