To all those who 'dream' of the 'dream' job.
It is a good job. The glamour, however wears off after a short while and the reality of the constant scheduling, long days and difficult approaches in bad weather kick in.
Whilst everyone on the outside looking in sees the shiny bits, it's not until you do this job day in, day out that you see the work involved. Still, taking all that into account it is still a good job.
However, those that join now to live the dream will, in 10-20 years be the Captains lamenting the drop in conditions. It was a fantastic job when I started, flying hours per month were far lower, substantive pay was far higher, the respect afforded pilots was there however, sadly, it has eroded year upon year. That was in the days where NO-ONE paid for their Type Ratings and still the animosity between management/accountants and the 'expensive' pilots grew. Now we have wannabees beating the door down to the training department with fists full of cash begging to be allowed to fly the big shiny jet on the apron. Not content with that they are then shoving money under the noses of the accountants to sit in the RHS for 100 line training.
So, please tell me where this will take our profession in the future? Simply downward. Eventually the job will become so poorly paid, for what is at the end of the day a job with many anti-social hours and requirements, that the source of well heeled wannabees dries up. By then we will all have an almighty uphill struggle to return to where we are today let alone where we want to be.
What happens now to those who 'dream' with big piles of cash or debt will have an almighty impact on those in the industry over the next 10-20 years. Don't forget that people like O'Leary are the millionaires by exploiting you, there are very very few (if any) millionaires who have made their money purely from professional flying.
I am not having a go at those wannabees who think they can get their nose ahead by buying a TR and line training. It is human nature to try and get an advantage. The organisations that promot this scheme are the real villains. Lets be honest here, which system do we think benefits our profession the most? The system of selection based upon ability, character and compatibility or the system based upon who has the most money to complete the expensive course?
You decide.
Last edited by wobble2plank; 19th May 2009 at 09:04.