Thomas Flaherty Email & Phone Number

A dedicated and passionate EASA and U.K. frozen ATPL license holder operating out of Stansted airport as a First Officer for Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair. I started the training for my private pilots license in the south west of the U.K., with FlyNQY, after finishing my time at Brunel University. Alongside the training, I was working at Pets at Home to fund this passion. Initially thinking I wanted to just complete the PPL, about halfway through, just being behind the controls of a real aircraft, reignited my long lost passion for aviation and I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue piloting as a career. After gaining my PPL and completing my hour building and night rating, I went off to Exeter to study with Aviation South West and sat my U.K. CAA ATPL examinations. I was fortunate enough to pass all 14 commercial exams first time with a pass mark of 89.9% just before the pandemic hit and exam centres closed. This meant that I could then progress onto my commercial license. I decided to go to Kalmar, Sweden, to Diamond Flight Academy Scandinavia, to complete all the UK CAA - CPL, MEP and MEIR licenses and ratings in their intensive 6 to 8 week course.At this point, unlike any private aviation hire or training, commercial training could still go ahead as normal. I therefore completed my Airline Preparation Standard Multi-crew Cooperation course with Simtech Aviation in Dublin, Ireland. Due to the pandemic, and the lack of international travel, it transpired that there was no longer a shortage of pilots which existed beforehand. I therefore got a job at Morrisons as a Home Delivery Driver back in Newquay, England, while the industry recovered and while I completed the last stage of my training, the advanced UPRT and a EASA Irish license conversion with Atlantic Fight Training Academy in Cork. Once the airlines were hiring again, I applied for Ryanair, where in March 2023 I was offered the position of a 737 Cadet with Ryanair, and that’s where my type rating and aviation career really begun. In May of this year, 2024, I officially gained the First Officers position, where I am now, happily, based at Stansted and look forward to long and healthy career within Ryanair.