Advice from those who know

[david_gannon]

Hello there,

Well as four (almost) long years at University come to a close i'm wondering on the next step. I've been trawling these forums for a while. I am/was planning to start training around the end of 2009 or early 2010 and i was just wondering what your views would be about that regarding the possible airline situation/job market once i had finished. I could not give you a rough date about when that may be as i am still unsure about what route to take (intergrated or modular). For arguments sake say i went down the intergrated route, would that be a bad time to start then, would i finish and it would still be a terrible time for a low houred guy to be looking for a job (not necessarily a jet job but any sort of job). Do you think that if there may be jobs around that paying for both type rating and even line training would be the norm?

I'm just really loking for what people's thoughts may be on the general situation for low houred guys around 2011/12 ish. I know its a long way away but if you have any thoughts as to what it may be, please let me know.

[G SXTY]

Not having a crystal ball, the best bet is to look at what happened in previous industry recessions, e.g. 2001 & 1990. Both times it was a good three years before the job market started to pick up significantly, and another year or two before large numbers of low hours guys were being recruited.

If the same pattern is repeated, that's 2011 before the market really starts to improve, and 2012-2013 before that filters through to 200hr zero-experience pilots.

I'd recommend playing a very long game and aiming for the far end of those dates.

[Aerospace101]

Forget integrated or modular. As a uni graduate you should apply to a sponsorship scheme, get funding towards training and a conditional job offer. Ethiad, flybe, netjets etc. By 2011 therell probably be a ba cadet scheme too. Dont waste your money on the self sponsored route.

[Grass strip basher]

"By 2011 therell probably be a ba cadet scheme too"..... ha ha ha ha that is the funniest thing I have heard in ages.... if you wait till 2011 you will also be able to hitch a ride on any number of flying pigs that will have been genetically engineered during the next 2-3 years (probably more likely than a BA sponsorship scheme). :}