Our integrated ATPL(A) training consists of 3 phases:

Phase I - Theoretical training - Brussels Airport - 9 m.
Phase II.1 - Flight training USA - 6 to7 m.
Phase II.2 - Flight training Belgium - 2 m.
Phase III - Simulator training - Brussels Airport - 2 m.

Below you will find a few features of this which are worth highlighting, and at the bottom you can download the complete program.

Theoretical training

Introduction

The theoretical part of the training prepares students - who have successfully completed the selection tests - for the official "Airline Pilot" examinations organized by the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority. This theoretical training is combined with airline observation flights with major airlines, and intensive "Basic Flying Familiarization Course". Courses start 3 times a year in the SFA building located at Brussels Airport

Although support in Dutch and French is available, the complete training is provided in English.

Every subject is taught by professionals, most often airline pilots or engineers, physics or aviation master graduates.

Program

The subjects of the courses in order to prepare the students for the final ATPL theoretical examination organized by the Belgian Civil Aviation Authorities , are as follows:

Air law and regulations
Human Performance and limitations
Basic principles of flight
Aircraft general knowledge
Meteorology and Climatology
General VFR-IFR navigation and Radio navigation
Communication
Operational procedures
Aircraft performance, weight and balance, flight planning

Students receive 750hrs of classroom courses, including revisions and exams preparations. Every single hour is taught by an instructor with the help of modern didactic tools. Exercise sessions or practical sessions are also organized: VFR/IFR communication exercises in groups of 5 students, FMS introduction sessions in a real FMS trainer etc.

Active learning

In order to increase motivation and to facilitate comprehension, SFA offers the opportunity to perform observation sessions during actual full flight simulator training (A320 or B737) as well as 10 observation flights with Thomas Cook, Jetairfly, VLM and Luxair. More airlines will be added soon...

To provide trainees with a general idea of the actual job of an airline pilot life and the airline environment, visits are organized:

Airport (pier, airport facilities, old timers...)
Facilities (handling, catering, technics, ...)
Belgocontrol (tower, CANAC)
Eurocontrol
Snecma Engine Shop

Evaluations

Weekly evaluations are organized in order to help the students develop an optimum study rhythm and to prepare them for the ATPL exam. Whereas the official ATPL exam is a multiple choice test, our weekly evaluations also contain 50% of questions requiring a written answer. Preparing for the ATPL exam is not the only issue; we prepare our students for their pilot career!

In order to provide the most efficient preparation for the multiple choice exam, our trainees have access to a JAR question bank containing more than 19000 questions. An individual follow-up is organized by the ground instructors.

ATPL theory examination

The "Airline Pilot" or "ATPL" examination is a national exam organized by the Belgian Aviation Authorities. This exam (14 separate tests) is performed in 2 blocks of 1 week and is planned at the end of the 9 month theoretical training period.

Flight training

Introduction

Thanks to Arizona's fair climate, the huge number of airports available and the complexity of the airspace, the largest part of the flight instruction is given in Mesa ( Arizona, USA) at the Sabena Airline Training Centre (SATC), a 100% subsidiary of the SFA.

A fleet of modern, well-equipped Diamond aircraft guarantees our students - as well as students of the Koninklijke Luchtvaart School (KLS) and students of worldwide airlines such as Luxair, Kingfisher Airlines (IN), Spicejet (IN), Air Malta etc… high quality training.

After the training in Falcon Field, Mesa (incl. CPL-check), acclimatization flights are performed in Belgium, as well as the IR-ME check to complete their CPL license.

The trainee completes his training with our Airline Career Preparation Program (ACPP) at the SFA training center in Brussels.

Program

The flight training consists of 4 stages:

First stage:

basic training in a single-engine Diamond 20
progress checks
the candidate has to opportunity to perform the checks for the FAA Private Pilot License

Second stage:

advanced training in a Diamond 40
training in a twin-engine Diamond 42
instrument flying
synthetic trainer FNPTII (40 hours)

Third stage:

final part of IR training in a Diamond 42
CPL-IR-ME check

Fourth stage:

ACPP course in a B737-300, B737-800(NG) or A320
28hrs of full flight simulator

During most of the training flights, one student will act as a pilot flying, a second one as an observer. This actually doubles the amount of hours spent in the air.

Medical insurance

During the complete training a special insurance will cover the loss of medical license leading to the reimbursement of the training in case of medical loss of license.

After care program

Even though we are convinced that candidates will easily find a job after their training, SFA offers a renewal program to the students (included in the price) to keep their license valid during 2 years after the completion of their training. This 'after care program' allows the students to fly the minimum amount of IFR and ME hours to maintain valid the CPL-IR-ME.

Simulator training: ACPP-MCC

MCC, basic jet flying and airline career preparation all-in-one!

When we developed our Airline Career Training Program we had three objectives in mind:

Comply with the requirements for a JAR-FCL MCC
Instruct and train basic jet flying techniques
Prepare the trainee for the next step in his career: the simulator evaluation session of the selection procedures for a job as First Officer at an airline

Thus the focus of this training is not only on the non-technical aspects (CRM/MCC aspects) but also on the flying skills.

This course consists of:

70 hours of theoretical knowledge training (classroom briefings, FMS (Flight Management System) training, CPT (Cockpit Procedure Training) and FBS (Fixed Base Simulator)) training.
22 hours of Full Flight Simulator (FFS) training
A 3hr40min FFS evaluation session

CRM debriefing

Our B737-300 simulator is equipped with a digital CRM debriefing camera, the ideal tool to analyze and debrief your performance in a multi-crew environment. The use of such a device is strongly recommended for this type of training. You will see yourself communicate, perform SOPs, take decisions, etc.

Job allocation service

Due to many years of collaboration, SFA has excellent contacts with many of the more then 60 airlines who train their pilots at SFA. Often these contacts are the beginning of their pilot careers.

To support the cadet-pilots in finding their first First-Officer position several services are provided FREE OF CHARGE. These services are described below.

Candidate F/O-file
Every graduated student receives a stylish booklet which contains a complete file in which he/she is presented to airline companies. This 20 page booklet gives a very clear overview of your training and your personal performance. After the content is approved by the student we will distribute this in our network and you will get copies to send to the airlines of your preference.

The booklet includes the overview of your performance in all aspects of the training:
- A general assessment based on observations during the training
- A description of the SFA selection tests and results
- A description of the theoretical results and personal evaluation by the Chief Ground Instructor.
- A description of the flight training and ACPP-MCC by the Head of Training.
- Medical license, pilot license...
Airline interview training
The Sabena Flight Academy wants to support every cadet-pilot as much as possible. During a selection process in an airline not only flying skills are important, but also the way you present yourself, how your CV looks like etc...
To give candidate F/O's graduated from SFA as much chances as possible, 3 seminars are organized:
- CV & interview training (3 hour session)
- Group test assessment training (2 hour session)
- Presentation of a training -and recruitment Captain of an airline (2 hour session)
Job allocation
SFA will actively contact airline companies and scan the market in search of possibilities for the SFA graduates. After having your approval your file will be to every contacted company in our network (over 80 companies).

After care

As a guarantee to our integrated program graduates we include an after care package in our integrated training, making sure that our candidate first officers do not have to worry about their license validity for another 2 years after graduation. This allows them to solely focus on the airline selections, which after all are the most important.

Our after care package includes hours on both FNPTII & twin engine airplane.

Related Downloads :

Course summary (Pdf, 29k)
Detailed Program (Pdf, 226k)
ACPP B737-300 Course Info (Pdf, 122k)