Younger pilots more likely to get a job?

[Aerofoil]

Hi all

I have a friend who is 22 i think and has just got a job with Excel airways pretty much straight out of flight school!
This got me thinking something....
In a general sense do the younger pilots find it easier to get a job than the older guys and are they more likely to get a job with a big airline such as Britannia or Air 2000?
Also is it a case of the younger the better?

I understand that some candidates are better than others but i was just trying to get a general view maybe based on statistics? something like that.

Thanks in advance

Dave

[Aerofoil]

anyone any views?

[six-sixty]

Being 34 and starting out I had to look at this too, but the answer is an emphatic YES, just like anywhere else in any industry anywhere, all other things being equal the younger guy will get the job hands down.

It's not legal, its not moral, but it's the way things are. In fact it probably makes more sense in aviation since older = more likely to have developed medical problems = more risk to the employer of not recouping expensive line training/ratings etc.

Hope this helps. S-S

[Northern Highflyer]

I don't fully subscribe to that theory. It depends on each particular airline and what they are looking for at any one time. An airline full of twenty somethings is in for a rough ride at some point. Assume they all stay there, they would all retire together.

Younger pilots are more likely to move jobs so there is an argument which says that younger pilots may be more of a risk. Spend thousands getting them type rated only for them to leave after a year.

Older pilots may take longer to train = more expense, so maybe they cancel each other out on a risk basis ?

As for medical, well anyone who is fit will have a Class 1 and that is all that matters. Ill health = no class 1 = no job, whatever your age. Is someone at say 34 at a far greater risk of ill health than someone who is 24 ? anyone got figures ?

It's horses for courses. There are jobs for a wide age range. The hard part is finding them.

[six-sixty]

I did predicate it with "all things being equal" and you are right to point out some of my deliberate over simplifications!

However on the medical front the fact that time between medicals is a function of our age is relevant here. Compare 2 hypothetical cars each with an MOT, one 20 years old and one 2yrs old... which one is most likely to pass next years test?

I can't believe this doesn't come into play in hiring decisions.

[Northern Highflyer]

I appreciate what you say six sixty but just to be awkward. If the 2 year old car has been thrashed and the 20 year old car carefully looked after, I would go for the latter. :)

The medical thing is like the lottery, nobody knows when they will lose it, and it can happen at anytime to anyone. Sure, someone who is older is more likely to fail the medical quicker, but I would suspect that the risk as a percentage between twenties and thirties is minimal. Now if we are comparing twenties to fifties, that's a different story, but hopefully by then I hope to have several thousand hours under my belt and be settled in the LHS.

That being said, those in their forties and fifties will have more experience (generalising here), and possibly the required type rating, etc, so the cost to the airline of training is drastically cut compared to a twenties or thirties fATPL 250 hours guy/girl. That would be a big factor in their decision making process.

If we take a 24 year old 250 hour fATPL and a 44 year old 250 hour fATPL then the 24 year old will win every time.

There are many things to consider when it comes to recruitment, and age is just one of many factors.

To answer the original question, I would say that younger pilots don't find it easier to get a job, possibly the opposite at the moment as experience counts for a lot in this game.

Good luck with the study. :ok:

[six-sixty]

Absolutely. I can even out-awkward myself though - despite my previous post I was actually being Devils Advocate. I lost my class 3 medical and a place in the RAF when I was 19 through serious illness. It took me 5 years to get it back. Noone could have possibly seen that coming.

I look after myself much more than I did then and am now (touch wood) healthier for longer than ever before - though that doesn't make me ipso-facto healthier than a 21yr old.

Anyway I am arguing against myself here. If I thought age was a serious impediment I wouldn't be here would I... good luck all fellow Grey-viators (sorry!)

[VFE]

Out of the eight or so people I know who got jobs during the last 12 months the eldest was 28. The mean age was 23. The youngest guy had just turned 21 but looked about 18 years old!

VFE.

[dorosenco]

Older pilots have a lot of advantages. One of the most important skills is life experience. They are usually more educated and take less risks. When I walk into the cabin I always look into the cockpit just to see the age of the pilots. A gray hair captain makes me feel good and a gray hair FO next to him makes me feel safe.
If I were to choose between a 250hrs 20 years old and 250hrs 30 years old, I would go for the 30 years old just because I know that he has more life experience and he will take less risks.
I agree, above 40 the health issues will overcome the experience advantage compared to a 20 years old.
In the US it is a fact that you will never get into the majors before 33-35 and 2500TT under your belt with 1000 turbine.

[FlyingForFun]

VFE,

But how old are the people you know who were looking for jobs but didn't find one? If the oldest person you know who was looking for a job was 28, then your numbers are pretty meaningless, aren't they ;) :D :p

FFF
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[VFE]

Good point FFF and a glaring ommision on my part. I would say the average age of those I know looking for work in the last 12 months is around the 33 years old mark.

VFE.

[Flying Farmer]

Lets look at the hard facts here.
Ageism alive and well? difficult to say at the moment with so few jobs about. What I can say is that at 41 and after sending out around 250 cv's in the last 18 months have only secured one interview. The instructing I did last year was through being in the right place at the right time and my current flying in piston twins through just making myself available.
My thoughts are that any of the major airlines are unlikely to look at me in the current climate, turboprop operators might once things pick up. The reasoning behind this as I understand is that us old uns tend to struggle through the type rating! have this on good authority.
In our favour is the fact we may stay a year or two longer with the company, but with fewer low hour guys about in that age bracket I can't really see that to be a major consideration when hiring.
I can only see age as a bonus in the sector I'm aiming at, single pilot air taxi ops, who would the guys in the back rather see, a young fresh faced guy of 20 or a more mature 40 year old!! :}
All in all, yep, the younger low hours guy is going to get the job, who said life was fair.
Flying F

[Bobby Guzzler]

Off my training course the guys that got jobs were 23, 24, 25 and 25. Had older guys there and they are still looking now.

As for Monsieur Dorosenco's comments about feeling safer with a silver haired chap similarly experienced to a young guy, hmm? Not ageist, but believe first jobbers should on principle have a steep learning curve! And then if that means the younger the better then so be it.

[scroggs]

It's true that, in general, a younger brain will abosrb new knowlege more quickly than an older one! There are demonstrably fewer training risks with younger candidates for a first flying job; that's why the RAF limits its pilot applicants to 23 years old.

However, experience counts for an awful lot. Not life experience, but flying experience. That's why the vast majority of longhaul flight crew are in their forties or over. Once you've been flying for a good few years, the risks in retraining you in a new aircraft type are far smaller than the risks of employing an inexperienced youngster for the same job.

So, for your first job it helps to be younger. It's not ageism, it's pragmatism. That doesn't mean there are no jobs for the older ones amongst you, but it will be more difficult.....

Scroggs