Originally Posted by
Paul Rice
30 per cent of professional pilots throughout the world are unemployed with little to no chance of finding work in the medium term. 17 % of professional pilots are furloughed with little to no chance of significant numbers returning to work in the short to medium term. Those remaining at work are braced for further job losses and deep cuts to their terms and conditions of employment. While a 11 hour working day is a long duty period its not exceptional and 12 1/2 hours is a regular typical flying duty in the civilian sector. If your only flying 140 hours per annum you have it easy. 100 flying hours per 28 days is the summer target for the airlines and these hours are spread through deep nights, very early starts, late starts with time zone disturbances thrown in. You report 12 QFIs to 12 student QFIs and 22 students. That divides up to less than 3 students per instructor which seems very reasonable and manageable. If students are not flying often enough and your concerned about continuity and safety, then as the QFI you do not send them solo and if the course foot print over runs so be it. If your concerned about flight planning software and other dispatch issues deal with them your not flying much you have all the time in the world to resolve these problems. While the report highlights domestic problems within your Squadron these concerns should have been managed domestically in house using the established chain of command. This report should not have been published in an open forum and it borders on mutiny if it has been published by a military officer. It certainly brings the service into disrepute. Frequent shift changes not getting home when you expect to get home bluntly "thats life in a blue suit" please be thankful that your on salary right now, that your flying a wonderful aeroplane with a ready supply of talented highly motivated and aptitude selected students. Your the QFI you know what the problems are fix those that you can, recruit colleagues to fix those that you cant and when you have done all that you possibly put the kettle on have a cup of tea and chill out. Seriously enjoy being on salary.
I'm sure the Instructors at Valley will be really pleased to have their 'reality checked' by a commercial pilot. The two are quite different and if you served in the military you would well know that. Flight instructor duties are numerous and flying is just one of them. They don't rockstar up to the airport, get handed their flight plan, do a quick weather check and go on their merry way, fly for 7 hours on autopilot, land at their destination and take a crew bus to the hotel. An 11+ hour day is easily achievable with only a couple of relatively short (1-1.5 hour) sorties when numbers are low and you also need to man the auth desk, be duty pilot, rehash training documentation that the RAF has paid someone else to write, etc. All duties that the average 'commercial' pilot does not need to worry themselves about.
We are all, military and civilian, aware that times are very hard for many. But the idea that we should 'just be happy to get a salary' is non-sensical, especially when the roots of this problem were established well before the pandemic. The current situation should not be used as an excuse to ignore, belittled, or ridicule individuals for speaking out.
I remember my time at Valley as a welcome reprieve from the frontline where 12 hour days were the norm. Although students were keen to get out of the island as quickly as possible, the instructors were mostly happy and the flying was plentiful if a little monotonous. I'm truly sorry to hear how things have turned out.