This is the first time I have been forced to intervene on someones behalf. I think those of us that are angry here should be angry at the system not vt.
1)
The foundation for where we find ourselves today was laid when the first fool decided to approach an airline more than five years ago and said you know what I'll pay for my own rating.
Can anyone here honestly imagine applying to london underground to be a train driver and london underground saying you have to pay for your training becauce you like trains so much.
An average train driver earns more than most first officers(cadet) probably with the exception of BA and Virgin.
While there are lots of people here more than willing to admit it that they will pay for a type rating if they had the money. Well over a thousand pilots have done the same thing vortex thing is trying to do but at least he's honest enough to give us a backgroung of why he's concidering it now. It obviously wasn't his first option.
You only need to look at the ryanair forum to see the number of people happy at been called for a ryanair selection everyday somebody joins the queue and I am saying this I was one of them but did not get in. Am I angry no! at least they bothered to call me for the selection process and like I mentioned earlier it was a good experience. A friend that we both passed our cpl on the same day currently has over thirty rejection letters and that was since april last year.
Someone mentioned aptitude I know a lot of guys you will call excellent pilots with first time passes in everything and the right personality to get along with anybody from anywhere on the flight deck yet they haven't been called for a single interview let alone getting a shot they are even in the right age group. I have also seen those with money, over thirty and a couple of resits flying jets as I post this simply becauce they have the money. Yes life is never fair.
Like I said earlier
If you cant beat them you join them. or as they say in America
Dont hate the player hate the game!!!
Every flight magazine you open you see adverts from companies who are waiting to exploit pilots asking them to pay for rating and hours. Can you imagine London underground advertising for train drivers to pay for the training and work for three monmths without pay so that it will give them a better chance of getting a job with the intercity ones that pay so well.
We are human and it is very easy for those already in the industry especially those that have been it for more than seven years before this whole mess began to try and tell people not to it but then as with all things you cant stop it. Stopping this rot will take a huge collective effort both by those already in the industry and those of us looking for jobs.
At least VT worked as an instructor for a while I know a lot of people who never bothered they simply splashed out the money for a rating after thier MEIR and I can tell you for sure all those that I know that took this route are currently flying jets.
VT i wish you all the best while I do not approve of working for less than you are worth the situation in which we find ourselves today is not your fault and quite frankly should you give up the post I am sure there are hundereds waiting to fill it. We are all part of the problem. And the airlines are very aware of this BA and a couple of other have stopped thier sponsorship programmes.
*I know I will be crucified for posting this as I have always tried to keep an open mind and see why people sometimes post what they do. The good thing is that there is a way to go back and see all the postings I've made since joing this forum before jumping to any conclusions about my motive.
Call me naive but the surefire way to stop this is to go the American or Canadian way where you cant get near a jet till you are well over a thousand hours mostly gained through instructing even then they start you off on turboprop . I dont know how the political lobbying system in this parliarment works perhaps scroggs will be more enlightened about that having been in the forces. The ministers need to know about this and with the CAA do something about it.
The mere thought of going down this route will act as a pshycological filter that will clearly act as a deterence to a fair percentage of those who embarked upon flight training in this country or Europe if we had such a system. Would it have detered me probably not but it will forced me to take a harder look at my options i.e age ,family ,finances, and when you start earning. I would definately have gone a different route.
A lot of people borrow money from the bank with the expectation that they will walk in to a job right after thier MEIR only to discover its not that straight forward. I was fortunate enough to see the reality from those around me who finished years ago that this wasn't the case. Therefore I was under no illusions but the good thing is eventually if you try hard enough you will eventually get the job.
Like we say in Africa
everybody is going to the market place and will eventually get there through different routes.