Originally Posted by
5.56NATO
Hi everyone,
I would be more than grateful if you could shed some lights on the realistic career prospect for newly joined cadets.
I understand that there is a long queue ahead as many SOs did not get their flights before the borders reopened...and that the company currently lacks trainers to get the new guys operational as so many experienced and skilled pilots have left...
Following the 'normalcy' and resumption of air travels will the upgrade time for newly recruited SOs be shortened? Or...I should ask how long will it take for someone that is hired this year to finish all necessary training to be an operational SO, and to be considered FO upgrade?
Many thanks and best wishes to everyone here
It's 7 years currently. That's 7 years from completed training and checked to line.
How it will change is anyone's guess, but it's trending to increase; training capacity is reducing with people leaving (especially trainers) with years to return to "normal" planned, but much more importantly the company has much higher incentive to keep people in Second Officer rank. The company is restructuring to fly 2x SO on long haul from 1x SO, so logically they need double the SOs and half the FOs. The evidence is that the 5 year maximum SO requiment is now gone. Plus SOs get paid less, and it's always cheaper and faster to train a direct hire a FO who skips the que.