Five people in business clothes are sitting at a table and are holding a meeting.

The steps of the selection process

A challenge that will take you places

The steps to take to join the pilot training at the European Flight Academy

OUR SELECTION PROCESS

The requirements that pilots have to meet are certainly strict, and in some areas you need very specific skills to be able to master the challenges of this job responsibly.

In our selection process, which follows EASA rules, we will test your cognitive abilities, your technical and social skills, and find out about your personality traits. If you have successfully completed our selection process, you will in all likelihood successfully complete your flight training and obtain your license. The demanding selection process also provides reassurance that you already possess important skills which you will need in your future career in the cockpit.

Even if you do not successfully complete all steps of the selection process – it will be a valuable learning experience for you from which you can gain useful personal insights. And in case you are unsuccessful on your first attempt, you can try again after two years.

Step by step closer to your dream job

This is our selection process

Details

Overview of the selection process

You will take your first step in the selection process even before officially applying at the European Flight Academy. Your first step will be directly registering with our partner Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, German Aerospace Center) for taking the DLR test with corresponding certificate. This computer-based procedure for determining suitability focuses on examining your various skills and abilities, such as memory retention, understanding and conception of space, performance and personality requirements, English, engineering, mathematics, attentiveness, psychomotoric skills, multi-tasking, and also teamwork and personality traits. Following the DLR will issue a certificate to you setting out a rating in various areas. In order to apply at EFA you will need to achieve a certain rating. You can find the specific requirements for the rating here.

You can currently take the DLR test on site either in Hamburg, Germany, or in Zurich, Switzerland. You can pick the date of the test yourself once you are ready for it. You will have to schedule and organize your test directly with the DLR. Since this certificate represents the basis for the general suitability for a job in the cockpit, this step deliberately is implemented independently of the European Flight Academy. The costs for this test are an investment in your future as a pilot; as such, you will have to cover these costs yourself.

You can find all in-depth information regarding the process, corresponding costs and appointments here:

Registration for the DLR test

A person sits with a joystick in front of a PC running a flight simulator.

After successfully obtaining the DLR certificate with the required rating, you can apply directly at the European Flight Academy. You can find the necessary documents and requirements as well as the link to the application here.

A person sits at a desk and writes an application on a laptop.

After you proved yourself successful in various computer procedures in step 1 and have obtained the DLR certificate, and after verification that you meet all fundamental requirements, we would like to get to know you personally and will invite you to an assessment center.

Our goal here is to gain insights into your social skills and personality traits by conducting interviews and group exercises as well as to test your psychomotoric skills, among other things. The experienced psychologists of our partner Interpersonal GmbH or of SWISS Flight Crew Assessment Center will be by your side the whole time, and you will have the opportunity to ask some selection pilots of Lufthansa Group your questions.

A person sits in front of a laptop and takes notes.

When training to become a pilot in Switzerland, you will have the opportunity to benefit from a financing model of the SWISS and Edelweiss Lufthansa Group airlines.

The prerequisite in this case is that you receive, in an additional selection step that is called the “pre-airline fit,” a favorable decision (“board positive”).

If you have received such a favorable decision, the airline will provide you with a declaration of intent to hire, which means you can avail yourself of the funding benefits.

Depending on which prerequisites you already meet, the pre-airline fit will include a supplementary interview with airline-specific content as well as a simulator exercise. It will be of further advantage to you if you have already successfully completed a SPHAIR course. If your flying ability is rated “standard” or higher, you will be exempt from the simulator exercise, for example.

After the assessment center

What you can expect after successful completion of the assessment center

If you also succeeded in step 2, only a small further step remains until you hold your admission to the flight school in your hands: the aero-medical fitness examination

Don’t worry: You do not have to be an elite athlete in order to hold your own in the cockpit. We require of you a normal level of fitness. We will verify that you meet the medical requirements. And this much is clear: You may only enter the cockpit completely sober. This is why you have to subject yourself to a drug screening. Once your suitability has been determined, you will receive the class 1 medical certificate of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

It is a common misconception that weak eyesight in general is a disqualifier – there are indeed pilots who compensate for a few diopters with prescription glasses. It is not possible, however, to make any blanket statements when it comes to eyesight and minimum or maximum height requirements since an aero-medical examiner (AME) must determine fitness.

You finally made it and can now register for one of the next open flight-training spots – we welcome you to the European Flight Academy!

A person is examined by an ophthalmologist.

After you completed your training you can apply for open cockpit jobs with one of the Lufthansa Group airlines. During the so-called “Airline Fit” your future employer would also like to get to know you in person and reflect with you on your experiences and performance at the flight school. If, after the airline fit, the airline confirms that you would be a good match and if you sign an employment agreement, soon you will be able to take off as a pilot.