At the age of 17, Qantas pilot Mark Sedgwick left home to join the Air Force.
Key points:
- With flights grounded by COVID-19, job prospects for pilots are limited
- Pilots are also at risk of losing their accreditation because they can't fly
- There are calls for a 'PilotKeeper' package to help keep them in aviation
He is grateful he did not have to pay for his training but said other sacrifices were made along the way.
Mr Sedgwick is now the head of the Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents Qantas pilots.
And he is worried about younger colleagues who have paid big dollars to get their qualifications, often moved towns or states to get their flying hours up and now face limited job prospects because of COVID-19.
"The cost of doing flying training at the various flying schools around the country can certainly go well above six figures, so well over $100,000 in training costs," he said
"It would be incredibly difficult [for people] to have to walk away.
Mr Sedgwick welcomed
the Federal Government's latest COVID-19 JobKeeper assistance but called for a sector-specific package for aviation.
"Anything at this point is really important to the industry [but] certainly in the future we'd like to see a targeted approach to aviation employees, an aviation or 'PilotKeeper'-type program," he said.
Veteran pilots may need re-training
Mr Sedgwick said Australian pilots were required to fly at least once every 45 days to be allowed to use their Civil Aviation Safety Authority-issued licence.
On top of that, Qantas pilots needed to complete four simulator flights every 12 months
But with planes grounded around the world because of COVID-19, many pilots were now unable to meet the requirements.
Mr Sedgwick said a so-called PilotKeeper program could pay for the retraining required for pilots to eventually re-enter the skies.
"It will be easier to have pilots who maintain a level of currency of skills throughout this COVID period for when they come back at the other side, versus trying to wait a year or two or three years until they come back and then essentially training back from scratch again."
Mr Sedgwick said the COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria was compounding the problem.
"We have quite a significant simulator base in Melbourne which is effectively shut at the moment ... they're in COVID hotspots as well, so that is proving a logistical challenge to keep pilots current when you can't get access to some of those simulators themselves," he said.
"We have access to simulators in Sydney as well, but clearly bringing pilots from WA or from Queensland and trying to use just simulators in Sydney is proving to be difficult, and those simulators in Sydney ... effectively have to operate around the clock."
Pilot shortage 'flipped around'
Perth flying school Airflite's general manager, Kristian Constantinides, backed the call for a PilotKeeper program, noting until recently there were forecasts of a global pilot shortage.
"We were coming from an environment that had extreme levels of forecast demand — over 600,000 pilots required over the next 20 years — and a gap in the existing level as existing pilots exited the profession and the new ones coming in didn't have the same level of experience," he said.
"That in the short term has been flipped around."
But Mr Constantinides was optimistic about the Australian industry's long-term future, if pilot skills could be maintained.
"Aviation is an English-speaking domain, Australia being an English-speaking nation, with the weather that we have that's ideal for flying, with respected standards internationally," he said.
"We're well-positioned as a whole industry to benefit from the return of demand when that occurs.
"So the longer we can hold on as an industry and the longer we can retain capability, I think the better it will be for this nation."