How to Become an Airline Pilot in 2025
Becoming an airline pilot is a great and rewarding career, but how do you get there? What are the best pilot training schools and routes in?
The Diary Of An Airline Captain
January 29, 2025
A question I commonly get asked is ‘How do airline pilot schedules work?’ so I thought I’d write an article on it. It’s a sizeable topic, and one I’ve written about before, but this is a much more comprehensive article.
This first half will explain the variety of work schedules available to pilots, along with sharing a real-life example of a roster. The latter half will focus on flight time limitations and how they work. I’ll also explain how the rosters are built, along with how vacation days work, whilst debunking some common myths along the way.
Let’s dive straight in!
Commercial airline pilots operate on a variety of work schedules called ‘rosters’, which can be broadly categorised into ‘fixed’ or ‘flexible’ types.
A fixed roster follows a set pattern of working days. This provides pilots with a predictable routine, often allowing them to have a more stable work-life balance.
In my airline, we operate a 5-4-5-3 fixed pattern. This comprises of five working days, followed by three days off, then another five working days followed by three days off. The pattern then repeats continuously, so pilots on a fixed pattern can tell which days they’ll be working in 25 years from now if they wished to! The stability and predictability of a fixed pattern is great for some, but flying for five consecutive days every block can be extremely exhausting. You’re also very limited in your options if you need to take a certain date in the future off work, but it falls on a working day. You essentially have to take it as holiday, which is highly likely to not be possible as I’ll explain next month.
Flexible rosters (otherwise known as ‘random rosters’) on the other hand have no set working day pattern. Often, you’ll have to wait until the middle of the month before, to find out which days you’ll be working the following month. For example, at my airline we’ll find out on January 17th which days we’ll be working in February. Understandably, this can lead to challenges in terms of planning anything outside of work. Whilst those on a fixed roster will also only find out their flights and therefore working hours on the same date, they’ll already know which days they will be working.
One benefit of a flexible roster is that your working days may be spread out more evenly across the month and you’re likely to be doing three or four days of work in a block each time rather than five. Pilots on flexible rosters are also usually given access to various tools to help them build a little more stability into their lives, such as the ability to ‘bid’ for certain days off.
Those just starting out with an airline will often be placed on flexible rosters as this gives the company more freedom to adapt the rosters to the flying schedule. As a pilot progresses with time at the company, they will be given the option to move onto a fixed roster.
Most airlines offer a bidding system enabling pilots to select their preferences for things such as early or late duties, certain days off (only on a flexible roster) and specific flights to be operating. It’s a way to offer pilots some control over their schedule, however it’s only bidding and doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get what you bid for.
These bidding systems are seniority based in some airlines such as British Airways, whereby the pilots that have been with the company the longest can essentially design their own rosters as their bid will be considered before anyone more junior than them. Unfortunately, this leaves the most junior pilots with the worst duties and potentially years of ‘slogging it’ before they can get a comfortable roster.
Other airlines operate their bidding system on a more equal playing field, disregarding seniority and instead rotating which pilots get their bids as a priority each month. This allows more junior pilots the ability to get the duties and days they bid for, however the more senior pilots may get frustrated at this system.
In my experience, the bidding system is good but it’s not the be all and end all. I often don’t get what I bid for but it’s nice to know it’s sometimes considered.
Something I commonly get asked about is how ‘standby’ works. With major airlines, pilots will often be given ‘standby’ days, during which they must be able to report at the airport within a set time if they are called for duty (usually 90 minutes). They’re free to do as they wish on a standby, as long as their phone is on.
My standby duties usually last between 6-8 hours, but I can get called for almost any length of duty during this time. Whilst getting paid to be on standby can be great, it often means you can’t commit to any plans as you never know when you’re going to get called. Speaking from experience, you can get called in the last few minutes of your standby to go and operate an extremely long day!
Some airlines will also roster ‘airport standby’ whereby you don’t have a flight, but you must be physically at the airport. It’s a way for airlines to cover off any last minute sickness issues or very unexpected delays, during which a replacement crew or pilot is needed immediately.
Private jet pilots will often have rosters consisting mostly of standby, as their flights will be dictated by their clients’ needs, which often only become clear at short notice.
The attached roster is a real example from a full time short-haul pilot working for a major airline in the UK on a fixed roster.
Let me walk you through it;
D/O = Day off. You’re free to go and cause mischief in your own time. In my airline, the company are not allowed to contact you on a day off.
ESBY = Early home standby. Required to be reachable by phone during this time, and able to be at the airport within 90 minutes if you’re called.
