What's happening to the aviation industry?

[helen0888]

As someone relativly new to the aviation scene whilst doing research on it i cant understand what direction its going in when thinking about the future

* With sponsorship schemes and other pilot stepping stones now non existant are pilots not in demand?
* Has 9/11 had an impact on recruitment or the attitude towards aviation?
* Obviously none of you have crystal balls, but in ten years time will the career or a pilot be in total decline?

from postings of this forum its sometimes hard to tell; in one post ill be reading about people who've sent off hundreds of cvs to no avail, no more sponsorship schemes, and no chances for low houred pilots, and then in another thread ill be reading about the new A380 all the constant developments of modern day aircraft

whats happening to the industry? Is it in decline or growing around us?

like i said, i know none of you have no crystal balls, and no industry is 100% safe, but its really hard to get my head around whats going on with aviation

any help?

[Touch'n'oops]

It is just a simple law of business: SUPPLY AND DEMAND.

I believe one of the main reasons why sponsorship has fall away is that MANY pilots today are willing and CAN pay for their own training. It is like doctors in the USA. USA's Doctors take out loans worth hundreds of thousands of USD. They will recoup the investment later in life once experience is gained while acting as badly treated residences.
But, the aviation world has gone skew-if. Low hour pilots are supposed to be taken on and watched over by the more experienced commanders. Sadly it does not work this way and airlines are very erratic when it comes to selection of low houred pilots.
What airlines really want is people with experience and they are in high demand, but there are a lot pilots with fresh licenses who want to make the transition. Many airlines do not like to take the responsibility of training costs and risk. There is already too much risk in the industry.

For now inexperienced pilots will pay to get experience, as does the US' doctors... this may not change!!!

As for the future of pilots in flight decks? Lets just say your average joe public wants someone who is in control of the aircraft to have the same self preservation concern as they do when aviation is committed!!!

T'n'O

[helen0888]

thanks for your opinions

those last two sentences are so true, in a way it kind of makes the struggle to get there satisfactory in the sense that any passenger travelling in an aircraft can be fully reassured in the knowledge that they are in safe hands

on the other hand the road seems so long

with all of the expansions near me (manchester airport) it would seem the aviation industry is in expansion, but then the training of pilots would tell a completely different story, ie the industry falling into a great decline

[aw8565]

As has been mentioned somewhere here before, pilots will soon no longer be required to fly aircraft. There will be a pilot sure, but his job will be to feed the dog sitting next to him. The dog's job is to bite the pilot if he attempts to disconnect the autopilot....

Oh, kill me now.... :ugh:

[aw8565]

Just a thought....

Does anyone here believe that a career on the ground at an airport could benefit them in getting an Airline job?

For example, many Despatchers I know are studying for ATPL's or have a frozen ATPL. Would their knowledge of ground operations necessarily be an advantage over a similarly (in)experienced applicant on level terms? I would think that this experience would certainly help when trying to coordinate a turnaround efficiently, which ladies and gents, is NOT asking for a water and waste service at -10 to STD.... :p

[Superpilot]

Why dispatcher? Surely something like a finance or IT job within an airline is also a good way to get noticed? Too many Wannabe's seem to be after dispatcher jobs as well now.

[selfin]

Won't be long until we're without pilots on the f/d - another 50 years ought to do it. Just keep telling your passengers the AP only serves coffee, and we might make it another few years.

http://www.bestaviation.net/art_are_we_loosing_the_pure_pilot.asp