While FTA is renowned for its airline cadet programs, the private student route also has a selection process in place, you can’t just pay and show up. Let me walk you through my experience.
Phase 1: Online theory test
It all started with a simple email to FTA expressing my interest. After they scheduled me for the earliest available date, I received access to their online portal with study materials. On test day, I connected with a FTA rep via Microsoft Teams, camera on, of course, to ensure test integrity.
The test itself? Pretty straightforward. Just 40 questions that I breezed through in under 20 minutes. Think Year 11/12 physics and math, nothing that would make you break a sweat. The aviation questions were just skimmed the surface, basic stuff, really.
Phase 2: Aptitude test (CUT-E)
Once I passed the theory exam, it was time for the aptitude assessment, consisting of nine tasks:
- Complex Control
- Multi-tasking
- Reaction Speed
- Monitoring Ability
- Spatial Orientation
- Applied Numerical
- Behavioural Questionnaire
- Auditory Information Processing
- Non-verbal Logical Reasoning (Deductive)
There were two tasks that stood out because they weren’t part of Cathay’s test
- Auditory Information Processing: This involved listening short audio clips, all featuring various accents, ranging from mild to strong. I forgot how many, prolly around 15 clips? You could play each clip twice before answering multiple-choice questions.
- Non-verbal Logical Reasoning (Deductive): This was all about recognising patterns. Not too difficult.
To prepare, I used pilotassessments.com. It’s a decent resource. The actual Complex Control and Multi-tasking sections had their own quirks that the practice tests didn’t quite capture.
While I could’ve done better on those two sections, I was happy with my performance for the rest of the tasks. I tried to get my hands on the results afterwards out of curiosity, but wasn’t able to. Still, I was fortunate to move on the the next round.
Phase 3: Interview
Next up was a Teams interview with Mr Toy, FTA’s COO. It was an hour long interview covered the test results, my background, why I wanted to pursue a CPL, why FTA, my career goals, and financial aspect of training etc etc. There were behavioural questions that threw me by surprise, also mental math thrown in which i got it wrong. Overall, it was a positive and fairly relaxed experience, nothing too stressful.
Phase 3: Enrolment
After clearing the interview, there was still quite a bit of work ahead.
First came the CASA Class 1 medical exam, to make sure i’m medically fit to get a CPL. Then there was the contract signing, followed by the IELTS exam requirement that caught me off guard, especially since I’d been told my bachelor’s degree would suffice for the english requirement.
The process continued with a non-refundable A$2,500 deposit which counts toward the first tuition payment. Once FTA had my IELTS results and deposit, they issued my COE (Confirmation of Enrolment).
The final hurdle was the Australian student visa application. This meant gathering quite a pile of stuff: student health insurance, medical exam results, a Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) statement, show money plus a bunch of supporting documents.
The final stretch was a lot of work, but each step brought me closer to the flight deck.
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