This was the third Flyer exhibition i've visited in as many years. Firstly, I can't believe they still haven't learned their lesson about the numbers of people they get through the doors - every year the facilities, especially seminar and 'briefing' rooms have been pitifully inadequate for the number of people trying to get in. Yesterday some people were grabbing seats in there a whole two hours before the first 20-minute talk!!
. And every year they give the same old apologies claiming they didn't expect so many people; I'm not quite sure why at every show they keep expecting so few compared to the previous one! Get a grip please!!!
Anyway, rant aside, it was again worth the visit, though I think after three shows there's not much more I could gain from a fourth. Sure, there weren't any absolute answers about whether its right to start training now, but I wasn't expecting any - mainly because there is nobody in the world who could possibly say for sure! The overall feeling from the schools and presentations was that the economy is predicted to start recovering in around 18-24 months, and with it pilot recruitment drives. Its nothing more than a guess, but its the best anyone can offer at this time.
So there's no getting away from the fact its a gamble. A £70,000+ gamble (if you go integrated). But so it has always been; the students who are graduating now, at the worst possible time, all went into training during the boom times when the 'better' FTOs struggled to train enough pilots to meet demand. Who knows, people who start in the next few months could be the first to hit the anticipated wave of airline recruitment. Or maybe not. I don't think the exhibition was the place to go for anyone looking for answers to this question. In my view it comes down to personal opinion, and whether the individual feels the time is right for them to start training. And if they do then it would be foolish to not expect the worst case scenario and have some form of contingency plan in case they don't find that elusive job within a few months of graduating.
As for the NatWest stand, that was for me also one of the most interesting I visited. They say they look at each person individually, tailor a loan to suit that person, their family, circumstances etc, and there also seemed to be flexibility over the commencement of repayments giving you a bit of breathing space to find a job after coming out of an FTO. I can't speak for all of the FTOs there but a lot seemed to use some Spanish bank (the name was an acronym that escapes me now) which it turnes out demands repayments only 2 months after course completion! However I don't think any FTO would care where the money came from, and I think I would certainly choose a NatWest or any other loan that was tailored to me rather than tailored to a specific FTO course.
They were among the main things I got out of the day anyway, please put me right on anything I've missed or got the wrong idea about. I appreciate that most of the people you speak to at these shows are effectively salesmen, so obviously you have to keep that in mind and not get blinded by the sales talk. But overall I found that most of the people I spoke to, when probed hard enough so to speak, were very open and honest about the situation.
Did anyone see any of the airline seminars? I unfortunately missed out on tickets for them due to a combination of woeful handling by Flyer and the fact I had to travel down from the Manchester area by train. What did they have to say?
Mike.