$165,000 debt and no flying job. Advice?

[outnabout]

Machiavelli:

in short, yes, CPL training is inadequate.

No (or little) Cessna time - the most commonly used aircraft in GA.
nav exercises over the same routes, one of which is the CPL test.
no dirt strips.
no drum refuelling.
no MTOW flights.
no flights on less than full fuel, so no fuel calcs in flight.
no maintenance training.
Limited landings in crosswinds.
no flights in 8k viz, much less special VFR.

living at home for longer also means a freshly minted CPL May have limited life skills - worst one that I know of wanted more uniforms because he didn’t know how to use a washing machine. His housemates (remote base) had to teach him how to wash his clothes, and how to cook something other than toast / cuppa.

At the same time, insurance and CaSA (and common sense) require that a pilot be able to demonstrate that they can do a manouvre consistently….flapless, short field, steep turns, stalls, EFATO, emergency procedures, use of checklists. That is a lot to accomplish in one hour..

I would estimate that the average cost of getting a freshly minted CPL checked to line to fly a scenic in a Cessna 100 series would be in the vicinity of $10k.

WARNING - THREAD DRIFT

There is a lot of slinging off at pilots who “follow the magenta line” but let’s have a look at what’s happening in flight.

Prior to flight, Pilots were always required to access weather (now provided in the ever so user friendly GAF and Grid Point winds), NoTAMS, fuel calcs, and W&B.

Part 119 (from memory) introduced in December 2021, requires pilots to save this information, and a flight log showing FOB and actual time vs ETA - three months after the flight. If the W&B is not produced on a method which is an integral part of the aircraft, then the W&B must be stored for six months after the flight.

tell me - what is the possible safety benefit gained by saving this information.for 3-6 months after a flight? What is the purpose, other than to provide the prosecutor with all the information he / she needs in the event of accident or incident?

So have a look now at what is happening in a single engine, single pilot scenic flight…..a low hour pilot in an ageing 206 or 210 over Jim Jim Falls or Wilpena Pound or the Horizontal Falls does not have his / her eyes out of the cockpit, looking for the 4-6 other aircraft who are also in the vicinity….No Instead, they will have their head down, looking at their EFB, making sure that they have recorded the Actual Time and estimated FOB on a flight log which - after the safe conclusion of the flight - has no proven safety benefit.

Add in tighter operating margins which means that a day flightseeing trip or a charter MUST be done in X.Y hours, or risk running at a loss…so yes, the newly minted CPL will be glued to the (boss approved) magenta line.

What does the future hold?
the forced introduction of a safety management system - which comes with the cheery advice that a small GA organisation should be recording 50-100 safety occurrences per year. If not, they may be investigated for “not having a culture where staff promote safety”.
Imagine what damage to a business that an entitled CPL who fails to progress on the fleet can do in that environment…..

What many in GA is also waiting for is the announcement of maintenance, and whether there will be any maintenance approved for a pilot to complete.
if the predicted move to “manufacturers only maintenance” occurs, then this will mean that ALL maintenance must be performed by a LAME…
get a flat tyre on a remote strip? Fly in a LAME…
Doing a freight run that might get back after dark but got a blown light? Get the LAME to change the bulb.
now, LAMEs are many things, but one thing they are not is cheap.
Just have a think about the damage to the businesses bottom line will be if only a LAME can do these things…that sound you hear will be the hangar doors sliding closed on any remote operator who does not have a LAME on the airfield.

To course correct back to track (thread)…fewer operators means fewer jobs. However, fewer jobs will not mean less training. Taxpayer supported training will continue to be a valid business model.

Edited to add: I don’t know of too many 20 year old Chief Pilots. Senior Base Pilot, maybe, but not Chief.