Originally Posted by
ShaunLanc
What I found really surprising is the poor salary for flight instructors. Starting on £24k p/a is less than what I was on as a graduate! They quote that salaries for first job start around £60k p/a for most jobs in multi-crew. Is this correct?
Many thanks
UK Offshore Multicrew starts at £50k(ish) (Starting as a co-pilot first officer) with some small fluctuations across the companies, this will increase as your experience and time at the company increases (some slower than others) - The down side is the UK offshore seems to be obsessed with imploading.
UK Onshore Air Ambo/HEMS - Starts in the £30k+ area, this is for co-pilot first officer but you do get access into the industry and some offer NVG training too. The problem is not many operators operate with 2 crew.
Both of these jobs can be obtained as an Ab-initio, I have seen people in both get jobs this year with very minimal hours, even seen people pay for their own type rating on a Sikorsky S92 to jump the queue and obtain work offshore.
Becoming an instructor is a great route to take into a flying career, A flexible FI working more than one school can easily hit 60-90 hours a month but be prepared to do nothing in the British winter (maybe instruct abroad?) If you are self employed you can expect to earn between £40-£60 per hour flown with a student, at the same time you learn a great deal about the job along with other great benefits from knowing people with helicopters.
If you are flexible and willing to get shafted on the odd occasion, work hard etc..etc.. then yeah its doable. I got into this at the age of 37 and have been loving it ever since.
The pilot shortage stuff, I am not so sure. I have seen people sifting through over a 100 CVs a few weeks ago to fill positions.
Good luck, get to know people and try to be in the right place at the right time.