400, I agree with a lot of what you say but I think Bongo bus driver has a point, Agendas. Irene King has been pushing the pilot shortage barrow for years now in an effort to get young kids through the doors of the flying schools, in this particular case the article seems to impy the a shortage is going to hit NZ in 12 months. I think we all know that it is simply not the case.
The main issue I have is I hope these prospective pilots are given a balanced point of veiw, I hope they are told about, bonds, paying for type ratings, jet lag, union issues, strikes, GA jobs on less than minimum wage, airlines going bankrupt and taking all your holiday pay, and as you say standard business practice to source labour as cheaply as possible. Some of these things you will find in other industrys anyway, but I just hope the not so glamorous parts of the proffesion, are presented. I'm sure however it will be more like, "borrow all the coin to do your licence and there will be a shiny jet/bags of coin at the end of 12 months" You say that you talked your children out of going into aviation, good choice, I will be doing the same, however what about the people that do not have an aviation background/experience to draw upon from which to make an informed decision? I'm sure that most people would make their career choice based upon more than a seminar from a snakeoil salesperson at an aeroclub, but you never know.
I hope some of them read this tread that would be start.
By the way I totally agree with you on the fact that if you dont meet the requirements, (even if a degree is BS to fly a plane), get head and shoulders above your competition by doing sumthing about it.