Hey,
My name is Hammeth, I’m 28 years old and I’m also enrolled in the LHG12 course. Before starting my pilot training, I studied business administration and worked for a couple of years. Yet, the desire to become a pilot was always there. My path getting to where I am now has been really exciting, but also a great challenge in that I’ve had to learn so many new things in a short time. Luckily, in contrast to studying at university, the goal is very clear this time!
In the previous blog, Lennart mentioned that we have two weeks off after our exams. While some classmates decided to use the break to travel as far as they could, others relaxed at home. I spent the time in lovely Mannheim with my friends and family. As the train or car trip to southern Germany takes too long to visit on the weekends, this was the perfect opportunity to spend time with the people I love and enjoy several days at home. It also means I have nothing new to report from life at the academy, but I thought I’d take the chance and tell you a bit about the opportunities of becoming a pilot at Lufthansa Group.
It’s often the case that young people’s career choices are influenced by the people around them. It comes as no surprise when children choose the same careers as their parents, relatives or acquaintances. If no one you know works in a particular field, you’re often blind to the opportunities it might have for you. Flying is a perfect example of this. There is little first-hand knowledge and plenty of rumors such as that the admission tests are impossible or that you can’t become a pilot if you wear glasses. That’s how it was for me. Ever since I flew for the first time as a little boy, I have been fascinated by flight. But I never thought of becoming a pilot until I found out that a couple of my former classmates had applied to become pilots at Lufthansa Group. That’s when the pieces fell into place and I knew that I had to apply.
I still have to say I probably would never have taken the step if the selection procedure and whole setup hadn’t been as they are. I think the way European Flight Academy chooses its trainees is completely fair. Your gender, skin color, age, religion, cultural background or sexual orientation are not a factor in whether you’re invited to the first step in the selection procedure, the so-called “Berufsgrunduntersuchung”, often referred to as BU. Anyone who meets the formal requirements and is motivated can take part. From then on, it’s only about demonstrating your skills. Also, you don’t need to have a huge sum in your bank account to be able to complete the training. Through the deferment program, you can repay the costs later when you sign a contract at Lufthansa Group. I just wasn’t aware that they make it possible for anyone to have the opportunity to follow their dream independent of the money you have. I am really grateful to European Flight Academy for enabling that.
These equal opportunities have an effect on the culture at the training school, because it allows for a variety of individual personalities, which make our lives here much more colorful than many would expect. We have all shown to have certain qualities, such as dealing well with stress and social competencies, but we’re all very different, which is great. Of course there is more to be done to improve diversity: there really aren’t enough women or people from different cultural backgrounds at European Flight Academy. I am sure that’s only because not enough of those people apply. It has been my experience at the school that everyone would be happy for diversity to increase and for us to maximize our potential in that way, too!
If my blog post achieves one thing, I hope it’s this: to encourage you to set aside your fears and apply for pilot training at European Flight Academy. Find out all you can about the life of a pilot and research the pros and cons of a pilot career. There’s a nice saying in German: “we all cook with water”, meaning everyone has the same opportunities. If you work hard and prepare well for the selection procedure and arrive there in good shape, you’ll make it. Who knows, maybe you’ll be in the classroom next door to LHG12 one day!!
In the next blog post, we’ll tell you a bit about the second theoretical phase of training, where we focus on handling larger jet aircraft.
Wishing you all the best from Bremen,
Hammeth
