Qantas Pilot Cadets SUSPENDED

[rossiqa]

I know this ain't new to you guys but i was reading that Qantas is not having any cadetship running in Australia( Information current as at 8 September 2010) for the universities in 2011 and maybe beyond that offers a flying degree.

what will the future be like for pilots in Australia and the airline industry? Isn't there meant to be a pilot shortage meaning lots of opportunities available?

For the people who will go off to university next year and study and fly for 3 years and spend huge amounts of money, do you believe this is wise at this time?

[Luke SkyToddler]

1) The old-skool Qantas cadet scheme is indeed suspended. That has a lot to do with the recent arrival of this : Pilot Cadet Program - Jetstar Airways (http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/pilot-cadet-program.aspx) .

I'm no Sherlock Holmes but I would imagine that the QF bean counters have noticed that there's no point in maintaining a free pilot training scheme, when you can outsource it to a pack of thieves like Oxford who appear to have a limitless supply of starry eyed kids falling all over themselves to pay $AU154,000 for it. :yuk:

2) There's never ever been a pilot shortage in the history of Australia ever, except for a few short weeks in 1989 :oh: . At the entry level of 200-hour fresh CPL holders, there are thousands more wannabes than there are jobs at any given time. Anyone that tells you anything different is lying through their teeth and almost certainly works for a flying school.

[theuntoldstory]

Course Cost $87,105 AUD plus GST plus ACP cost below
$88,500 AUD plus GST plus ACP cost below Accommodation & Meals optional - $19,500 AUD plus GST

[Luke SkyToddler]

From Jetstar website :

This APPFO course is delivered through a training partnership between OAA and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) and also leads to the award of an Associate Degree in Aviation.
The TOTAL cost of our Jetstar APP FIRST OFFICERTM course is AUD154,456 including the fees for the SUT Associate Degree education which allows access to eligible students to the Government FEE-HELP loan scheme.
The 2010 total unit fee for the APPFO course and Associate Degree of Aviation in Melbourne is AUD124,456. This is payable through Swinburne University of Technology on a semester basis.
The unit fees for the APPFO course package comprising the A320 endorsement training in Hong Kong is AUD30,000 This is payable to OAA prior to the commencement of travel to Hong Kong.

[jetstar1]

Since when was the QC course a "free pilot training scheme"? As far as I know, it's always been self funded.

[mrdeux]

Go back far enough, and it was free....

[theuntoldstory]

it's still free. borrow the money and file bankroute...:E

[southernskyz]

Mr. Luke Skytoddler says:

2) There's never ever been a pilot shortage in the history of Australia ever, except for a few short weeks in 1989 :oh: . At the entry level of 200-hour fresh CPL holders, there are thousands more wannabes than there are jobs at any given time. Anyone that tells you anything different is lying through their teeth and almost certainly works for a flying school.

Mr. Luke Skytoddler:
You know something? You're totally wrong!
I can tell you that just before the financial crisis, all the flying schools at Bankstown Airport were screaming for instructors. Every flying school had consistently advertised for new flight isnstructors and there were unlimited jobs for C210 charter pilots in Northern Australia.
As the the financial crisis hit, 3 major flying schools had closed down At Bankstown airport and charter companies also slowed down.
But for a good year and a half, there was an extreme demand for local pilots with a CASA license. Things are starting to get better but slowly.

[ga.grunt]

I'll back that statement. Knowing a few people in QF recruiting I can tell you they were hiring people that "they would never have normally considered". Not to mention that REX had to close routes ONLY because they couldn't get the pilots to fly them (circa 2007). I don't think we'll see that sort of pilot shortage again though.

I'm assuming Sky Toddler is a jaded pilot who hasn't realised his dream yet

[redsnail]

Mr Sky Toddler has more than realised his dream.

[Luke SkyToddler]

All right then, fair play to you guys, I accept your assertion that there was a few weeks' worth of pilot shortage in Oz in 2007. I may not have been paying attention because I was too busy trying to catch up on sleep with my rather punishing long haul roster. Living the dream, aye Redsnail :hmm:

Anyway, that makes two decades between pilot shortages that maybe lasted for a few months each before the normal situation of massive over supply resumed. Sounds great to me, go hit up the bank manager for some massive loans and fill your boots because obviously the pilot jobs are all but guaranteed. Don't worry about grouchy old misery guts' like me :}

[redsnail]

LST, you don't need to do long haul to have a punishing tour sleep wise..
Athens and Moscow mixed in with a 0200z show... :zzz: :ok: