The age old debate about who pays for what will probably go on for ever.
Where do you start ? PPL ? Comm ?
I feel that there are two main types of pilot. Freelance and employed.
I personally have always been freelance and have paid for all of my training and type ratings myself. The higher remuneration far outweighs the sometimes considerable cost of training. And I believe that it is because I am freelance I have been lucky enough to always have more than enough work. In the US at the moment a freelance Hawker Captain enjoys $900 per day on average and G4 Captains about $1100 per day. They pay for all there own training.
One has to remember that Aviation as we know it is a very tough, competative business and many operators work on very thin margins in order to survive. The bottom line is what are passengers prepared to pay for? Witness the dramatic competition between the budget airlines and the old established fossils in Europe. It is far more economically viable for operators to hire already qualified expierienced crews rather than commit huge amounts of capital to training inexpierienced ab-initio pilots.
The debate will continue for ever. The important issue is that we all strive to preserve the highest possible standards whether we are independent or employed.
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