The September 2012 edition of Australian Aviation includes a great article titled "No Wonder - Are kids falling out of love with careers in aviation?" by Jim Carden.
The article was first published on the Australian Aviation website on 6 August and includes a bunch of reader's comments.
Whilst I'm not a 'kid', I've recently been spending a lot of time researching and contemplating whether 'chasing the dream' at age 30 would be a good or stupid decision. A few weeks ago I started a thread called "Zero hours to RPT pilot within 5 years?" and I received quite a few really informative public and private replies from pprune members.
Anyway, I would like to reproduce the online comment I submitted yesterday...Someone out there might get something out of it....
Buzz says:
September 5, 2012 at 1:36 pm
The sorry state of pilot remuneration in GA and the regional carriers is simply a result of economics, demographics and social trends in Australia.
Australia is a very wealthy nation. In 2009/10 the ABS conducted a very detailed study into levels of household wealth. Even back in 2009/10 the median Australian household had amassed $426,000 of wealth and the mean household held $720,000.
62% of private wealth in Australia is held by the top quintile (20%) of households, with an average wealth of $2,223,000. Similarly, in 2009/10 the average household in the top quintile brought in gross annual income of $205,036.
Flying training for recreational or professional purposes has never been an egalitarian pursuit, however air transport operators made the strategic decision around a decade ago to source as many young pilots as possible from the high wealth, high income households described above. Operators knew that balance sheets would look a lot better if the individual could be forced wear as many training and development costs as possible and be paid on par with earthbound employees well into their flying career. They’ve achieved this objective with great success.
Airlines take great delight in sourcing cadets from well to do families because they know their salary will effectively serve as ‘play money’ for the first 10 years of their flying career. How the cadet’s family stumps up the exorbitant course fees is irrelevant – The problem lies with ‘wet behind the ears’ cadets having absolutely no comprehension of the value of money, thinking that FO remuneration below the national average income, after having dropped $100,000-$200,000 on their training, is an acceptable return on investment.
Step down the food chain from cadet schemes to GA operators and regional carriers – They’re able to pay early to mid-career pilots a pittance because they know a significant proportion of them are able to supplement their low income with that of their partner and/or handouts from the bank of mum and dad and/or inheritances. Job applicants whose CV suggests that their initial flight training and living expenses were paid for by someone else are exactly what the recruiters, hiring managers and accountants are looking for.
Australian school leavers and university graduates from an average socioeconomic background aren’t stupid. They know they face one of the most expensive residential property markets in the world and that the cost of living in Australia will only continue to spiral upwards. They do the sums for how much flying training will cost and how long it will take, their remuneration prospects in the civil aviation industry, the likelihood of making it all the way to a major airline and the likelihood of maintaining long-term employment in what is widely-recognised as a volatile industry with an uncertain future. Many potentially very capable pilots discard the option of a flying career without a lot of umming and ahhing. They know that in other vocations and industries they will make a good or excellent financial, professional and lifestyle return on their investment within half a decade.
Sadly, aspiring pilots who weren’t born with a silver spoon and take on debt to fund their flying training or endorsements have very little appreciation of what’s involved in paying down several tens of thousands of dollars of debt early in their career. Student debt is a sensible and worthwhile personal investment in fields like health, education, law, engineering, business and the trades, however in the world of aviation there’s no hiding that it’s an enormous gamble. Once qualified to fly, those with large debts will happily accept the crumbs from the table to keep the bank manager at bay and to cover their basic living expenses.
Some personal experiences/opinions:
I studied Aviation Management at university in the early to mid 2000s. Those of us in the Management Stream had to achieve a UAI cut off score in the 80s to be accepted into the degree program. On the other hand, the ‘rich kids of leisure’ of the Flying Stream were predominately selected based on their family’s ability to pay upfront or via biannual instalments. Most of the ‘rich kids of leisure’ had never worked a casual or part-time job in their life, and all of them were living the good life throughout university on their parent’s nickel.
In terms of effort and attitude the Flying Stream students generally fell into one of two categories: (1) The ‘model’ students who had an appreciation of the amazing opportunity they had been afforded. They approached their flying training in a professional manner and did their best when on campus for their academic studies. Several years on, some of them have made it into the RHS of a turboprop or jet, some are still flying bug-smashers and the rest have given up the dream altogether. (2) The second category was the spoilt brats who were half-hearted, naïve, mucked around and completely blew their opportunity to capitalise on their fortunate position. I’m pretty sure they all exited the aviation industry once they realised they were still years away from a well paying gig with a major airline.
Personally, I’ve always wanted to fly, however for a range of rational and irrational reasons I’ve suppressed the flying bug for many many years. My non-flying career has allowed me to pay off my first home with my partner before the age of 30, build a pretty good superannuation balance and enjoy a debt-free lifestyle going forward. Unlike the life of a pilot I’ve never had to work shiftwork, my weekends are my own and my employers have paid for my postgraduate study and lots of professional development opportunities. Unfortunately though, I’ve not had all the great experiences of learning to fly and making a living tearing around the skies.
I’m currently facing the high-stakes decision of whether I should ‘chase the dream’ in my thirties, fully aware of the sorry state of the aviation industry. Essentially, I have four options: (1) join the likes of the silver spoon cadets (2) join the ‘rich kids of leisure’ on a university flying program (3) join the family/debt/self-funded flyers making their way through GA and regional carriers (4) stick with my desk-bound job, get my PPL and happily fly something sporty on the weekend and treat aviation purely as a leisure pursuit.
I wish the small minority of self-funded aspiring pilots all the very best in their flying careers. You’re fighting an uphill battle but if you achieve your goals the victory will be all yours…