FTDG = Fatigued. In this case, the pilot refused the duty that day based on the grounds of being fatigued. I’ll go into the issue of fatigue in more detail next month.
All the other working days have airport codes on, along with a few times displayed. The times surrounding each duty are the check-in and check-out times. The check-in time is when the pilot must report at the airport for duty, usually 1 hour before the departure time. The check out time is the time at which the pilot leaves the airport at the end of the duty. In between these times, the planned or actual departure and arrival times are visible on the roster.
At the bottom of each day, you have two more times. The first shows the ‘block’ hours, essentially the total flying time that day. The time below it shows the ‘duty’ hours which is the total time you’ve been at work that day, from check-in to check-out. There are different limits for each of these known as Flight Time Limitations (FTL’s), which I’ll go into next month.
Hopefully this example roster gives you a snapshot of how relentless pilot schedules can be, and the large difference between block and duty hours. The pictured schedule is relatively rare in that most weekends are clear of duty. As the pattern progresses into the following month, this won’t be the case.
Short-Haul pilots can operate between two and six flights each day, often with no time off down-route and just a 30 minute turn around instead (explained in last month’s edition of FTN).
Long-Haul pilots on the other hand will often have four or five trips per month. Each trip will consist of a flight out, a few days at the destination then a flight back.
Airline pilots can apply for part-time schedules and given the intensity of the job, this choice is becoming popular. Part time options typically include 75% and 50% rosters. Pilots on a 50% roster at my airline will work nine days per month. They only get paid 50% that of a full time pilot but regain huge control over their work-life balance. It’s popular with pilots who have children, along with pilots who may run a side business.
To conclude the first half of this article, each roster type comes with a set of advantages and disadvantages. Fixed rosters can offer a semblance of work-life balance. Although pilots on these rosters can’t predict their working hours until the middle of the month before, they do know their working days, allowing them to plan their personal lives more effectively. The blocks of five days work in a row each time however can be extremely challenging and fatiguing.
Flexible rosters can offer pilots fewer working days in a row, and more autonomy in being able to bid for certain days off, however there’s far less predictability which can make personal life and meeting commitments outside of work challenging.
Whatever roster type a pilot is on, the work can be extremely demanding, often working long, antisocial hours. The irregular hours, weekend work and last-minute changes can be challenging, especially for those with families.
A unique aspect of this profession however is that most pilots get more than just 2 days off between each working block. As a whole, they usually get more time off than the normal 9-5 worker, giving them more free time and the opportunity to travel or pursue their interests outside of work.
Next, let’s talk about how Flight Time Limitations work, and explore vacation days, fatigue, overtime and how the rosters are put together.
Each aviation regulatory body (FAA, CAA, EASA, etc.) has its own restrictions regarding how long airline pilots can work each day, known as Flight Time limits (FTL). These FTLs are there to maintain safety in the skies, protecting both the pilots and the passengers from the potentially dangerous consequences of tired pilots operating an aircraft.
Airlines must comply with these FTLs, and in many cases, pilot unions negotiate additional restrictions that further limit duty lengths or specify additional protections for pilots.
FTLs limit the amount of time pilots can fly and the length of time they can be at work, known respectively as flying hours and duty hours. The limits were created in collaboration with sleep scientists and fatigue experts and last overhauled across Europe in 2014.
In the UK, some foundational maximum restrictions for flying and duty hours include:
While it’s good for pilots to be aware of these bigger-picture limits, the rostering and monitoring software used by airlines ensures that these limits are adhered to.
What pilots contend with more frequently are daily FTL’s. These are presented to us in a table format (extract pictured) and vary depending on when your duty started and how many sectors (flights) you operate that day. From the table, Flight Duty Period (FDP) begins at reporting time and ends when the aircraft park brake is set after the final sector.
It’s common to find yourself operating close to these daily limits, particularly during peak periods. But what happens if delays mean you’ll exceed these limits before returning to base?
Operating an aircraft beyond the limits laid out in the FTL table is permitted under certain conditions, but it comes with several caveats. Doing so is known as using ‘commander’s discretion’ as it’s ultimately a decision that’s made by the captain, not the company, and it’s not one to be taken lightly.
A captain can use discretion to operate a maximum of 2 hours beyond the limits in the table and must be satisfied that the entire crew are fit and safe to operate beyond these limits. Even then, it’s still not an expectation that this tool is used.
If a crew chooses not to operate into discretion, it can lead to another crew being called out from standby to operate, or in the worst case a cancelled flight. You can imagine how this pulls on the heartstrings of the crew. With these decisions however, emotion must be put to one side and safety put at the forefront. The limits are there for a reason. People make mistakes when they’re tired and pilots are no different.
