What do you need to join the APP™?

Cadets of our Airline Pilot Programme™ join EFT with zero or little flight experience and leave as highly qualified, experienced and professional pilots ready to directly join an airline. As a cadet, you will be working on a day-to-day basis with instructors unrivalled in experience and professionalism, and become accustomed to the procedures and standards that provide the basis for safe, efficient and customer-focussed airline operations. To provide a sound basis for this training, a number of requirements must be met to ensure that your own training will be successful.

At present, EFT’s minimum entrance requirements for the Airline Pilot Programme™ are:

  ICAO Level 4 English certificate – If you do not have this the APP will start 2 weeks earlier than Published for English training and examination and the costs is $3,000 incuding accommodation.
Does not apply to citizens of the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand who were born, raised, educated and worked in these countries.
  Phone interview or tour of facilites to confirm English proficiency.
  Educated to high-school level i.e. A-Level, International Baccalaureate, Abitur, or equivalent standard and evaluated for equivalency by an agency listed at www.naces.org/members.htm
  17 years of age at the time of commencement of training.
  Ability to obtain a JAA and FAA Class 1 medical. (visit the CAA website for more information on medical requirements)
  Aptitude for numerical thinking and mental arithmetic.
  High personal standards, commitment and dedication to professional flight training.
  No history of criminal convictions, including driving while under the influence of alcohol.
  Being prepared to spend extended periods of time away from home, and to work and live in the USA.
  Ability to work and study long hours, comparable to a university degree.
  Exellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  Financial means to secure continuous flight and ground training over a period of 24 months in accordance with the payment schedule
  Excellent hand/eye coordination and motor skills.


If you meet these requirements, you are ideally suited for the Airline Pilot Programme™. In certain cases, EFT can accept applicants who do not meet all of these requirements – please contact us for more information.

Performance Review & Assessment

As an Airline Pilot Programme™ cadet, you are working full-time amongst seasoned aviation professionals to eventually become one yourself. Your performance, aptitude and attitude are reviewed continuously while enrolled in the APP™ to protect your interests as well as EFT’s.

Why do we review performance?

Being enrolled on the APP™ constitutes a significant investment in terms of time and money. Although we do not run an initial selection programme as other schools do (click to learn why), it is essential that procedures are in place to protect the APP™ student’s investment and EFT’s high standards.

A review takes place while students train for the first module of the APP™ (including the Private Pilots Licence and associated training). If, as part of this review process, EFT’s senior instructors in consultation with the Head of Training determine that continuation of a student’s training may be unfruitful or be likely to suffer significant delays due to the student’s performance, we may at our discretion disenroll that student from the programme. In this case, you will be refunded any money you already paid towards uncompleted modules of the programme. Students may then choose to continue modular training, which eventually leads to the same qualifications as the Airline Pilot Programme™. However, these students are then not entitled to work for EFT as an intern flight instructor. Alternatively, students may enrol with another school to continue training. However, a compulsory disenrollment from the APP™ programme should certainly prompt students to review their progress and suitability for the career of an airline pilot.

A decision to disenrol a student would also be made to protect EFT’s interests, specifically with regard to maintaining its high standards. A period as intern flight instructor is an integral part of the Airline Pilot Programme™, and at that stage, cadets are the forefront of EFT’s customer relations and instructional professionalism. If we determine that a student may be unable to achieve the standards of captaincy or interpersonal skills required for this position, such students cannot be offered a position as intern flight instructor. However, the sole factor determining whether a position will be offered are the individual’s attirbutes and performance during training. So far, over 90% of enrolled APP™ cadets have successfully completed the programme.

Even if you are disenrolled after a performance review during module 1, you will still leave EFT with a completed JAA Private Pilot’s Licence, and no paid training expenses in addition to the training for this licence – we do not charge you large amounts upfront, as some training organisations do. The review process serves only the purpose of quality assurance, is is therefore in the interestes of both parties, and not for EFT’s financial gain.