"We cry foul that ATPL theoretical studies aren't treated as an equal to a degree"
Wait, this baffles me; There are actually people out there that want to consider ATPL theory as a degree? As in, equal to 4 or 5 years of university level qualification? What a joke; high school graduate requirements are more stringent than the joke that is ATPL studies, and high school is just glorified daycare to keep our teens of the street while they figure out what they want out of life. ****'s sake, I'm still pissed off at having been forced to spend 3400€ and
a mininum of 6 months (exl exam fees) on a sodding Distance Learning course, regardless of my background
@John_Smith
Why shouldn't we artificially raise the bar? Don't we have an oversupply? Is there anything wrong with being overqualified for the job? If anything, an educated pilot is worth more to the operator; They could potentially fulfill other roles in the company as well besides being the monkey in the cockpit. Pilots should be more qualified than the trolley dollies in the back, no offense. I do agree that airline flying is dull as dishwater and a monkey can do it, but that is a different topic.
So, you want to put FO's in the cockpit, unpaid for 4 to 8 years, however long it takes to upgrade, and then only pay them 35-45k€ (after taxes I hope). It is already almost unprofitable to become an airline pilot, considering the massive upfront investment pilots make on training and apparently some dimwits throw in another 30k for an overpriced TR. I agree we have a bit of a dichotomy between the previous generation, who didn't spend a fortune on training and is cashing in pretty well, and the current generation that starts with a debt (or at least out of money) and hopes to make it worthwhile in the end. I can't see anyone becoming a pilot if it becomes like any other job. Even if the airlines would sponsor your entire training, you have to be absolutely mental if you agree to go unpaid for 6 years (training + intern FO) for a pretty poor salary as a captain, and then take all the extra heartache for granted (ie hours, nights, schedules, bases). It simply isn't worth it; There is no future in that.
I flatout disagree that P2F or P2W or P4TR is not a safety issue. If you feel pressured to fly because you can't make ends meet, then that's an issue. If you have 0 authority and can get sacked for any reason, that's an issue. If you feel like can be replaced by literally thousands of other pilots that might be willing to do your job for less, then that is an issue. You need job security, fair remuneration, fair T&C. You will not find those with any employer engaged in any of the above.
@Redbull
Regarding the 150 000 - 200 0000€ debt; Let me give you an example. Back when I was first interested in flying I considered the KLM Flight Academy in Grongingen, the Netherlands. Back than (6 or 7 years ago) the full course fee was 117 500€. This did not include housing, exam fees, license fees, examiner fees, fuel surcharge (up to 9000€ by the time you were done) etc. The course takes approx 20 months on average. So, let's assume you spent about 140 000€ by the time you finished. The KLM FA had an agreement with ABN AMRO bank to provide students with a suitable loan up front, at 9.5% interest rate. If you had to borrow the full amount or close to, you would easily end up with 180 000€ or more in debt. The Netherlands are a pretty expensive country to do flight training in, other schools have similar prices or at least 90k€. It is not uncommon to have qualified 19 or 20 year olds with no prospects and a debt they can barely pay the interest for. It is quite sad and plenty of pilots and groups point the finger at FTO's that just pump out more and more students in a saturated market. In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't pass their selection process - I was a moron back then.