Updated September 2026 for the current Air Canada pilot contract. This article was written by a guest columnist who works at Air Canada as a Captain on a narrow body aircraft. He has made extensive contributions to our Commercial Pilot Ground School but always chooses to keep a low profile on the internet. Every number…
Aviation Weather How to Calculate Cloud Bases: The Formula Every Pilot Should Know Weather and clouds play a big role in aviation, and one of the most useful skills a pilot can learn is how to quickly calculate cloud bases. Here is the formula, where its numbers come from, and the one change Transport Canada…
AWWS was retired on February 28, 2024. NAV CANADA’s Aviation Weather Web Site no longer exists. Everything it did now lives on CFPS — the live GFA links below are current and working. If you typed “AWWS” into a search engine and landed here, you’re probably looking for NAV CANADA’s Aviation Weather Web Site —…
Commercial Pilot Ground School Research What Students Expect From CPL Ground School: 260 Responses Analyzed Commercial students arrive with a licence, some experience, and much less patience for wasted time. We analyzed what they expect from the course, the instructors, and themselves. View CPL Ground School See the Findings 260written CPL Ground School sign-up responses…
Private Pilot Ground School Research What Students Expect From PPL Ground School: 1,000+ Responses Analyzed Before students begin our Private Pilot Ground School, we ask what they hope to achieve and what they expect from us. Their answers are a useful look at what new pilots actually need from ground school. See the Findings View…
Transport Canada Data Analysis Canadian Pilot Training and Licensing Statistics in 2025/2026 Transport Canada presented its newest pilot training and licensing update at an ATAC meeting on June 3, 2026 — final 2025 licensing statistics along with updates on digital applications, Student Pilot Permits, flight test reports, training standards and civil aviation medical processing. Here’s…
PSTAR Student Response Analysis What PSTAR Students Are Really Telling Us About Flight Training We reviewed 3,429 written answers from students signing up for our free PSTAR course. The patterns are useful for students, instructors, and flight schools across Canada. Start the Free PSTAR Course See the Findings 3,429written student responses reviewed from PSTAR course…
So, you’ve done the research, talked to pilots, and finally made the decision that you’re going to make that mid-career switch and pursue a career as a pilot. Now what? For those who are switching their careers, this may be intimidating. Unlike someone starting flight training straight out of high school, someone who starts their…
When jet fuel becomes unavailable across an entire country, the first question people ask is: “Why can’t the airline just bring more fuel with them?” In aviation, this strategy is called tankering – uplifting extra fuel at the initial departure airport so that the aircraft can arrive and still have enough fuel to safely depart…
