It's not only about obsession with twin jets but is borne out of the fact that ferry flying, paracute dropping and instructing are all extremely low paid jobs that cannot even pay off flying training debts let alone bring food on the table.
This is a good point and I'm happy to agree.
Some of the jobs people do to build hours after graduation are poorly paid and in some cases not paid at all. I've had one where all I got was beer money and my meals paid for, as well as access to some free parties. Not all of them are though, some GA jobs actually pay more than the year 1 paypoint with some regional airlines.
But beer and free parties don't pay the bills, however much the logbook keeps ticking over. I concede this much.
Nevertheless, I do have some rhetorical questions for those who have a CPL/IR and are surprised at the startling lack of job offers. This may not apply to anybody who has posted here, I'm merely thinking out loud.
Q1 - did you do your research before you started training?
If 'no', why not? Especially considering the size of the investment. On the other hand, if the research was done, then:
Q2 - did you get your assessment of the job market for 200-300hr CPL/IRs badly wrong?
If 'yes', and you did overestimate the demand for the skills of the 200-300hr CPL/IR, then ask yourself why (e.g. did you fall for the FTO marketing hype) and also ask yourself:
Q3a - what is your plan B?
That is, of course, assuming you have identified and budgeted for a plan B - if not, why no plan B? Otherwise:
Q3b - if you estimated the market correctly and anticipated the low demand for 200-300TT CPL/IR holders, then apart from me asking you why you're surprised your goose hasn't laid the golden egg, have you not budgeted to support yourself while pursuing either i) a non- or low-paid flying job, ii) an FI Rating or iii) a type rating?
If not, well.... food for thought.
Personally, I'd suggest three factors; Firstly the FTO's, for 'marketing the product' in quite the way they do when I'm sure they know that the supply of 200-300hr fATPL's exceeds the demand. Secondly the banks, for what I'd call irresponsible lending. I worked in a bank in a previous life and we had used the phrase 'borrowing beyond ones means' and we generally didn't do allow it. These days banks seem to loan potential CPL students eyewatering sums of money despite, in some cases, the loanee not having any personal wealth or equity whatsoever.
Finally, I blame some of the guys coming through the training. Perhaps not anybody here, but I have seen guys who have had overly rose-tinted specs on through training who have woefully underestimated the job market. These are the guys who have had ill-advised expectations on graduation.
Just my thoughts and opinions and clearly they're not likely to be shared by all (or even many
)! Hopefully any pre-training wannabes that read this might double-check their own plans are watertight.
YYZ; yes mate, and after another spell in the hot sandy place I'll be ripe for a few jars.