I happened to swing by the Oxford Aviation forums just to see what spin they were putting on current events (as if there was ever any doubt). The forums there seem to be full of enthusiastic 17 / 18 year old kids who are all but clueless about the current state of things in our industry. They chat away with vigor and excitement about their forthcoming skills assessment as if, once passed, the blues, reds and whites on that 747-400 are but a foregone conclusion.
Of course, none of this is surprising. Think back to when you were 18. At that kind of age anything is possible. The world is yours to mold as you see fit. These 'adults' (who only qualify as such by legal status) have no financial acumen, no business sense and no idea what awaits them when they finish in the Utopian world that Oxford has created for them. In the background, the OAA brand manager makes soothing noises. He is careful not to sound reckless but, nonetheless, his tone strikes an unmistakable note of encouragement - "things will be ok chaps" - is the underlying message. I particularly enjoyed the side swipe at PPruNe when he attempts to blame this thread on someone who has an, "axe to grind with OAA".
During all of this, I couldn't help but imagine a parody of the latest Thomas Cook advert - I'm sure you all know the one, where Mr & Mrs Smith sit front and center while hordes of employees busy themselves painting stars in the night sky and so forth. Close your eyes and you can almost imagine it - the room full of expectant young faces while oxford staff hurry around hanging shiny jets from the ceiling with "welcome to my world" playing gently in the background.
These people are surely the very root of problem. The sales and marketing teams at the big flight schools. No shame, no remorse, just reeling them in on false promises, on 'ifs' and 'buts'. They've been selling it so successfully that one begins to wonder if they have started to believe their own spin. Anyway. I was on the cusp of joining the forums and posting, shall we say, a "different" opinion. Unfortunately before I had the chance to do so I felt overwhelmed by nausea and had to go and be sick.
I suppose my point is that however much the schools blame the airlines, and my god we've heard it enough recently, from the head of CTC in particular -"we can't set hiring policy, we are at the mercy of the airlines', there can be no excuse for luring unsuspecting young 18 year old's on to flight training courses given what the flight schools undoubtedly know - that there has, in fact, never been a worse time to consider being a pilot.
I have every sympathy with those currently looking for work - many of whom couldn't have reasonably been expected to predict the crisis in aviation. However, those currently in the process of signing up to integrated courses (and believe it they really are) whilst undoubtedly bearing some of the responsibility themselves, are having their naivety truly exploited by the unscrupulous management at places like Oxford and CTC.
"Built with you in mind". How very apt.
V2.