Supply and Demand Vs Demand and Supply

[Bona Fide]

Most seem to miss the point. It’s all ‘accountants this’ and accountants that’ but the route to the RHS, pilot terms and conditions and declining standards are all a contemporary malaise in life as an airline pilot but are not necessarily linked to each other.


Clanger32 made a fair comment, just because a pilot has come the self-sponsored route does not mean he or she is rubbish. In fact given the choice between having a self-important Nigel who one day saw an advert in the Daily Telegraph for a pilot cadet scheme and decided it would be a good idea to become an airline pilot or somebody that has moved countries, slept on floors and done some of the crappiest jobs going to pay for their flying training, I would take the second option on most days. The point is some of the most anally retentive F/O’s I have flown with are the product of company cadet schemes and some of the most motivated and passionate F/O’s have come the self-sponsored route.

But irrespective of how they get to the RHS – they should all be off the same standard and it is the responsibility of the company and regulators to ensure this happens.

As for T’s & C’s everybody is quick to blame the airline ‘accountants’ and these cheeky Herberts who dare to want to join our ranks at any cost, but I’m afraid your barking up the wrong tree. Unless you are completely myopic or devoid of any contact with reality – you will realise that it is almost impossible for an airline to make money – and it is not because of said Herberts. In fact your time would be better spent writing letters of complaint to members OPEC about the cost of fuel, having a row with ATC over their charges followed by a rant over the P/A to your pax about their unwillingness to pay decent fares rather than trying to blame all your woes on the poor soul sat next to you.