Originally Posted by
Northern Monkey
Speaking from my experience, during training you are excited about flying jets. Once you have been flying for a while you realise that what actually matters (just like any other job) is the life your job allows you to lead, both financially and socially. How much will I have left at the end of the month once I've paid for my flying loan, car, rent etc. How many days off will I have? How much holiday? Will I be able to get a mortgage? The list goes on, but these are the important things.
This is all absolutely spot on, and as you say it's what a lot of wannabes are least likely to actually consider.
I don't see how it's possible for anyone working in aviation from now on to even consider buying a house, leasing a car, enjoying any discretionary spending whatsoever. Unless your partner works and has a secure and well paid job, I don't see how it's possible now for a pilot to plan for a family, knowing that their job security is and always will be non-existent.
The cuts to Ts&Cs are going to be absolutely brutal. The old maxim attributed to Churchill is "Never waste a good crisis." and you can rest assured that airline management are rubbing their hands with glee at the opportunity that has presented itself to take a scythe to contracts. The reality is likely to be that salaries and conditions will never again return to anything close to what we had prior to the crisis. It was never justifiable from a bean counter's point of view to pay £40k for entry level (FO cadet) jobs and £six figures for captains, when this has always been an aspirational career path with a vast oversupply of applicants. The "new normal" contracts are not going to make nice reading.