Depending upon who you believe Netjets Europe (NTAS) is losing one or two pilots a week with four out of five being captains.
The overcrewing in some areas might cover this for a while but for how long? For a long time the company has fast-tracked suitable candidates to the left hand seat but as far as I know none of them have ever been promised an immediate command
in writing. Without this what experienced pilot (captain) in their right minds would join? They don't know for which fleet they are destined and when/if they'll get back to the left hand seat.
Netjets refusal to recruit direct entry captains has had its merits in the past. They have always claimed that the nature of the work is such that very few pilots can make the immediate switch from what they were doing to the NJE way. I have seen one candidate do this successfully and by that I mean be an asset on their first tour. That said, an experienced bizjet captain should only need to learn the foibles of the company which, come to think of it, is rather a lot to ask of anyone
In fact, come to think of it a little more the 'complexities' of doing a NJE tour are pretty much self inflicted.
If the trends continue the time will come where they will have to consider direct entry captains. Every so often this is raised in Lisbon and the idea quashed because "...that's not how we do it". For how long will this argument hold water though and will they do it overtly or, as in so many things in the past (extra pay for chosen training captains, etc) on the sly? How will those warming the right hand seats in anticipation of their four bars take this?
Discuss.