Just read my last post on here and it seems to be one of the 'cloud in the sky' posts. Don't really know why I said it.
The 'pilot shortage' that is banded around so often seems to be yesterdays news. Most of the literature concerning this shortage was produced in 1997 and 1998. If there was such a desparate shortage as some sources would have you believe, then why are airlines stopping sponsorship and why are some cutting back on recruitment?
In my opinion, for people in our position it is decision time. I read in the paper this morning yet more bad news about the US and Japanese economies. It doesn't need saying that commercial aviation depends upon a strong econonmy. When you are looking at spending x amount of money on training for a career with no guarentee of employment then a downturn in world economic fortunes and forecast is not what you want to hear.
Going back to answer the basis of this thread.....While aviation does have a certain romantic side to it, it is at the end of the day, an industry that suffers like anything else. If the economy goes t**ts up then those of us who borrowed 50k+ from a bank could find ourselves in a whole world of trouble. If the aviation industry is hit then it is more than likely the economy would be in deep trouble. 50k could suddenly look like a 100k when people are trying to pay it back in a struggling economy.
I think everyone who does ATPL training must have trepidations about spending that kind of money. If they didn't they must be either very rich or totally mad. Everyone on here wants to be an airline pilot but to go blindly into something like this without the proper sense of perspective would be utterly disasterous.
bow5.