Airline management are thinking a number of steps ahead on this.
What happens when Management finally succeed in dumbing down the piloting job to a tradesman type equivalent with commensurate pay to boot .Yet the cost of achieving said dream in the traditional way by learning to fly on real aeroplanes doesn't get any cheaper ,does it ? What will that do to the pilot demand/supply equation?
If you are thinking it will help the pay/conditions struggle, sorry ,I don't believe it will thanks to the MPL. Most airlines own simulators. What does a simulator cost to run? How much do you think an Airline sponsored MPL course would really cost an airline, particularly if the airlines package the deal in such a way that the empoyee ends up bearing a major proportion of the cost as is now occuring with airlines charging new employee's for their endorsement.So the future as I see it will be buy your job, work for not much more than an average wage , if you don't like it , bugger off, because there is little to no financial risk to the airlines.That is how I believe management plan to manage the potential pilot supply problem in years to come, by subsidising the cost component of the MPL to prospective wannabe future pilots in order to achieve the numbers they require. Unfortunately this will also spell the end of GA as a consequence.
Last edited by blow.n.gasket; 17th Aug 2009 at 10:26.