Yes
The whole idea that GA is just there to provide free pilot training for the airlines is very wrong. GA provides essential transport and other aviation services that the nation depends on for development and growth. There are about 10,000 non airline aircraft in Australia, and lots of professional pilots outside the airlines.
City people seem to think that Australia stops about 100 miles from the coast, and they rarely see real GA operating. Except when the agricultural aircraft turn into water bombers and help defend their houses from bushfires. The airlines and the military have not been much help for that.
Strim has it right. This has been happening to outback charter in recent times. Some pilots,(lots) seem to have believed that they were going to go from high school to skygod in six months, and use GA to do it. (and thats only exaggerating a little bit). They, and their flying schools did enormous damage to GA, and the serious GA pilots.
The airline recruiting saga is in fact a comedy of errors. It has gone from having a huge pool of desperate GA pilots who trained themselves and were broke, fiercely fighting over a small number of GA jobs and learning about reality, to todays situation. Now the airlines find themselves needing pilots, and the pool is not so big. They have not paid attention to the recruiting situation for years because it was easy and there were plenty of CPL and ATPL holders waiting for the call. They have not made any long term arrangements for new pilots. Pilots just come knocking on the door don't they? And some of the airlines seem to say that only one in a hundred are good enough?? If that is the case there is something wrong with their advertising, or their selection and training process. I think they got that attitude from the air force.
Last edited by bushy; 16th Feb 2008 at 04:13.