| Start your search for professional flight training at one of the 600 professional flight schools certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Professional flight training includes the development of airline transport pilot proficiency skills in full-motion flight simulators. At professional flight schools, you'll learn about advanced crew operations, cockpit resource management, high-altitude operations, severe weather avoidance techniques, transport category aircraft operations, and turbine operations. Training from professional flight schools will prepare you to sit for your commercial pilot's license, which requires knowledge of the principles of safe flight, navigation techniques, and FAA regulations. If you're planning to be an airline pilot, you'll also prepare for your airline transport pilot's license, which requires including night and instrument flying. To be rated by the FAA to fly in low visibility, you'll need to undergo professional flight training by instruments, which you can receive at professional flight schools. And professional flight training is certainly worth the investment, as earnings of airline pilots are among the highest in the nation. In May 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median annual earnings of airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers were $129,250. Median annual earnings of commercial pilots were $53,870, with the highest 10 percent earning more than $110,070. If you're dreaming of a high-flying career, let professional flight training take you there. |