dusty crop
The general demographic with cadets is that the majority tend to be in their mid twenties. The remainder tend to be weighted more in their early twenties with a few late teens, and some in their thirties. The older cadets often have stronger financial platforms. For example, they will often have used a previous career to finance (wholly or in part) their
ab-initio training regime.
In my experience, cadets from the higher age group progress at very much the same pace as the younger ones. There seems to be little discernable difference. A comment that is frequently proffered by the older cadets themselves, is that they felt their younger classmates had the advantage of more recent school/university/education experience, which was something they themselves had to re-adjust to. That is their perception, it doesn't seem to make any difference to their real world progression.
As for "stressful situations" the idea that younger cadets present deficiencies in this area is frankly nonsense. As for "life experience" the general conversations I have with pilots from any age group are equally interesting based on their individual "life experience" and it really doesn't correlate to their flying or management ability for any given point along the general learning curve.
Those airlines with cadet programmes are looking for individuals who will be able to progress rapidly up a very steep learning curve. They will display maturity and common sense, and they will become productive in a timely and cost efficient way to the commercial enterprise. The companies do not expect, want, or notably experience, cadets failing. Their selection,
ab-initio training, and advanced training is all designed to minimize those risks. It is a regimen that has existed for over 50 years now, and has expanded markedly in the last two decades.
I am afraid the term "life experience" tends to be a bit of a "red flag." It is intentionally non-specific and means whatever you want it to mean. If a company is looking for particular attributes (and they always are) it would expect them to shine through and be highlighted from the "life experience". It is rather like the people who state they have an ICAO pilots licence. It means nothing (they are nearly all ICAO state issued licences.) It is used to mask the fact, that it isn't necessarily the specific one that a company requires.
By the time a twenty year old, or a thirty year old reaches the flight deck, their ability to cope with the relevant stressors will have been tested and assessed many times. The "fear" and stress of going in the simulator in a jeopardy testing scenario is an everyday event. I can assure you that some perfectly capable "life experienced" pilots start to dissolve at the prospect. Something they would never do on the line.
The point of replying here, is to offer the benefit of experience. There are plenty of people with opinions some of which are based on the way they wish the world was, rather than the way it actually is. I am not concerned whether anybody wishes to ignore the comment, challenge it, or use it as part of their personal tool kit.
As for "spelling and grammar" on an international bulletin board I doubt there is a high expectation, although a lot of people clearly make a lot of effort. The theme of the site "professional pilots" involves clear communication at it's core. There is a great deal of mature comment on these threads and often from people for whom English isn't their first language. It is difficult to support the idea that someone is advocating their
maturity/life experience when an entire post is full of
emoticons,
text speak, and punctuation substituting for gaps between words.
i wonder if u would nt agree......with,that,suggestion....LOL
Perhaps you would like to give us your educated opinion on airlines who take on people for type ratings and make considerable profits on those said type ratings and put people in hold pools for years maybe at a time also your opinion on mpl licences instead of nit picking but that is going off thread
Yes, it is off topic, and I have made many hundreds of posts on the subjects of training and licensing, most of them providing some factual historical background to the evolution involved in those subjects. They are all there to read if you really want to.