The situation in the industry in Europe and the USA is going from bad to worse. Airlines are wrapping up and same as they have done many times in the past, they will not say a word until the last minute.
Most pilots are working for a board that doesn't give a sh*t about them.
One poor crew I know, were told when they entered the flightdeck that the plane was going nowhere and the company was shutting down.
A lot of pilots will be losing their jobs in the next while and even more pilots will be "furloughed" which, when you cut out all the bs, means they have as good as lost their jobs as well.
I see it now, beginning to happen. We have the ostriches who say that everything is fine and that there is hope on the horizon, we have the ones who will stay until the doors close, and there are the ones I see here every day, who have decided that the risk is too high and have resigned their posts in Europe and the US and are moving out to the Middle East where they are being welcomed with open arms. Why?
Because these pilots are desparate to find work and the airlines in the Middle East need pilots to replace those who have decided to bail from here because they are treated like crap, the rosters are insane and they are just worn out from the region in general.
They've taken their hard-earned cash and gone home to do something more worthwhile.
Start-ups in the US and Europe? None of any worthy mention.
The smaller players dried up early - Silverjet, Maxjet.
And now the bigger players are starting to fall - XL, Zoom and Futura with rumours of plans by some low-cost carriers to start offering or, in some cases, forcing Winter season UNPAID leave on crews.
New airlines in the Middle East? Yes, they are in the pipeline.
Let's look at FlyDubai as an example. A fleet of 737NGs with a demand for God knows how many pilots to fly them.
And boy, will they have the cream of the crop to choose from!
Thousands of pilots with thousands of hours on the NG, and even some willing to shell out for a type-rating, having thousands, let that sink in, THOUSANDS of hours on other medium and heavy jets.
As a young pilot, fresh out of school with your MCC and 250 hours TT with about 50 hours of that on multis, you have a snowball's chance in hell of getting a job anywhere in the world at the moment.
Even when the industry stabilises in God knows how long, you will still then be bottom of the barrel and you can bet the farm that your salary will be far lower than you thought, or the pin-stripe suited sales rep from ACME Flying School told you it would be.
You will find yourself clamoring to pay your monthly loan charges for the next few years and then as I said above, finding no respite financially when the new jobs come around because again, it will be an employer's market.
I am lucky enough to have a great position here in the Middle East and have been constantly asking myself of late, why would I bother going to the airlines and taking about a 70% cut in basic salary per year, crap rosters and no respect....my heart lies with flying heavy jets around the world, but reality has taken a firm hold on me now.
I'm staying put and for those of you about to shell out for an ATPL, I implore you to reconsider.
And for those of you who are half way through the process, I guarantee the majority of you, that it is going to be a very rough ride for the next few years.
Farrell
Last edited by Farrell; 25th Sep 2008 at 21:24.