IAA Mildura
The lack of students must be a disaster for the big schools geared for bulk foreign student training. Not talked about in the media spin is the effect that it has had on instructors. When Covid struck and no more students were allowed into the country. The existing students were trained to the licence standard and sent home. As the numbers of students dwindled the need for instructors declined. First the Grade 3 instructors were dispensed with. Then the Grade 2 instructors. That left the Grade 1 instructors. A bare skeleton hoping for the day that Covid would disappear and that student numbers would increase and the Grade 1 instructors could be used to expand the said school again. Wishful thinking.
A lot of those fired or furloughed instructors will never return to instructing. They will have gone to other jobs that are a continuing venue of employment and probably better pay scales.
Even if Covid vanished overnight and OS students rolled back into the country there would be the aspect of getting enough of the right instructors to re-start the school. The G1's would have to retrain and oversee the G3 and G2 instructors that would need to be hired or re-hired.
Rusty instructors would need to be brought back into line and no doubt there would be a few 'incidents' as the airlines are finding out. The expression 'if you don't use it you lose it' comes to mind in regard to pilot skills.
From the overseas camp one can see that in say 10 years time the likes of China will have got rid of enough smog and build more GA type airports to be able to be used to train their own pilots in their own country. That might leave the big Australian schools high and dry.
But the good side to this is that the Chinese may want to have Australian instructors on a short term contract to raise the level of flight skills in that country.
All food for thought.
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