Well, let's face it. Gone are the days where airlines will sponsor cadets fully when they can get them to pay. That's the way the industry is going and it's only a matter of time before SQ does the same. Is it ideal? Probably not. But when you look at how much it will save them, hey, at the end of the day, SQ is just another commercial entity trying to make money and not some charity organisation. So time to embrace the change.
As far as smoking goes, there will be cadets from any flight school that will smoke. I've seen my fair share of SFC cadets smoking also. And I still remember back in 2003 on an SQ flight to PEK, the flight was delayed for some reason and the captain was happily puffing away in the cockpit with the cockpit window open.
Over at STAA's ground school which shares the same premise as the ATR Training Centre, almost all the ATR pilots on their type course, including Captain Herve the Chief Instructor at ATR Singapore, smoke. The SFC Flight Instructors smoke in their uniforms. My Head of Training, CFI, Flight Instructors all smoke like chimneys.
I don't smoke personally and I hate the smell myself. But if smoking is insulting to the industry, then what about drinking?
Last edited by flying.monkeyz; 4th Oct 2013 at 16:58.