Onthemove...yep your spot on as far as my path to where I am at the moment....in this part of the world it took me 2 yrs from license conversion to the jet...in the interim I flew T/Props..and was bonded (which is not ideal but is a far more equitable path as it means you have a job..rather than speculating on a T/rating and hoping for a result)
But I ask this question again, where the hell has this expectation of straight out of flying college and straight into the RHS of a jet? (the majority of SSTR's are sourced from these candidates). Having been in those shoes a few years back my opinion remains unchanged...you progress according to your ability and experience, anything else is a pipedream! Why do you think it is now that airlines want crews now to be line trained?..there are 2 reasons.
1. Obviously the cost...the bean counters are looking at any option to reduce their tyraining overheads.
2. The training risk...ask some of the line trainers at Easy about far behind the curve the CTC guys coming through with minimal hours and no real experience other than 40hrs in the sim, half a dozen cross countries, and an IR test have been.
One the problem as I see it is the level of expectation, that starts at the FTO's..but also stops at the frontdoor of those who are prepared to invest thousands in training without doing any real research. PIlot Pete, Scroggs, Luke Sky Toddler, have all posted on here about the very same thing. I put it to you One that my son (if I ever have one
) will certainly have that goal of flying a big shiney jet, he wont however think that it is his god-given right to finish training hand over £25K and waltz into a RHS jet job, because he will understand that this is the exception rather than the rule, and like anything he will have to learn his trade.
To be against SSTRs is one, to insult the guys walking that road is another.
All this "get of one's arse" "zero to hero" "hard way" crap sounds good when having a beer, but is simply too naive. Every day without a job means loss of income. So you want to get it.. fast. Now nobody came yet with the idea that you have extra bargaining power if you paid yourself. Now the airlines have absolutely ZERO to bond you. If its no good at the airline, you leave
Absolute tosh...this is a debate, no one is getting personal here, as the survey says most of us in the industry dont agree with current state of affairs
