There are probably thousands of unemployed and skilled civil pilots out there with thousands of airline hours under their belt. Why is everybody so hung up about Harrier pilots?
The main issue is that thousands of experienced pilots (civil and ex-military) can't get their foot in the door because a deluge of cadets are willing to pay for ratings and work for peanuts.
A totally asymmetric, ill-proportioned and slanted supply of pilots, thanks to a cozy relationship between some LCC airlines with some over-dimensioned pilot factories, that's the issue at stake here folks! All the rest is just noise and propaganda!
The current situation almost resembles a pyramid/Ponzi scheme, where huge rewards are promised to the gullible new joiners at the bottom of the pile, as long as they fork over tens of thousands of Pounds/Euros/Dollars to be able to participate. Utter and complete madness!
