Originally Posted by
Chris the Robot
HGV driving would possibly be a good career for people starting out of school looking to fund flying training these days, as it is I started driving for a living in my mid-20's, albeit on rails. The challenge is that the railway is a very stable employer which excellent T&Cs but very difficult to return to after leaving, so whilst I could self-fund integrated without debt I'd be totally stuffed if a recession or black swan event occurred during training. I might come across as lacking passion or motivation, however from what I've seen it's important to be quite emotionally distant in making decisions regarding training. If I could change one thing it'd be the fact that I was fixed on airline cadet schemes whilst I should have started the modular route earlier, if only more of them took people with ATPL passes! Admittedly I originally didn't think ATPL theory around full-time work would be possible but I'm currently doing it anyway.
I'm currently doing ATPL theory with BGS and so far they've been very good. Module 1 went well, I still have Module 2 exams followed by Module 3 left to complete. I've got a night rating/aUPRT booked in before the spring and I'm hoping to do the CPL/ME/IR phase over the summer followed by an APS-MCC course in the autumn. You're definitely right about Brexit preventing the labour arbitrage situation that used to exist whereby English being the international language of aviation enabled people from all over the EU to apply for UK jobs despite many carriers using the language barrier to prevent the opposite from happening. I can sense the economy turning a bit though, so I don't think recruitment will be as strong over the coming few years as it was 2021-2024.
Out of interest did you notice any correlation between previous career and performance on the flight deck? Did those with previous safety-critical shift work have an advantage? It would be interesting to see if the airlines are drawn to particular professions when it comes to modular recruitment.
A bit like you I was in a specialist job role which in all reality was dead mans shoes. Once my company lost its contract and closed down it was going to be incredibly hard to get to the same position again. I tried a few similar places but it was like being in the Somme during WW1 most days. I retrained for HGV work as it was relatively quick and cheap. 4k all in for my licence and the gear to go with it. I do shift work but only work 3.5 days a week so plenty of time to study and fly. I take my laptop, calculator and wizz-wheel to work every day. Some days you have several hours waiting to be loaded and unloaded so in essence I get paid to train. I cannot think of a better job to pair with modular training. It also prepares you for handling large heavy equipment and being safety critical in thinking too
It took me 8 months to get my PPL and I am hoping to get my ATPL theory done in 9 months and my CPL and ratings started towards the end of July. Hopefully around the 2 year mark from start to finish. If I was single and living with parents I could have done it much quicker too which does make you wonder how integrated courses take so long to complete.
I too think the economy is starting to turn. TUI just announced they are not doing cadet schemes this year and it will be interesting to see how the others will respond but like you if I am successful then great but it is no loss if I am not. Not trying at all is the only thing I would regret.
Good luck with your studies.