is there really an instructor shortage ?
hey,
anecdotal evidence tells me that there is now an instructor shortage in the UK, due to JAR closing the PPL + instructor rating route which I came through on myself.
In fact I heard of one person recently doing his FI(H) course who was being phoned up by a couple of training schools trying to recruit him before he even qualified.
how different from my day (late 1990's) and particularly about the year 2000 when there were 10 AFI(H)'s on every street corner or so it seemed and it was hard to get the first break.
and when I did get a break it was very slow building hours and experience, and I felt like I was percieved to a degree as a "scummy AFI" because there were so many of us chasing positions, where we did excessive hours at work for insufficent rewards (or so it felt at the time)
of course during 2001 CHC and Bristows hired a good number depleting the training schools, also there doesnt seem to be that many during instructor courses under JAR, because of the CPL and 300 hour requirement and I guess the £60k total spend or so required.
1) but hard evidence wise, is there really a shortage or were we just used to a glut and now it is more normal ?
2) if schools try and recruit what is their experience regarding availablity and quality of applicants compared to the recent past ?
3)will the status of for example the R22 instructor increase now, if they are in fact a bit rarerer (if thats a word!) and with that the pay £40 an hour for about the last 15 years as far as I can tell.
interested to hear the real situation on the ground !