Pilot Careers Live, Europe’s leading event for prospective commercial pilots, is excited to announce the launch of the Pilot Careers Live Professional Flight Training Awards, which will recognise excellence within this hugely competitive sector.
The awards will celebrate attainment and dedication across ten categories covering flight training organisations, students and instructors. The awards ceremony will take place just before Pilot Careers Live London in March 2025.
The achievements of individual students will be recognised via separate categories reflecting the unique challenges of the different licence routes, namely Modular, Integrated and MPL.
Students’ impact on their peers will be celebrated via an award for ‘Most Supportive Student’, while the ‘Achievement Through Adversity’ award will highlight the commitment of someone who has realised their flying dreams against the odds.
Ground school, simulator and flight instructors each have their own award category in recognition of the different skills involved during each phase of instruction.
Organisations in the professional flight training sector will have the opportunity to have their sustainability efforts acknowledged through the ‘Best Sustainable Initiative’ award, while the ‘Significant Contribution to Professional Flight Training’ accolade will go to an individual who’s made a long-standing and positive mark on the industry.
Individuals and organisations will be invited to nominate themselves, or to put forward other deserving candidates. Email [email protected] for more details.
Full details of the awards and how to enter them will be available soon. In the meantime, Pilot Careers Live invites you to put 21 March 2025 into your diary for a celebration of some of the industry’s best.
Award Categories
Best Integrated Student
Our Best Integrated Student category recognises someone who has consistently approached their training with a great attitude – someone who has met and dealt with the inevitable challenges and exceeded the high standards expected, while at the same time contributing positively both to their training environment and to their fellow students.
Best Modular ATPL Student
Modular students not only have to deliver the excellence that is required in all the normal flight training areas, but they face some extra challenges. They have to manage their own training to a greater extent than integrated students, often through multiple providers and usually while juggling work and home commitments alongside the financial planning required to fund the courses. Our Best Modular ATPL Student recognises someone who has risen to these challenges while making a positive impact.
Best MPL Student
As a relative newcomer on the commercial pilot training scene, the MPL provides a direct route into the airlines for student pilots. With a stronger emphasis on co-piloting taking the place of the single pilot training CPL students typically go through, MPL training requires students to demonstrate a cooperative spirit and strong teamwork from the get-go. This award celebrates someone who’s excelled in the multi-crew environment of the MPL course.
Best Ground School Instructor
Whether they’re tackled in a classroom or at home via distance learning, the ATPL ground exams present a huge challenge to students of all ages. This category recognises an exceptional ground school instructor who has gone the extra mile to keep students engaged and efficiently share their knowledge of highly complex, highly technical subjects – often to people who’ve been out of education for a while.
Best Sim Instructor
Flight training in a simulator forms a key part of a student’s commercial pilot journey and continues to play an important role through regular sim checks once they’re working for an airline. But being a good flight instructor doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a good sim instructor thanks to the particular skills needed to operate a sim and the conducting of training that wouldn’t be possible on a real aircraft. This award celebrates an individual who has mastered the art of teaching on a sim and the pushing of boundaries this entails.
Best Flight Instructor
The flight instructor is perhaps the most influential figure in a student pilot’s life – someone whose knowledge, teaching style and manner combine to teach the skills someone needs for a flying career within the time and financial constraints of a commercial training organisation. This award recognises a flight instructor who has consistently achieved great results for their students, who has acted as a mentor and demonstrated the skill and compassion needed for this rewarding career.
Most Supportive Student
Commercial pilot training is a highly stressful, highly pressured time in a student’s life, and many rely on the support of peers to get them through the long hours required to complete an ATPL course. This category is awarded to a student pilot who has gone out of their way to support their fellow students, even while under intense pressure themselves.
Significant Contribution to Professional Flight Training
Our equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, this category recognises the contribution of an individual who has gone above and beyond in the world of professional flight training. Whether it’s placing an exceptional number of candidates in their dream jobs or spending decades keeping the training fleet in peak condition, this is awarded to someone whose dedication has spanned a significant amount of time and impacted a huge number of professional pilots.
Sustainable Initiative
With all eyes on the industry to make aviation more sustainable, this category recognises an effective initiative implemented by an organisation in the commercial pilot training sector – one that has made a demonstrable impact on its carbon footprint.
Achievement Through Adversity
Professional pilot training is tough at the best of times, but for some people the path is made more challenging by difficult circumstances beyond their control. This award recognises someone who’s achieved a flying career dream against all the odds, demonstrating the courage, dedication and tenacity required to allow nothing to get in the way of them succeeding on their chosen career path.
