OK, but in fairness to those flying schools, they are also trying to stay in business, and the people who work for them also want to take home a pay cheque next month. All businesses put a spin on a downturn and suggest that “Now is a great time” to buy whatever it is that they are selling. That is just the nature of the beast. You would have to be very optimistic to see any movement in this market in the next few years and probably much longer. It isn’t the current disaster where the real problem lies, it is what happens when recovery comes, and it will come.
There is likely to be a severe rationalisation and streamlining in most companies. Many of those airliners flown to the desert were on a one way journey, This damage means that companies, individuals and governments are living on the back of their credit cards. Those bills are going to have to be paid. Demand is likely to be very depressed for a significant portion of the decade. Wages are going to reflect the new supply / demand realities. The cost of putting somebody in the right hand seat (either seat actually, but as it relates to this forum,) is going to go through the floor. Pilots with real experience are going to be queuing up outside the door for quite some time. Recovery is going bring a whole world of new realities, and I think those realities are going to come as a shock to many people who price this category of labour at the level it was last year or anytime in the last 20 years!
”Experience” is going to be the new reality, and it is likely to be a bargain for the airlines. Even those folk who plan on returning to their previous employers when conditions improve are being very optimistic if they think their remuneration is going to be anywhere near where it was before.