Im afraid it is not that simple, How many 18year old school leavers graduate with $75k tucked away to give to a flying school?
About half of my CPL class was between 17 and 20 years old, some through means of parents, some through means of savings. I trained alongside a friend who had saved up all his money during high school for his CPL.
You have to ask yourself what the extra year gives you
From what I hear, Griffith Aviation is falling behind, the students seem to be doing a 4th year catching up on flying training, as the provider's supply of flying training is not meeting the demands of the students.
-Standardised flight training - from the feedback I get from people studying aviation, a vastly superior product is delivered from such organisations, a disciplined approach from day 1 goes a very long way (this may or may not apply to all organisations)
Flight training may be standardised, but is it in the right/safest methods? I hear all sorts of rumours I won't bring up in here. Is being in a sausage factory being trained the same syllabus, better than going to a small flying school and learning essentially the same syllabus, as set down by CASA, though having an experienced, dedicated instructor? (By dedicated, I mean, to the student - as there are nowhere near as many students)
-Greater dedication to flight flight training, spending 5/7days flipping burgers is not the same as immersing yourself in Aviation for similar periods
I work as a shop assistant at a large supermarket chain, I immerse myself in aviation nightly, through PPRuNe, contacts and talking to people in the industry on Instant messengers. Most of my aviation networking is done from home. I feel that working a job like mine and paying off my own training as it is done is beneficial as I know where my money is going, and it's my money
right now, so I'm going to get my money's worth from the training. Not only that, I think it is a
much cheaper option to go through a small flying school than do a uni degree. Is it worth the difference in monetary terms?
Pyro