The point is, there is no need for people to spend £100,000 on training. When you step back and look at the big picture, it's a ridiculous sum of money to spend to get to sit in a jet somewhere.
Let's say you went down the Ryanair road (and that's a big gamble nonetheless) - if you keep your costs down you could be looking at £60,000 of debt max (still a horrendous amount of money to owe).
And I beg to differ - I know of four people in Ryanair, which is not a good figure to run statistics from, but they are all still happily (yes, happily) employed, and two have been there a couple of years now. Sure, only one of them is based in the UK, but this 'six month' nonsense is exactly that - nonsense.
Whether you are flying for a living, or training, or grounded due to the economy, I think we can all agree on one thing -
keep your options open and don't owe more than you can comfortably pay off.
WWW, sometimes it saddens me to see what you write. And that's got nothing to do with what you say about the economy - I don't need to come on here to see what's going on in the world. I'm talking about you as a person - I can see you care a lot for people's wellbeing on here, and that's very charitable of you. Whatever people say, you provide that very important voice from the other side, so well done. I can also see that you love your job, but fear for what it's going to become. I also thank you for the advice you gave me when I was a few years younger, ajinstansted
Yes, I continue to train - am I mad? Possibly. But unfortunately I have nothing else. Importantly, if I come out the other end into a vicious storm, I have my backups, and I can afford to keep myself current. This is why I continue. In a way, I am treating training as a small break from the slog of work. If I manage to locate a flying job at the end, that's simply a huge bonus.
Like hell am I ever going to pay for a type rating though. To those who do, good luck, and I understand why you do it. But unfortunately, it leads to the further degradation of our industry - it would be lovely to see people hold back, if only for a few months. You'd be surprised at what would change.
Cheers, Jack.