City or Jet
6th Jul 2012, 13:01
See the story here: BBC News - Flight simulator demand set to soar (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18611516)
There seems to be an increasing amount of media hype about the aviation industry and everyone's favourite pilot shortage statistics are banded about but isn't it about time that someone investigated how many unemployed pilots are actually out there.
I think the implications of the time away from the industry after completing training with regards to the individuals state of mind (only takes one to visit the wannabee forums to see how desperate people are) and the effects of large gaps in training should be examined. One minute you're at flight school training intensively and the next you're at McDonalds flipping burgers. Then some time later (could be years!) with determination and sheer luck you might get a break and start a type rating course (couple of weeks groundschool and 40 odd hrs in a sim) to fly a multi million dollar jet carrying passengers...surely this would appear even stranger to those outside the industry?!
There seems to be an increasing amount of media hype about the aviation industry and everyone's favourite pilot shortage statistics are banded about but isn't it about time that someone investigated how many unemployed pilots are actually out there.
I think the implications of the time away from the industry after completing training with regards to the individuals state of mind (only takes one to visit the wannabee forums to see how desperate people are) and the effects of large gaps in training should be examined. One minute you're at flight school training intensively and the next you're at McDonalds flipping burgers. Then some time later (could be years!) with determination and sheer luck you might get a break and start a type rating course (couple of weeks groundschool and 40 odd hrs in a sim) to fly a multi million dollar jet carrying passengers...surely this would appear even stranger to those outside the industry?!