clanger. (No wind-up from me either).
The answer, which nobody wants to hear, is the one that got many pilots where they are now. It's much slower (but also cheaper) than the £100,000 RHS yet still exists for those who are prepared to go that route. Air taxi, instructing, survey, photography.....these jobs have not suddenly ceased to exist although at the moment there aren't many around. Then again the same can be said of airline positions for newbies. The 'cycle' in our industry is not a new phenomena so it's a case of having to wait for the upswing as thousands have done before. Why can't/won't people do it now?
Instant gratification. The training industry has done a pretty good job of convincing wannabees that it's the way to go. Borrow a huge chunk of money and one year from now you can be wearing a shiny uniform. It's as simple as applying for credit in any other walk of life and they are drawn in with seemingly little thought about how they'll service the loan. People don't take out a mortgage without ensuring they can meet their monthly payments so why on earth do they saddle themselves with this debt with no guarantee of a job?
Then gaining the licence becomes a two-edged sword. Yes, it's what everybody strives for but once it's achieved it signals the time of having to make loan repayments and how do we do that? Borrow more!
Call me old fashioned but I gained my PPL, saved until I had enough to undergo my CPL training, became an instructor, moved on to flying SEP and MEP aircraft, added ME/IR and ATPL subjects when I could afford them and on the way politely declined my employers invitation to buy ratings on turbo-props and later, jets. It wasn't all that long ago and I'll admit I envied those ahead of me on the ladder but I knew that if I bought my way in I'd be contributing to the problem. For years I sympathised with people facing the same dilemma and have put time and effort into mentoring where I could. Not for thanks or kudos but because that's what people did for me and I enjoyed putting something back.
Not everyone thinks the same though, do they? Over the last few weeks it has become clear to me that the very same people who were complaining not so long ago about 'having' to buy their jobs now won't help the next wave of wannabees, even those joining their own company. I'm disappointed to find that this is, for me, the last straw. After years of banging the drum and helping out where I could why should I help (assuming I could, which I can't) those who will buy their first job only to turn their backs on the next batch of their 'colleagues'?
It might sound callous but after sixteen years in the industry I'm tiring of hearing people complain while those who contributed to the problem quietly sidle away and those doing the complaining will make their own contribution to the problem and probably turn deaf later on when asked to help.
Edited to add. Or there's always the route you're taking (hopefully not for long) which was also very common, having one or more jobs to pay the bills and building hours when you can. Is it glamorous? No, and there's another reason few people will do it.