Captain Biggles 84,
Agree with your statement. Indeed there is a need for pilots in the more rural parts of the industry, and always will be. I would imagine that cadetships would evaporate the supply in the long run, leaving these areas a bit stuck.
sickofitall,
Please refrain from using a condescending tone in what should be a constructive discussion. I have spent years of my life in GA a bloody long way from starbucks thanks very much and I was trying to offer you a different perspective to the discussion, which clearly I have been unsuccessful at.
You accuse those who 'pay' for a job of doing the wrong thing. I could not agree more. But how is it any less wrong than working up north in illegal or near enough to conditions on less pay than what is mentionable? You and I both know what it is like up there and you can't tell me that everything that goes on is kosher. Yes I agree you cannot buy command experience, but whether you attain that in a C172 or EMB120 doesn't really matter at the end if the day. Command time is command time. Yes a cadet starting at Skippers as an F/O will not experience as much diversity as a GA charter pilot, and may not get command time for a while but does it really matter in the end? I don't think it changes the sort of pilot they become, cause they get the command experience sooner or later anyway.
I'm not saying that going bush is a bad idea, hell, I did it and wouldn't trade a minute of it for the world, but if all you want is a cushy jet job, and you can get it without putting yourself through years of sacrifices, why wouldn't you? We only went bush because we had no other choice, so you and I might've done things differently had there been other options available to us. (Without the benefit of hindsight.)
If my comments make you sick mate, I suggest you talk to the families of those who have perished in unairworthy death traps chasing the dream in underpaid jobs while making the same sacrifices as we did. You might find your sickness becomes contagious. I've realised it could've been me - and wondered how I survived it all sometimes. Give that some thought cause GA ain't getting any safer as aircraft get older, operating costs increase and budgets stay the same size or shrink.
Again, I never said paying for a job was the right thing to do but neither is accepting sub standard pay/conditions.
520.