Can I throw in my tuppence worth?
The currency issue is tied up with supply and demand just like all the other employment issues. The airlines want the best and cheapest they can get and will haggle hard. If there are no current pilots out there then they will have to look at new guys and others who have not flown recently.
In my time I have known:
A. A pilot who took redundancy from British Airways and ran a business for over ten years. He returned to flying in his fifties and recently retired as a B737 Captain.
B. A Monarch Captain who ran a building business for three years, went broke, got a job with a charter outfit and ended up flying for Cathay.
C. An RAF Harrier pilot who ran a farm for seven years and then picked up a jet job in the late 1980's. He is presently a Captain with a national carrier.
D. A number of brand new CPL/IR's who bought B767 ratings and got their first job flying overseas on a contract. One is a Virgin Captain, others fly for BA.
E. Pilots who have bought their own type ratings and not got jobs at all!
If you have not flown for a few years you are perfectly capable of checking out for an airline and never mind your experience. A full blown type course would get you current in the process.
The only problem is with the bean counters. If all it takes is one extra SIM to get you up to speed and they won't pay for it . . .
For my own part, I was out of work for a year having just checked out on a jet some years ago. A year later I had two SIMS and was back on the line. You don't forget your flying training but you need to work hard after a layoff.
Ask the yourself how the military cope with lack of flying. A military carer might include ground tours of several years. Their experience of the issue does not suggest that flying skills are lost.
At the end of the day it all comes down to money and you have to study the market carefully to work out your options.
Last edited by Caractacus; 7th Nov 2003 at 02:45.