AvEnthusiast.
You have received some excellent advice on this thread, particularly from potkettleblack, Farrell, Telstar and JB007. I would agree with everything they have said.
Medium to long term, job prospects are good. The demand for air travel is there, and will continue to grow. So is it worth chasing your dream? Yes. Should you do it now, in 2008? In a word, no. In the short term, i.e. the next 2-3 years, I believe the prospects are pretty grim. In Europe and the US, the industry is entering one of its periodic downturns. Experienced pilots will lose their jobs, never mind wannabes. Yes, China is still expanding strongly, and possibly the job market around the Pacific rim will be a bit healthier. However, just imagine the number of experienced FAA and JAA licence holders who will be looking eastwards as the jobs in Europe and the US dry up. Make no mistake, there won't be many chances for newly qualified low-hours guys for the next couple of years.
You mentioned a few posts ago that you're not lucky. That's a strange thing for an aspiring airline pilot to say, and maybe gained something in the translation? As Telstar pointed out, in this game you have to make your own luck. You'll see from my previous posts that I've been very fortunate, but I dare anyone to say that it's just fallen into my lap - I worked bloody hard for many years to be that lucky.
Several of us now have said the same thing - this is not the time to be spending huge sums on commercial flying training. We have all been down the road you're just starting off on, we've all been there, done that and got the T-shirt. And it's because we've seen the pitfalls that you're getting this advice - please listen to it. If you commit now to commercial training, there is a very good chance you'll qualify in the middle of a recession, with no realistic prospect of work for a couple of years. Even if you've financed it from savings rather than borrowing, you'll still have to maintain IR currency to have any chance of making it through airline selection - have you checked the hourly cost of renting an IFR twin? For how long will your budget cover that?
I well understand your impatience, but at 24 you are still young - you have all the time in the world. I was 29 before I had a flying lesson! I can only echo what everyone else has said. Take things slowly, do a private licence, build hours, research the industry, do the written exams, do anything but spend loads of money on commercial training! I take your point that your location makes it cheaper (in theory) to go off and do everything in one go, but what's the point if there are no jobs when you qualify? Remember, making your own luck includes having a realistic game-plan.
Top tip - there are two secrets to success in this game; contacts and timing. Right now your timing couldn't be much worse. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but that's how I - and a lot of others - see it.
Last edited by G SXTY; 23rd Jul 2008 at 12:50.