Originally Posted by
flocci_non_faccio
Anyone who thinks it's a hysterical reaction has their head firmly in the sand.
easyJet are talking about shrinking by a third: that is 1000+ pilots gone straight away. BA I'd expect to do the same: that's another 1200+ gone. Virgin may well not survive: I'm not sure of their pilot numbers but 8-900 would be a reasonable guess. TUI and Jet2 will shrink by an undetermined amount: let's be optimistic and say they get rid of 500 pilots each. That's 4000+ pilots gone without even considering the smaller carriers or Ryanair which isn't a UK carrier (albeit with a huge UK presence). It's also to say nothing of those still employed after the collapses of TCX and Flybe. Now I've actually looked in more depth, my original estimate of 3-4000 unemployed pilots looks wildly optimistic. It is probably closer to 6000, the majority of whom will never fly again and will never get a job which pays even an appreciable fraction of their current salary.
Be in no doubt that there is absolutely no reason to have even the faintest glimmer of hope.
Unfounded speculation and work of fiction at best. It's estimated over 700,000 new commercial pilots will be needed worldwide over the next 20 years. In the mean time:
- Hold your position, learn about the industry (preferably not from PPRuNe or airliners.net - there are a number of 'industry experts' on these sites who have no idea what they're talking about).
- Focus all your attention for now on your education and/or get a well-paid job which gives you plenty of time off (you'll need it when it comes to ATPLs/modular training).
- Save, save, save as much money as you can over from now onwards, you need to minimise your exposure to debt as much as possible from start to finish.
- Don't start your PPL until you have enough money to finish it.
- Go on eBay and find yourself some decent second hand PPL textbooks and start learning the theory (I recommend the Air Pilot's Manuals).
- Apply for a PPL scholarship next time around with GAPAN or Air BP.
- Look into joining a gliding club.