Originally Posted by carlvinson
I just think guys should DEMONSTRATE this passion to work with aircraft. Surfing
www.airliners.net or reading FLIGHT magazine DOES NOT COUNT. I see people claiming passion all the time, it has become so cliche, and it makes it even harder for SIA to differentiate the true pilots from the wannabes.
It's good that you are able to afford your own flying, but not everyone is as fortunate. You might be spending a substantial amount of your OWN salary on flying and equate that sacrifice of money and time as passion. But consider another scenario where a guy has jobless parents to suppport, education loan to pay off and younger siblings to look after. It will not be viable for him to spend the bulk of his money and time to persue his flying, will it? BUT he can advance his knowledge about aviation through magazines, books, simply talking to pilots or just plane spotting. He might not have the benefit of experiencing flight first hand, but the willingness to learn about it in other ways IS passion in my opinion. So I agree with Billkill that passion is not about the sacrifice you make, but the road you take. Not being physically associated with planes does not disqualify a person from being passionate about flying. When I say reading up on aviation stuff, I'm referring to people who are really doing it in their spare time, and not those who read up alot just before the interview. So if you are worried that these so claimed 'passionate' people will 'spoil the market' for you, rest assured that the interviewers are experienced enough to tell the difference. Just my two cents worth.
9V
P.S. Just curious, how do you define a 'true pilot' anyway?