One for the mods to think about and pull the old PPRuNe balancing act we pay them so much for
AGAINST: All mods have guidance from on high requesting minimal use of stickies to maintain readability and flow to the forum.
FOR: The need to have the downside available for a constant wave of people arriving here for the first time. A counter if you like to the marketing and enthusiasm that abounds in flight training while the experience of those actually doing the job for real is never aired other that here on PPRuNe. Prime example: the 'pilots' wheeled out to talk at schools and conferences are not really line pilots anymore otherwise they simply wouldn't be there to talk to you. There was something about flying the line that didn't satisfy them and they have sought positions such as in recruitment that actually get them out of an aeroplane for significant periods.
This may come as a terrible shock to some of you but airline pilots don't wake up one morning and find that rather than the 0600 flight on our roster we have to go and talk to wannabees and students. These people don't do 0600's anymore. Their career advancement now lies entirely outside flying a turbo prop or jet and therefore have an entirely different outlook and agenda to the one you assume.
Next. Flight training and airines are entirely different and unconnected industries. In theory if one hurts the other should in pretty short order. This hasn't happened as many of you qualified and patiently waiting have found.
I think that this thread would just have to be perpetually repeated like the "Am I too old," ones cropping up ad nauseam. For the first time in living memory the there has been a severe aviation downturn without the rest of the economy heading south other than in a few specialised areas like IT.
The flow of wannabees never stopped, in fact it's actually been a torrent because of the rest of the economic factors. Lowest interest rates in 50 years so money is cheap, house prices on another planet meaning you or your parents have undreamt of equity to borrow off. A finance sector fighting to win the award for most debt sold to the public - you can fill in the rest of the picture yourself.
We've turned into Australia and New Zealand practically overnight. Massive oversupply of fresh pilots to keep the schools running very nicely thank you. Massive debt incurred but no GA to go to other than instructing and further adding to the desperate cycle - finding more fresh meat. Meanwhile the mantra of shareholder value has produced an airline business ethos where personal advancement is dependent on cutting every possible aspect of pilots terms and conditions. Professional pilots simply cannot believe you considering paying above and beyond what you've already expended on licences to join them.
This thread won't ever stop anyone who can't bear the thought of life without flying. It will however make you consider, at least for a while, what you're letting yourself in for. Go to Rotorheads and have a look at this month's calendar to see someone whose aviating, fixed wing as much as helo, leaves us pro's gasping with envy. It's something folks who are bright and determined must think about.
Many reading this thread will have been instinctively offended by any criticism of the perfection of flight as a career but using this forum alone is something no pilots could recommend. Read elsewhere on this site. With an enlarged EU and even the Ryanair law of omerta getting very shaky there are other ways of gaining significant flying experience and enjoyment. Avoiding the queues at Ikea over the weekend just isn't a good enough reason for going into 50 grand's worth of debt.
