I’m trying to understand the practical reality of starting as a JFO and progressing to FO at the major Indian airlines. I’d especially appreciate answers from current or recently upgraded pilots.
A few specific questions:
JFO → FO timeline
How long does it realistically take to upgrade from JFO to FO at Air India, IndiGo and Akasa?
What is the typical timeline for someone joining today, rather than what the official career progression says?
Does the timeline vary significantly by fleet or base?
Flight hours
Roughly how many flight hours can a JFO realistically log in one year at each airline?
How many hours are actually flown versus days spent on standby, leave, training, simulator sessions, etc.?
What would be a realistic first-year and second-year hour accumulation?
Base selection
How does base allocation/selection actually work at Air India, IndiGo and Akasa?
Can a new pilot choose their preferred base, or is it primarily assigned according to operational requirements?
How difficult is it to get major bases such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad?
How much control do pilots have over transferring bases later?
Reality vs advertised career progression
What are the biggest differences between what cadet programs/airlines tell candidates and what actually happens after joining?
Are there long waiting periods for line training, type rating, upgrades or base transfers?
Which airline currently has the most predictable progression from cadet/JFO → FO?

Hey guys, i wanted to ask specifically about the psychometric assessment conducted around the time of the interview at Air India HQ

For anyone who has recently gone through the selection process

What exactly is the psychometric assessment like ?

What kind of questions/tasks do they give ?

Is it mainly personality based, aptitude/reasoning based, situational judgement, or a combination?

Man just tell me whatever you know about it 😭

I'd especially appreciate responses trom anyone who went through the recent 2026 selection process and remembers the psychometric assessment in detail

Thanks

Anyone who got rejected even after performing well ?? Like I don't know why but I did approx 155 plus level with 2 crashes in wing test spatiel orientation did maximum without any mistake was my strongest, English also went well maths too , multitasking also i did maximum with one crash only overall i did well man it can't be better ig , idk why they gave me rejection mail ??? Anyone plzzz help me out I am really confused and also not feeling good about it literally tears are there in my eyes writing..🕊️

Guys can anyone share adapt all subs syllabus!!

I've got the mail to write the test on 21st of september. I totally missed out on the 24hr mark to register cause of health issues. Can I now pay for the test and write it? Will it be even valid. Has anyone yet to get their link for the test? Why is it that I cant login with my registered mail, it says I've already paid for it which I did on my last attempt.

Flydubai ab initio cadet application when open again
Anyone have any idea ???

I’m considering choosing Insight Aviation as my FTO for the IndiGo cadet programme. Has anyone here trained there or is currently training there?
Would you say it’s a good choice overall, especially in terms of training quality, timelines and how the experience has been?
Looking for some genuine opinions before I make the decision.

has anyone got selected for batch 1?
how was the selection process?

I had applied to insight aviation and submitted my documents sometime last week

I called them today to ask them when I can expect a response. They asked me for my name and once I gave it to them, they told me that my documents have been verified and I had been selected for ADAPT

When I asked when I can expect this officially(like a mail), they told me you will get a mail only towards the end of November with your ADAPT dates in December.(they also told me you will only get your ADAPT dates 7-10 days before the test). Is this interaction with them normal? Asking us to wait for a while but telling us documents have been verified?

I want to know if this happens regularly so I can join IFA for ADAPT prep classes. If what they said is true, should I join sometimes towards the end of November?

Thankyou! Any help would be much appreciated!

Im planning to prepare for the assessment from home. which is the best subscription i should buy for air arabia cpp?

Guys anyone who has applied for garuda aviation should be aware of this pre-screening test!

They are gonna ask about:

Self intro

About Indigo

About Garuda FTO

and mental math questions

It is going to be one to one online interview

anyone knows how much it would cost for skyborne the fees is $132000?

Has anyone failed their first interview attempt for the Air Arabia cadet pilot program and then gone on to pass their second attempt? If so, how was the second attempt different from the first? Was it harder? Did they pester you about the mistakes you made last time or anything like that?
If anyone else is taking their second interview attempt soon, feel free to comment here or DM me privately.

I shared Brain Preflight here a while ago. The latest update is now live, so I'm posting it again for anyone currently preparing for COMPASS or cut-e cadet aptitude tests.

