Stephen Slater
Stephen completed his APS MCC at VA Airline Training in 2019, soon after the course was launched, and he's recently celebrated four years with Jet2.com
What inspired you to pursue a career as a commercial pilot?
When I was 5 years old, we had our first family holiday to Orlando on the mighty B747. I celebrated my birthday with a cake, a Virgin Atlantic watch and a trip to the flight deck to meet the crew. It was from that moment that I became fascinated by flight, the views and the many buttons/switches used to operate the aircraft - I knew from that moment what I wanted to do with my life. I later grew up nearby Leeds Bradford Airport, where local airline Jet2.com commenced operations. Having seen it grow and the destination options increase, including opting to use them in later years for family holidays, I knew where the bigger picture was taking me.
What did you do before starting pilot training?
Before pilot training I completed a year at University before taking on full time work within the hospitality industry. I later decided for a stable 9-5 job working with safeguarding vulnerable adults and children whilst I completed my training. With transferable skills from this, I felt well set up for the many softer skills that we as pilots need to display on a daily basis.
Which training route did you choose to follow, and why?
I opted for the modular route due to lack of finances from the outset. This enabled me to maintain continuous full time employment and to spend as I went along without accruing debt. The modular route also enabled me to maintain a balanced social life, to fly many different aircraft and take on many different experiences that I personally feel an integrated candidate would not. Examples of this include flying throughout Europe as a group, experiencing tail wheel aircraft, and a challenging hour-building timetable.
What challenges did you face before or during training?
The challenge for me was trying to slow myself down and enjoy the journey, and to celebrate each success as I progressed. When you want something so much, it’s easy to get sidetracked into rushing and getting the end goal achieved as fast as you can. I had learnt to enjoy each milestone and to get the most from my training. I am now incredibly proud of how things have turned out, and so grateful to everyone for their individual contributions, including VA instructor James and the team!
What were the highlights of your time in training?
My personal highlights involved receiving my last ATPL result with the sudden realisation that, despite not having a strong academic background, I could achieve in something I enjoyed. I’d also highlight my time with VA as this was my first exposure to life in a multi crew role, where Instructor James made the experience enjoyable as well as the training effective.
How did the competencies you developed during your APS MCC help you afterwards?
The competencies, whilst a lot of them were transferable from a previous line of work, were embedded to help me succeed not only at assessment, but to this day flying the line for my dream airline. I would advise people to be more self-critical and to spend time recognising their own weaknesses, to better mitigate them and develop going forward.
What have been the highlights since you started airline flying?
My personal highlight was reaching 1,000hrs on type and visiting Funchal for the first time, all in the same day. I’ve been very lucky to have had high quality training from some of the best in the industry; be it VA instructors, Line Captains at Jet2 or instructors during my time in Sweden with Diamond Flight Academy.
What advice would you give to someone about to start APS MCC training?
My advice would be for you to take your time; to ‘chair fly’ as much as you can. Don’t sit there and do the procedures as quickly as possible, but think about what you’re looking for and why. Cutting back on costs during the MCC phase is something that has cost a lot of my friends their dream position, even if at application stage (pre-assessment). Invest wisely in the belief that your money is going further towards gaining you that dream position. Flight training is heavily ‘propeller-oriented’ until the APS MCC phase, yet most folk wish to land a jet job. Spending time and money here will definitely benefit you, as it has in my case.