To Photo 1 and all the other P2F’ers. Someday you will be having a meal with other pilots who earned their way into the cockpit the old fashioned way…. no short cuts… just plain hard honest work, building legitimate hours to earn their right in the right seat… no bribes or tapping the family treasury to buy one’s way into the cockpit.
Of course one of the legitimate pilots will ask you the ultimate question. “So Photo 1… where did you do your training, and did you build your hours.” Gulp… will you have the courage to admit that you bribed your way into the cockpit by paying a training organization for jet time? Or are you going to exclude the fact that you were one of those who continue to keep the bar low and prevent the improvement in terms and conditions for our profession?
The P2F stigma does not disappear so easily. The world of aviation is a very small one at that. Your baggage will follow you no matter where you go. Someday, you will apply for a job with a carrier. You will be included in the selection process with other low timers. Perhaps your fellow low timers may have little or no jet time. Anyway during the interview, and explain how you obtained your jet time with such low time. You can’t lie, especially during an interview. Trust me, it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you were one of the P2F’ers. Whether you fess up during the interview or the record background check your prospective airline will conduct. I’ll bet a month’s salary you will be out and the low timer in. Most carriers want honest hard working pilots who appreciate the value of their airman certificates.
Lets fast forward into the future. Let’s assume you manage to get on with a carrier. All the shine and buff has worn off, and you are feeling less than content with your position, pay, terms and conditions. You are pissed off because your airline wants to increase your productivity from 80 to 95 hours per month with no pay increase. Further your airline wants to reduce your annual leave from 4 to 2 weeks per year. Your airline wants to cut back on medical and retirement benefits. And all you do is just grumble. Well, take a good long look in the mirror and ask who is responsible for such crappy treatment. The answer is in the same mirror. Remember Photo 1, we are now in the future. That said go back to 2011 when you wanted to sidestep the normal route to the cockpit and P2F. Remember how the training organization your parents paid good money to and how the airlines exploited you and others like you. Now you have the answer as to why terms and conditions within our industry are on the decline… The P2f’ers are a major part of the problem. And that’s why you can’t expect other pilots who earned they way into the cockpit to really respect you. Oh, they’ll probably talk to you, but you’ll carry the P2F’er label wherever you go.
Follow your heart and your conscience.