Originally Posted by
Gordomac
ten ; VP did say ""Arguably". Faced with all the above, just getting to the min qual stage of being in a position to apply for a airline job seems daunting. And as to loads of ""Fully sponsored" deals being around-; really ? By whom ? And at what cost ?
My "fully sponsored course" in 1971 was all fees paid, full board and accommodation,full local education authority grant (paid for my petrol getting from Oxford tp Brighton & back almost every week-end !). Pay-back-? We had to come up with one third of the CPL?IR course, repaid to the sponsoring airline over 5 years out of salary. Didn't even feel it.
Anything like that around today ?
Recently, one UK airline was charging a fee just to have the CV read.
Paying for type rating ? Gosh, it was considered unprofessional Until , during one downturn time, bods, well, rich bods, were doing that and securing jobs with people like VA onto the 74.
Anyway, past is past. I was interested in the current news and views in order to correctly advise the bunch of keen chaps around. I am loathe to recommend and warn Mum & Dad that they are in for a mighty request.
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On a warm note. Just before I succeeded, way back, running out of time, I did ask my Dad for the 5000 quid (ueah, really, 5000). He said he had the money but the answr was no. Rotter. Don't think he liked me.
Pre-Covid the sponsorships were definitely few and far between, BA did some and Virgin did a tiny amount of actually funded ones. Bit of loan repayments etc so not as good as the ones of past.
But since Covid, imagine spurred on by the post brexit issues for people with right to work, EASA vs CAA license considerations to consider, it’s been phenomenal.
Many hundreds of fully funded courses. No loans, no nonsense, fully funded courses. Jet2, TUI, BA, rumours of Wizz. And in the hundreds. Add them all up I’d say there’s about 300 of them a year, exceeding I’d imagine the entire throughput of the UK military’s flying training system.
They’re very hard to get, as they should be, but it does feel like we’re in a similar situation to the pre Gulf War 1 environment for sponsorships and hiring.
If I was advising someone leaving school, leaving uni, considering flying as a career, I’d be filling them with enthusiasm, a fantastic time to consider it!