I think people need to ask themselves why they want to become a Pilot in the first place?
Although it may sound stereotypical and there will be exceptions to what I’m about to say but...
From my current colleagues and pilots I met through training there is a marked difference in job satisfaction between the Integrated pilots and the modular pilots.
My modular trained colleagues seem to love aviation and the job whether they’ve been in it 2 years or 20 years.
They were the ones taking trial lessons at 15 and getting PPL’s at 17 or they’re ex mil or midlife crisis guys who went into flying at 35+
However a lot of integrated pilots I’ve met seem to become dissatisfied very quickly. Almost like they woke up one day, thought being a pilot is a cool job, ready a glossy brochure and asked their parents for £100k. 18 months later they’re waking up at 03:00, flying the magenta line to Alicante and bored out of their tree.
A few years down the line and despite what their Instagram shows it’s turned into “just a job” that pays well.
If you or your parents are loaded and you don’t mind laying out £100k at testing the waters To see if the job and the lifestyle suits you then by all means go for it. But if it’s going to financially set you back I’d have a long hard think why you want to fly in the first place. I’ll let you into a secret... nobody looks at you as you walk through the airport in your uniform.
I’ve been flying for a living for 2 years and I still get excited when my alarm goes off at 3am, I still get excited when crewing ring me at 6am to pull me in off standby, after 2 days off I can’t wait to fly again but I that’s because I’ve wanted to do this job since I was 5. I’ve worked office, customer service and restaurant jobs, 60 - 70 hours a week, to pay for this career.
If you just want a well paid job; work in IT, become a train driver because I guarantee it won’t cost you £100k to become one. You can fulfil your Instagram ego by learning to fly helicopters and dropping into the local pub on a Sunday afternoon.