I'm nearly 34 and going down the dual-licence modular route whilst working full-time, recently passed my first round of ATPL exams (BGS Mod 1) with an EASA average in the high-80's and a CAA average in the mid-90's. I'm enjoying it a lot despite the fact I'm certainly being kept busy.
I'm looking at the wider economic picture and it appears things really aren't looking great, it sort of feels like 2007 all over again but worse. Looking at the posts from the Great Recession era it appeared to take at least 5 years for things to pick up again, assuming a 2026 recession I'd be nearly 40 assuming that sort of timeframe. Did those of you who went modular find that the airlines took a negative view of stringing the training out if the jobs market was weak? If the stock market crashed tomorrow and I decided to take the full 18 months for the ATPL then close to 36 months for the CPL/ME/IR would that put me at a disadvantage?
I'm just seeing the flying schools massively oversubscribed at the moment with large delays or waiting lists, it's very much a training schools' market. I can't help but think there will be large numbers of new graduates looking for non-existent first flying jobs, the only big difference I can see from the Great Recession is that UK jobs won't be open to most of Europe.