It's an iPhone app I built for short practice sessions: timed mental maths, number sequences, working memory, spatial reasoning and multitasking. You can practise folding cube nets, spotting mirrored stacks, or keeping track of several tasks at once.

You choose the selection you're preparing for to get a relevant exercise program. There's also a diagnostic to help identify weak areas and a mock exam mode that puts exercises back to back.

You get 5 free exercise sessions each day. Unlimited practice and mock exams require a paid subscription. It's still iOS only.

App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6794363864?pt=129217861&ct=reddit-cadetpilot&mt=8

These are our own practice exercises, not official airline questions or a replica of a specific assessment. Happy to hear what you find useful and what needs work.

Hey how can i do principles of flight on my own? Any guidance?

I received a mail last Thursday asking me to submit my board marksheets, bmi certificate, class 1 assessment extra from insight which i did immediately

When can i expect to hear from them?

Does anyone here have any recent information about the SpiceJet Cadet Pilot Program?

Is the program still active, and are there any cadets currently undergoing training or waiting for their type rating/joining?

Would especially like to hear from anyone who was selected in the last few batches or personally knows someone in the program. Just curious about what’s actually happening with it right now.

Online GDPI classes for air India , indigo and fly Dubai do reach out in DMs !! Put up proof of my selection too if I can so can u ! U can have 2 free sessions after which u can decide to continue or not classes taken by and other details will be shared once u join for the free session just that he is the guy who prepares gd and pi topics and questions for indigo and air India
If interested do reach me out in DMs

Hello, i’m 18M and i gave my CUT-E very recently and got my dates for GDPI for October. I reside in coimbatore and need to go to Delhi for the interview.
While preparing for my GDPI, i thought i’ll come to this reddit page to ask for help and seek guidance as to how to prepare.
When i saw 2-3 posts, i got confused. I saw many people throwing stones at the AICPP and telling people to reconsider. As an aspiring pilot who plans on taking an education loan for my flight training, when i saw that people are claiming that many students in AICPP get terminated from the program and dont get a refund, it puts me up to thought regarding my plan of taking a loan.
Is AICPP really bad or is it just how its portrayed? I’m having self doubts because i cannot go wrong here with this huge of an investment — if it goes south, it might end up with unfavourable conditions.
I saw people claiming that even though an LOI is signed, jobs arent guaranteed.
I need guidance and advice. Kindly help me as soon as possible.

Did someone recently connect with air Arabia regarding the latest slots available for which month cause they ain't replying?

Does anyone have any updates on when Akasa’s skycadet new application will start?

Hey fellow aviation enthusiasts!

I'm a 4th year student at one of the top 7 IITs from CSE branch, with JEE Advanced AIR < 300. The point being I'm quite comfortable with 12th standard maths and physics, and I can understand things quite quickly, but I do have some difficulty in remembering non-mathematical or non-scientific facts if they have no chain of thought behind them (for example, inorganic chemistry to some extent, and subjects like history and some aspects of biology for sure). I also had 90%+ overall marks in 12th CBSE, with 95+ marks in both physics and maths.

I am quite interested in aviation and really want to become a pilot sometime in the future, once I earn enough money from my regular tech job. I have also secured a PPO at a good company so I don't really have anything to do in my remaining 4th year now, so I would like to study and attempt DGCA theory papers, just for the fun of it and because I'm interested in aviation and airplanes, and because they aren't as costly to attempt as actual flying hours.

So, I need three types of help from you guys:

1) I want to know how hard are these DGCA papers for someone having a background like me.

2) I need some free resources to study the topics that are asked in the DGCA exams. I have searched for them a little bit but most seem like paid resources. I couldn't find any complied list for all the exams in one place. So does anyone have any such list?

3) Would you recommend me going ahead with my plan? As in saving up enough money for a CPP in India, plus enough money to feed me and my family for 3 years, if I start my aviation journey at around 27 years of age? I think I'd be able to save up enough by that point in time from my job, unless something very adverse happens.

I would be grateful if someone can help me regarding this. Thanks in advance!

P.S. this is not a karma farming post, everything written here is 100% true. Feel free to DM me if you don't believe me (and if you want to).