Hey guys,
I don't normally hang out in this part of the forum but thought I'd stop by my old hunting ground and see what was going on.
Firstly I'm an experienced pilot now with several thousands of hours and work as a Captain on a jet type. But I have been very fortunate and a lot of what has been said here is so true. In my 11 years or so in the industry it has changed massively. The uptake of Cadet pilots (as if putting the word Cadet in front of Pilot makes them less valuable?) and the major economic problems that have been faced world wide have changed the landscape forever.
ReadyForDeparture says it so beautifully. I am the type with flying in my blood. I grew up wanting to do nothing but fly. But, I had no bottomless pit of money and in fact could only afford the CPL ME IR (on finance). I couldn't stretch to an instructor rating and certainly any type rating was way out of my league. So how did I get in. I started at the very very bottom of the pile, finding a job on a piston twin, effectively flying as safety pilot, on the other side of the world, working for NO money. I was supported by some money from family and doing odd jobs for cash (some labouring work, factory work and cleaning aircraft). I worked my nuts off and the company gave me a Captain position on their twins. This was a freight operation, loading all the freight myself, unloading all the freight myself, de-icing myself and at times sleeping in the aircraft on the hard metal floor.
After around a year in that job, I lost it. Mainly due to the downturn after 9/11, but that doesn't matter, I lost it. A year and a half of mundane and boring factory work from 9 - 5 and I was even more certain that flying HAD to happen. After thousands of CV's sent everywhere in the world (and I literally mean every single aircraft operator in the world... the data is there if you know where to get it) and I got an offer, not so far from home. Boom... I was in. Still piston twins but I was now getting more money, doing 900 hours a year and getting some (almost valuable) experience and fast.
A few years later, I wanted more, I put out again many thousand CV's, this time only to turbine aircraft operators and boom... I got a bite, it took 6 months but I got it, again, closeish to home. Got a free jet type rating and that job took me from JFO to Captain in under 2.5 years and gave me 2 FREE type ratings. 4 years from start, Recession... job gone, out went the CV.
6 months of negotiations while I was losing my job and I was off to a far flung corner of the world, back as FO, but I was flying and on decent money. 1 year later, the recession bites again and I'm on my way back home for yet another job. This time I used my now extensive network, made hundreds of hours of phone calls, hassled enough people and got the job I wanted, now on my latest type but back to Captain. That's where I am now.
I have moved to any part of the world at the drop of a hat. I am ready to move anywhere at the drop of a hat, and for anyone that says there are NO jobs out there unless you have tons of cash or you stand out with thousands of hours, here's the truth....
There are tens of thousands of pilots flying every single day. There are jobs. They may be hard to get and they may mean making some difficult decisions and life changing risks, but that's why successful pilots are exceptional people. Yep, it's in my blood and I will do this as long as they give me my medical. Yep, I am insured very heavily against redundancy and against loss of medical. But what's else is I am willing to go to Thailand, China, Dubai, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, USA, Brazil for the right opportunity. My limit is my personal safety. My life is more valuable than flying, but remember, flying is my life.
[a note before the sad pilot bashing starts... nope, I have a life. In fact I socialize ONLY with NON-pilots, I have a 'relatively' normal personal life. I go out with normal people, I dine in normal places and I shop like a normal person. I do fitness training with weird fitness freaks and I like Thai Curry from my local pub. The fact I love my profession and strive to make it my professional life doesn't mean I can't have a normalish social and personal life, roster dependant of course]
There are low hourd pilots getting work, I know some of them. With my network I get quite a few calls from guys wanting to find out where the work is but so often they say things like "oh, I don't want to go to the Phillipines" or "my girlfriend says...". Great for you, so stay here.
And before you go on bashing me, or this story, I know times have changed and I know it's got a hell of a lot harder than it ever was for a newly minted licence holder, let me point this out to you... no matter how many hours you have or what qualifications you have, someone always has more hours than you, more experience in operating environments and regions, more rugged good looks, more money, more time and more women/men on their arm. No matter what your experience it is always a hard career. But when you get there, with the right decisions it pays VERY well. It's currently the 3rd highest paid profession in the UK, beaten only by Company Executives and Doctors (official figures, source... google it for yourself) with an average salary of £64,000 per year (ish), that takes into account low paid FO's and high paid TRE's, so it's a fair number.
With something being so lucrative, it's bound to be competitive, it's bound to be hard, and if you love it, it's always worth it. Not just because of the nice pay cheque but by far for the most amazing reason of all. IT IS FLYING!
My personal advice, take it or leave it. If it's ALL you want to do and you will sacrifice whatever you have now to get it, DO IT. If that statement doesn't fit, think very long and hard about the risk you're willing to take and if you'll be happy to try and potentially accept failure.
Final note: every single person I went through training with (that I maintained contact with) made it eventually. For some it took 5 years or more, but none regretted it.