To fly, or not to fly?
Firstly, thank you to anyone who has initially taken the time to read this post!
I'm a first-time poster who has been reading around the forums for a while, and now really want to get my own answers and specific advice instead of just picking up tips and advice from other posts.
I'm 17 years-old, shortly turning 18, and have dreamed of flying for many years. I had a short spell in the ATC before the intense revision for GCSEs started, and have several relatives already working in aviation (Most likely where I got the aviation bug from, thanks Mum!).
I'm hoping to start training for an integrated ATPL at OAA in January 2012 (leaving me enough time to turn 18, and also enjoy my Christmas!), and genuinely will work as hard as possible to achieve the highest pass rate's and exam results in ground school and rating training to make sure I can end up near(ish) at the top of my class.
I've done my research - I know the current state of the global, european and British economies are all pretty awful and even our attempts to 'repair' it are being built on unstable foundations, but this hits every occupation, not just airline pilots.
Things are starting to brighten up though, right? BA and Virgin have opened up there Direct Entry Pilot Schemes, several airlines are bringing out their cadet schemes, and of course airlines are starting to look ahead to their 78's and 380's which will soon be joining their fleets. Isn't all this enough to kick-start aviation employment for airlines?
I mean, it's a cycle really. With BA and Virgin hiring, they're going to be taking F/O's and captains from the likes of Easyjet, Flybe, Bmi etc., which then leaves the spaces in these airlines for new recruits straight out of training - and then of course there's the practicality of major airlines such as BA and Virgin training experienced captains in their 40's and 50's to get TR's on the 78's and 380's - it's really not a long-term solution, and surely they'd much rather have younger pilots in who in the long run will be more efficient after the expensive TR training?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I expect airlines to be knocking on everyone with a fATPL's door and getting them to dot the i's and cross the t's, but surely it makes it a more open, opportunistic market?
And really, other jobs aren't much better - you spend a minimum of 3/4 years at uni on about £12,000 a year working for a degree, and at the end of that you leave uni (with a slightly excessive alcohol intake!) joining the queues of hundreds and thousands of unemployed people fighting for the same job as you, with the same qualifications too!
I was wondering if any current airline pilots (especially if you are involved in recruitment!), airline training pilots, students etc. etc. , could give me some advice on what i should be doing while I'm at Oxford?(hopefully), what I should expect when I graduate from Oxford?(albeit if it is in Spring 2013!), and what I can do to make sure I have a better, or equal chance as every other pilot fighting for jobs with low-cost airlines to get their foot in the flight deck door.
Any advice is greatly appreciated,
Thanks.