The Quo16,
This forum is there so people may express their opinions, so here's mine -
I must stress one point before continuing - there is no such thing as a boom in the airline recruitment industry. There are times when finding a job is easier or harder than at other times, but there is no such thing as a 'boom' so to speak. It is ALWAYS bloody hard to find that first job, whatever the circumstances.
Personally, I think you should get the PPL done, and hourbuild in the States - it saves money, albeit not as much now the pound's falling against the dollar. Take that into consideration at the time of making important decisions. But when you're hourbuilding, push your limits - if you intend on going commercial (which you obviously do), get a night qualification, so when you're hourbuilding you're not limited to flying in the day, and you're also building experience. Track your NDBs, fly between a few VORs, plan some diversions, hit some Class C/D airspace, land at an international airport. To that last suggestion, this is a VERY good reason to fly in the states. Landing fees (which will cost you £10 a shot over here) are practically non existent, and the larger airports run very reasonable prices.
If you can, distance learn because it's cheaper, but try to keep as much of your professional training as you can to one school, as many airlines don't like looking up 101 different schools that they've never heard of. The big names are the safest bet.
Keep your costs down - ultimately you will end up with the same licence, regardless of where you train, so strike that balance between a good quality of training for a decent price.
Nobody is really qualified to tell you whether or not now is a good time to train. Past statistics suggest this is going to be a real nasty one (we're already entering into a depression), but correlation is not always correct. We could be out of here in a year's time, or it could take a decade to return to equilibrum. You'll find that 99% of people on here preaching about the financial situation are nothing more than armchair economists, who have a right to an opinion, but are probably incorrect. This is why I keep my views conservative.
Is now a good time to train? Is tomorrow going to see more or less road accidents than today? That's a pretty good comparison, because yes, there are factors we have an 'idea' of for tomorrow that will affect the answer we seek, but nobody can be sure. And anybody who thinks they are is a fool.
Also, we must consider that many many people have dropped out of integrated courses and put their training on hold in light of the current 'problem'. If this thing clears up sooner than we expect, those guys will be slapping themselves wondering why the hell they didn't carry on, because you will be next in line once the market of experienced pilots has dried up.
Do you have the ability to fund a TR after training? If things continue to go the way we dread, it's likely that Ryanair will be the only airline who doesn't batten down the hatches (they are well placed for the next year at least, slightly stumped by their having receipt of so many new aircraft this year). So there's an option, but unfairly that's dependent on your financial situation, and on top of that the assessment is a tough one, so it's all about how little eggs you're willing to have in your basket.
The other reason to keep your costs down is this - the airline industry is affected directly and violently by swings in the economy, but there are plenty of flying operations that are not. I could suggest a few places that are currently seeking out pilots if I was asked, and there you have an advantage. The flying tends to be SEP single pilot ops, but it tends to be abroad, and the pay is questionable. Your advantage is, if you can persuade the missus to move away, you'll be ahead of all those thousands of guys with experience who simply cannot afford to work a flying job such as that. Or those with committments back at home.
There really are far too many variables to consider to make a logical decision on when is the right time to train.
Personally, if you can tick those boxes above, I'd go for it.
I wish you all the best on your future endeavours, and may your flying career be a happy, and largely uneventful one!
Cheers, Ad