as I've written a number of times in the past,the so-called "good times" of the preceeding years Sept 01 were not that good. I've been around on the forum for a good 3-4 years, and those were not good times. Let me remind you:
- BA filled its requirements with a few DEPs and Cadets. Unless you were under 27, then that was not a suitable route.
- Influx of EU citizens, and those with Grandfather rights to come and work in the UK. A vast majority of available jobs were taken by those with 1000's of hours from Oz, NZ and ZA.
- Non CAP509ers were still expected to have at least 800+ hrs. Occassionally, you'd hear of other low houred people getting jobs, but it still was the norm to be high houred. Many were instructors, either part-time or full-time.
- A few other sponsorship schemes, like BM, Monarch, Brittannia and FlyBe (apart from BM these were all for under 27 yo)
Things back in the good-old-times were still grim for any low houred pilot. The competition was fierce because of the influx of non-UK citizens, and the topics on this forum were all of the same: CAP509, buying ratings etc. Add to this the current climate, and yes things are even worse: we have ex-Ansett pilots doing their conversions here, plus the many who have been made redundant. But don't for one minute think in 12 months time, when things may pick up (I have my doubts), that it returns to a land of milk and honey, it won't. There was NEVER such a time.
Be sensible.