It’s also important to note that if an incident occurs during a flight operated under discretion, the captain’s decision will likely be highly scrutinized and it would be their licence and career on the line.
Discretion was designed to be a tool to use in extraordinary circumstances to be able to get your passengers and crew to their destination. In a busy summer working at a short-haul operation, you can find yourself having to use discretion multiple times per block in order to complete your duties.
Airline pilots are also subject to strict regulations regarding rest periods between duties. The term “minimum rest” refers to the minimum time an airline must give pilots from the end of one duty to the start of the next. In the UK, this is 12 hours.
While this might sound like plenty of time, it’s significantly less than the rest periods most 9-to-5 workers get. If you account for an hour commute each way and wish to get an eight-hour sleep window, you’re left with just an hour each side of your working day for basics like cooking, eating, or family responsibilities.
For pilots operating away from their home base, the minimum rest period can be reduced to just 10 hours, further limiting the opportunity for rest.
Although still capped at the same flying and duty hour restrictions, the monthly schedule of long-haul pilots will look very different to that of their short-haul counterparts. They’ll often have four to five trips per month, often with a few days down route each trip. They’ll also work to slightly different daily tables to the one pictured, based on how acclimatised they are to the time zone they’re in.
Unfortunately, airlines tend to treat the above FTL’s as targets to work towards in the name of profit and efficiency, as opposed to limits to stay away from. Consistently working up-to and beyond these limits can result in fatigue, which can severely compromise a pilot’s performance through impaired decision making and judgement, difficulty concentrating, slowed reaction times and increased irritability. Hopefully you agree that none of these are desirable effects for person sat at the pointy end of the jet.
Thankfully, there are systems in place whereby if a pilot feels unable to carry out their duty to a safe standard due to feeling the adverse effects of fatigue, they can refuse their duty and use the time to recover.
Gone are the days where a human sits down with a spreadsheet to manually assign flying duties. Today, airlines use highly sophisticated software to create rosters for thousands of pilots. The system considers the flying schedule, bidding preferences and all the flight time limitations, to produce rosters which comply with these regulations whilst also optimising crew efficiency.
Airlines still have crewing departments that work extremely hard, but much of their time is spent manipulating this software during delays and disruption to keep the flying operation going.
Most airlines require pilots to “bid” for their vacation days, often more than a year in advance. The bidding process varies by airline. Some use a seniority-based system to decide who gets priority, while others consider factors like how successful you were in previous bidding rounds.
After bidding is completed, airlines often allow pilots to book additional leave on a shorter-term basis (still usually a minimum of two to three month’s in advance). However, these opportunities are usually limited to quieter periods in the flight schedule, meaning weekends and school holidays are often off-limits.
The lack of flexibility in vacation scheduling can be a challenge for pilots, particularly those with families or other commitments.
Most airlines offer the opportunity to work overtime in the form of offering to operate uncrewed flights on their days off. Pilots on a full time rosters are usually being worked close to their maximum hours, so they’d violate hour restrictions by working on their days off. For those on part time contracts however, offering overtime can be a flexible way to earn extra income.
Building the rosters is a complex process that must balance a wide range of factors, from regulatory compliance to operational efficiency. The two main roster types – fixed and flexible – each come with their own benefits and drawbacks, as do full-time and part-time arrangements. No matter which type of schedule you work, the irregular hours and last-minute changes can be challenging, especially for those with families
Hopefully the last two articles give you a better understanding of the above and more of an insight into what the lifestyle of a modern day airline pilot looks like!
Do airline pilots always fly to the same place?
No. For short-haul pilots, each day will usually be a different destination to the previous. For long-haul pilots, each trip will be different. The only real caveat is if you’re in a very small airline with few destinations or are extremely senior and bid for the same destination each month.
Do airline pilots choose which flights they operate?
Whilst pilots can ‘bid’ for specific flights, the likelihood of getting it depends on their seniority at a seniority based airline. For First Officers or new pilots, this will be hard.
Do you get better schedules the longer you stay at an airline?
In a seniority-based airline you do.
Can airlines change your roster after it’s published?
Yes. At short-haul airlines during peak periods, quite often the roster you’re first given looks drastically different to the one you end up flying. The company can change your duty right up to the time you report. This can understandably lead to challenges when it comes to scheduling life around work.
Can pilots swap duties?
Yes. Most airlines have systems in place for this, however due the number of regulations and limitations, there’s usually a very slim chance the swap will be approved by the system due to it not fitting in with the rest of their block of work.
Becoming an airline pilot is a great and rewarding career, but how do you get there? What are the best pilot training schools and routes in?
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