Ask Captain Lim

Please write to me soonest explaining what I should expect. Could the aptitude tests by Kenya Airways be any different from Cathay Pacific or Malaysia Airlines that I read in your website?

I will treasure your help so much.

Thank You.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Aptitude tests are generally used by most airlines to select pilots, especially for ab-initio (no flying experience before) students going to a flying school. This is one way to cut flying training costs as well as selecting the best candidates amongst the many hopefuls to become good future airline pilots.

That said, not all airlines follow the same profile during the selection process. For instance, the aptitude tests for Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines or Malaysia Airlines may not necessarily be the same but they do cover more or less the same kind of tests to select the best applicants.

You can read the experiences of the various wannabes for the different airlines in the FAQ in my site under the topics "Becoming a Pilot", "Interviewing Process", "Aptitude Tests" or in the Forums and then gauge the kind of tests you can expect from the airlines that you are applying for (Kenya Airways in your case). It would not be very far from what you can expect.

In case you want professional guidance, you can visit this site - PilotAptitude.com. Take a sneak preview of some of their sample questions here.

For a free sample of what you can expect in a psychometric test (or sometimes refer to as aptitude tests), please click on QANTAS Pilot Psychometric Test Practice Leaflet. 

You can also see two good videos below on how aptitude tests are conducted to select pilots for the Royal Air Force.

Wish you all the best in your aptitude tests !