"Not meant to be" or "Where there is a will there is a way".
Coolred38,
As a current Boeing 737 captain I have seen several of these ab-initio programs in my career. In my opinion the weakest point is the selection process. It is weak because ultimately the people who make the decisions on who gets selected as a pilot are those who are politically connected or those bankrolling the process. Neither one of those “qualifications” has any idea on what makes a “good and successful” pilot. The funniest thing I ever saw regarding this kind of thinking was a video clip of young cadets swinging on trapezes like gymnasts in training because whoever was in charge of pilot training thought pilots should be able to see and think clearly while doing maximum maneuvers in their fighter jets. For what it is worth their pilots were slaughtered in combat.
Another dumb example of this was a major US carrier who needed pilots-40 years ago-decided all they needed was to find ‘really smart” people and make them into pilots. So they went out and recruited PHD students to train at the airline’s expense. Over the long term they were not any more successful than most other candidates.
No, your son’s dream does not have to die. If he is determined and persistent he can achieve his dream.
In 30 years of flying I have worked with military and civilian pilots, those from prestigious schools and those who went to schools nobody remembers. It is not where a pilot gets their training that matters. What matters is the personal drive for excellence, maturity and the ability to make good decisions-the rest of it is hard work.
I believe the American economy will continue to decline. As that economic decline takes place the buying power of other currencies will increase making the cost of training in the USA cheaper than most other places. There are many good schools here in the USA, and other places in the world.
I would pass on two things. First of all you need to make sure there is no medically disqualifying item in your son’s health. As pilots we undergo a fairly extensive medical screening every six months. There are many conditions that will cause a pilot to loose their medical certificate, without a medical certificate you cannot fly. Secondly, the flight training is only the first step. After you complete your training you have to accumulate hours of flying experience in increasingly complex aircraft to have any chance at a commercial pilot job. Ab-initio is great, especially if there is a flow through job at the completion of the training. But it is not the only way.
“It was not meant to be” is a cultural mindset, and I respect that. So is “where there is a will there is a way”. We are free to choose. I wanted to be a military pilot; the military rejected me because of a fault in one of my eyes, so I went the civilian route. I will never have the exhilaration of being shot off the deck of an aircraft carrier at night with a fully loaded fighter. So what? My real ambition was to be a Captain of an airliner-and that is what I am today. In spite of being medically rejected by the military.
Respectfully,