I am a Singaporean in my early 30s. Just wish to share my experience of my failed attempts to start a flying career .
Over the last 7 years, I am an avid follower of this and other aviation forums. I also watched many flying related news (e.g. stalling/diving training clips on youtube, aircrash investigation on cable tv, salary comparison webpages, etc). I have an engineering degree, am physically fit and have near perfect eyesight. I have applied for but failed to clear the first stage of SIA pilot cadet program thrice between 2005 – 2007. I signed up for PPL training in Malaysia in 2007 and my AME speculated that my disclosure of childhood asthma had put me at a steep disadvantage for the SIA cadetship. However the AME felt that my childhood asthma should not affect my flying and cleared me for Class 2.
My brief foray into self-sponsored PPL training (I did not complete the training) made me realize that flying requires intense concentration but is not that difficult (I have advanced boat, kayak, car and diving licenses). However even completing the basic PPL training on self-sponsorship is both very expensive and time consuming. For the latter, I had experienced making a four hour round trip headache-inducing bus journey to the airport (across the border), waiting two hours for the rain to stop, before my allotted slot expires, and ended up wasting an entire day without even getting close to the Piper. Self-sponsored PPL training usually provides you with the minimal and cannot be compared to the breadth, depth, focus and experience of the instructors at full time cadetship.
Very recently an opening for Jetstar ‘Cadetship’ opened up. I applied and was selected for an interview at a local hotel in Singapore this Friday. After careful research and consideration, I declined to attend the interview. I had in fact taken 2 days of annual leave from work to come to this decision. The decision was not an easy one to make. Although it had no real adverse impact on my life, it signaled the end of my pursuit for my dream career.
My reasons of not pursuing the Jetstar opportunity further are,
1. I will not be actually embarking on a Jetstar cadetship. In reality I will only be entering into a PPL, CPL training contract with Oxford Aviation and thereafter an MOU (sort of) with Jetstar for the advanced/type ratings phase. Unlike the SIA cadetship, the possibility of being ‘left on your own’ for the initial few years are much higher. My first contact point (application) is with Oxford Aviation, not Jetstar. My second contact point (interview) is again with Oxford Aviation, not Jetstar. And I have to fork out a S$400 application fee. This fee is significant but not really a real burden for me. However it shaped my perception that my relationship for the next two years is with Jetstar and if any thing adverse occurs I cannot depend on Jetstar. Unlike the SIA cadet pilot program, Jetstar had not invested directly in me and have a stake in my training and future career progression.
2. Phase I PPL/CPL (AUD 80,000 training loan with bank + AUD20,000 meals and expenses) + Phase II (AUD60,000 training after deducting Jetstar partial sponsorship/bond + AUD20,000 meals and expenses) will put me in debt by almost AUD200,000 (including interest and other misc expenses). This amount excludes the AUD100,000 ++ for two years opportunity cost of quitting my current job.
3. I am planning to get married and start a family soon. Hence another ‘con’ on my cost-benefit analysis. I also tried reasoning from another perspective, if I am 7 years younger, will my decision be any different? I reckon that I will be less risk-averse but may not have the financial capability to pay for the out-of-pocket expenses (of almost AUD50,000). Hence I will still be able to take the Jetstar route.
4. For the flying aspect, I do have some doubts of my ability to fly the Airbus safely as a low hour direct intake pilot. i.e. in the worst case scenario of an emergency and with the Captain incapacitated or overwhelmed, can I still land the plane? I am doubtful that my few hours in the simulator during type training will be fully compensate for my lack of experience.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne...22-217882.html,
http://www.relax.com.sg/relax/news/5...et_plunge.html
5. I recognize that fact the Jetstar is a budget airline and there is always and strong pressure for cost cutting. There’s also many similar views reported publicly and discretely by the Australian pilots at Jetstar. Will my compensation package get cut further, especially if Jetstar expands their recruitment in India or other ASEAN countries? This is a very likely possibility. Although I am prepared to be treated as a ‘commodity’, but have to face such reality 10-20 years later is another matter.
6. Will I enjoy flying or continue to enjoy flying even after I manage to join Jetstar two years later as a SO? I will be $200,000 in debt, on frequent standby, on a much reduced paycheck (compared to my current job), and not have time for anything else, at least for the initial few years until I am promoted to SFO. I will be 40 then. There after I will be fearing of either a furlough, a tail strike or developing an adverse medical condition. Either which will be a real possibility and may probably end a career. I have ageing parents depending on me, and I can risk this possibility.
7. At my 40s in my current job, financially, I will not be as well off as a Jetstar Captain with a full time wife/housewife at home but with the combined salary of my spouse, will still be pretty comfortable. Besides a dual, near mathching income diversify risks and lowers the income tax payable. The downside is I will have to fork out a fortune of a family holiday overseas annually. However I can always do without or downgrade such expectations anytime.
8. It is not the Jetstar program is bad. In fact it is a few notches better than the self-sponsored CPL-FI-hours building-CV sending to all airlines route. There’s a target, there’ structure, there’s a certain level of predictability and there’s assistance to help an aspiring pilot to get loans and some sponsorship. But unfortunately it’s just not sufficient enough for some people like me.
Will I still dream of flying as a career henceforth? I don’t think so. I am sad but have no regrets as I have tried hard to achieve my dream. Personally and retrospectively I could have tried even harder but I have other commitments and the sacrifices in attaining the dream is not for me to alone to bear. Especially for my age and circumstances.
Yup, I am still feeling sad. Hence this thread sharing.
For those of you who are still in the game, Good Luck.