Hi Guys
I’m in the same boat; should I go for it this autumn or work for a while? My Dad’s pilot & he’s been trying to find out recruitment plans in the industry etc. His current advice, based on talking to recruitment managers at his own airline and one other, is that there may be some cadet schemes launched this autumn, but nothing is definite, and the numbers are likely to be well down on previous years.
Apparently (big surprise) there are a lot fewer people in training than usual. Obviously, if we start later this year, we’ll not be on the job market until the back of 2003 at the earliest. Some of the airlines are already getting nervous about recruitment then, anticipating a recovery by then. Hence starting cadet schemes when there are surplus pilots!
So my 3rd hand advice is “don’t rush into anything”. It would be dreadful to find out that there are cadet schemes coming out just after you’ve paid out lots of money! Anyone who signs up at a school between now and October (apparently, September is the traditional advertising month) is risking that. It also gives a few months extra for the market to recover before you get to the other end!
If I find out any more about cadet schemes, I’ll post it here: right after my application is in the post.
