Foggy,
From another wannabe’s perspective, it would appear that many feel an ‘apprenticeship’ is less relevant, especially to the low hour pilot who is
desperate to get the RHS of a 737 or similar.
In my own opinion and it is only that, there are a great number of people within this forum who feel that without any other prior experience, other than their training, they can expect to walk into a job with the likes of EZY, BA, Buzz et al flying a shiny jet. I’m not saying it’s impossible nor do I mean to be arrogant in my comment, it’s my view.
From listening to the various moderators within Pprune and at their seminars, experience is key to obtaining the ‘dream job’ (or maybe it’s just luck) and this is certainly reiterated in job advertisements in the likes of Flight International and various threads within this forum.
I work within the construction industry where experience is key and without it your name and worth are little. Although I have not completed an ‘apprenticeship’ as such, there is a learning curve like with any career when starting out and time when the necessary basic and underpinning knowledge must be obtained beyond training. I feel the same applies for pilots.
The points I feel that Danny, Scroggs and others are making, is that by chasing that ‘dream job’ and blatantly ignoring others, of which there are many, you will be missing out on some excellent experience and good times that are more likely to make you a more attractive employee on paper than a.n.other who has only just been issued their license.
Ultimately, I feel that every wannabe will have their own agenda and this will spread across the whole spectrum of possible flying jobs.
In direct answer to your question,
Is the 'apprenticeship' becoming less relevant these days due to fewer opportunities in these career steps? My answer would be no. I would say that it’s crucial.
Any others………..
Funkie
oh, have I opened a can 'o' worms......