problem with the industry?
Hello everyone,
After browsing the forums here on ‘pprune’ and speaking to a number of pilots it would seem that there is a particular problem that keeps coming up time and time again; people splashing out to pay for their fATPL to be left with no offers of a job and a formidable amount of debt, circa £60000. There are two main points that have been concerning me somewhat recently, with regards to this situation that so many people seem to be getting into:
Firstly, having researched a number of FTO’s when considering where to undertake my own commercial training it would seem that these organisations are doing what they can to encourage as many people to train with them as possible. I understand entirely that these organisations are, at the end of the day, business’s like any other, however this does seem somewhat, well, immoral.
Secondly, it appears that the general attitude of people in the industry is that this is a situation that you are simply going to have to accept – if you want to reach your goal of becoming a pilot then £60000 to £70000 of debt is the ‘norm’.
Perhaps I am missing something or perhaps I am simply being naïve, but why is nothing being done to overcome this situation? For example could there not be some legislation passed to regulate training through-put whilst there is a surplus of qualified pilots in Europe? When I read about people eventually declaring themselves bankrupted after paying for there own training I can’t help but feel that this is a very serious situation that an unacceptable amount of people are getting themselves into and perhaps the powers that be (in legislative bodies such as the CAA) are either ignorant of the situation or simply do not appreciate the magnitude of it.
Any feedback will be gratefully received,
Scott.