Views on the job market and low-hour job possibilities.

[Snigs]

I can’t disagree with anything that has been said above, and one thing’s for sure, it will be tough getting that first flying job.

I passed my IRT on 10th September last year, and I was hopeful that I could land a job within a year, now I know that it’s going to take another two or more years before I get a sniff, and there will be younger pilots (but perhaps not better) offering a perceived greater return on an airline’s investment than I.

However, my message is don’t let it get you down. I recently spent a few days holiday in New York (my first visit), and I visited Ground Zero. I don’t mind telling you that I shed a lot of tears. There is a tacit aura of sadness and despair around what is essentially a hole in the ground, but I also sensed a real resilience in the people around me, and a hope that the future would somehow be a better place.

Remember people, over 3500 souls were lost there, and there were many acts of heroism from people both alive and sadly now dead. How can I feel depressed about my situation? I’m alive and I have a future, and if my future sees me working on a flight deck of a jet then I shall thank my lucky stars, but if it doesn’t then I’ll not be bitter.