A CHURCH organist who spent five years at Winchester Cathedral will soon swap pipes for planes as he embarks on a new career as a commercial airline pilot.

Philip White-Jones was assistant organist at Winchester Cathedral from 2003 to 2008 and taught the instrument at St Swithun’s School in the city.

But last week he completed British Airways’ flight training and is now licensed to fly short-haul aircraft as far as Cyprus.

The 33-year-old said he always saw his professional future in music, but his lifelong passion for flying eventually took over after a gift from his parents.

He said: “The flight was usually the best bit of the holiday for me. On my 30th birthday my parents bought me flying lessons and I got bitten by the bug.”

The organist trained for two years on British Airways’ Future Pilot Programme, which coaches aspiring pilots with no experience.

He spent over a year in Dibden and New Zealand, using cutting-edge simulators to hone his skills before his first passenger flight in July. He said taking control of the plane from London Gatwick to Venice was a “great feeling”.

“You’re so focused on what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s very complicated. I found myself just going through all the drills and procedures I’d learnt. It’s only when you take a step back and take a look at the plane you think ‘blimey, I just flew that!’”

Pilots and organists are not so different, he said, because both have to focus during long periods of inactivity before springing into action.

“It’s all about focus and managing your workload,” he said. “In terms of playing a really important service in Winchester Cathedral, you’ve got a really complicated piece and then nothing for a long time. It’s a lot like that in the critical environment of the cockpit. There are similarities in terms of workload and concentration.”

He added that intensive training has held him back from musical pursuits since 2012 but the jet-setting lifestyle will allow him to plan his time and perform services more often.