Thank you all again for your views, I really am finding it helpful.

NothernMonkey

Budding

I take your first point, ref getting a PPL and aero rating and that's definitely my plan B. However I feel flying with a commercial airline would still be a better option than the daily office grind. That is however making me realise that pay and stability are important although I hope I can afford a LITTLE more risk with a solid backup working as a project manager.

1. Totally agree again with point 1 but just to be clear I am NOT placing limits on my ambition, however my ambition is not to just earn lots of money. My ambition is to become an excellent pilot.

"But it would be a terrible investment of your time and money in my opinion. As investments go, it's as risky as they come, because you won't be able to get another flying job easily if all you have is a dash rating" - agreed totally, I take your point.

3. The reason I am 'less concerned' (it's not that I don't care) about job security is because if things fall apart I feel very confident that i'll be able to pick up my current job roughly where I left off (maybe a little behind).

4. As I said before, getting a command is just something you cannot put a time frame on... not to say you wouldn't but command is not something you just 'get'. People do fail... They might also require you to move to a different base for your command. - Again, very helpful advice, thank you.

In my opinion the lowest risk entry point to commercial aviation is the BA future pilot programme. Flybe is a high risk/low reward entry point... Again, thank you!

That was a helpful post, i'm starting to make the connection now that I do need a little security and decent pay but I still want to stress that isn't my number 1 driver. Thank you.


average-punter - Thank you for your clarification, this is the sort of thing i'm looking for. Point taken.


Luke SkyToddler -

...So it just kind of makes me chuckle to see someone who has yet to gain even a PPL licence, sitting there and seriously discussing the relative merits of joining BA vs whatever other airline....

I think you're being a bit condescending here, you may have flying experience but that doesn't mean your opinion is the correct answer. In my opinion anyone not considering where they will be in roughly 5/10 years is an idiot. If the choice is fly for a crappy airline on crappy wages in a crappy city or don't take the job then i'll do exactly what NorthernMonkey has suggested and stick with my current job and fly PPL for fun. I'm not straight out of uni, I have life experience, I have solid work experience and financially i'm sitting fairly sound. I do not need, nor do I want, to rush in to any old job just to fly an aircraft, I think you're missing the point here.

The first and last rule of being a wannabe pilot is, take the first multi turbine job you are offered... and the first rule of being successful is to analyse and consider the merits of everything you are offered and not simply jump in to something without conducting due diligence. What I've asked for is how the two airlines compare not how picky I should/shouldn't be.

Thank you for the rest of your advice.


Vikdream,

Again you've completely missed the point here.

"The big mistake here is thinking that a certain solid background will give someone the power of being "picky". Well, as you will very soon find out , that is not the case."...

Simply you are wrong, I can be as picky as I like as i'm in no desperate need to find a job to make ends meet. As NorthernMonkey suggested earlier, if I don't like the look of the job then i'll stick to what i'm already doing and fly on a PPL. If the option is a :mad: job or no job then i'll take no job.

"you might think you are the only one with a solid background wanting to join this world. Well, you are wrong again."...
Again, you'll have to point out where I said that? I think I was pointing out that I had a solid plan B. I might be confident enough to believe I have a lot to offer (as I hope most pilots would also believe) but I wouldn't be soo arrogant to be posting that on here and suggesting i'm above the competition.

Can we get back to comparing the 2 airlines?

Thank you for your advice.

John_smith.

A solid well paying career isn't necessarily what life is about and i'm getting a bit bored of the daily grind sat in an office.

The reason this is even a debate is because there are a lot of people saying things like "I can't even believe this is a debate" without providing any substance. I'm now slowly starting to see why people would prefer BA over Flybe however there is still some obvious advantages of a career with Flybe. Care to add your thoughts?

RHS,

Thank you for your advice, specifically in terms of your view of the Dash.

Otto Throttle,

Flybe solidly profitable?.. Yeah, ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration, I take your point but I don't think they are doing half as bad as people believe they are. Understood about not being a future all E-jet operator, I thought this was the case.

I understand and thank you for your view on future job prospects (i'm trying not to state any bias either way but I do take your point).

Thank you again for your summary and your view on things.


Just to state again, i'm trying not to show a preference and I am trying to play devils advocate against any opinions to really analyse the facts. What I'm looking for are your thoughts on the airlines. Also, to be clear, I will not be jumping in to just any job with an airline. As stated earlier I would much rather remain where I am and enjoy flying with a PPL.

Thanks again to everyone that has taken the time to give me their view on things.

You seem to be in complete dream world matey, as others have suggested. Its not as easy as you think, no one in your position has a choice between these two airlines in 2015. For you to seriously consider BA you would have to go through the FPP which to pass all the stages is for the very few, or to be a experienced airline pilot already, with many hours on a company type to be considered, even then you have to go through the direct entry pilot process which is not a given and I know of very competent pilots who have failed it. The suggestion of you need to take whatever you get is very very apt in 2015, that's the situation as it is now. You simply don't have the choice between flybe and BA, you could very well join flybe but there is no realistic progression to BA from flybe.

Your question really should be how likely I am to get any sort of airline job in 2015, not BA vs flybe, even experienced flybe guys don't have that choice and they are 5 years ahead of where you are at.

I think you're so naive that there's :mad: all point continuing this conversation. Let me give you a heads up though before I sign off.

Flying schools are absolutely crawling with "career changer" 30-something wide eyed wonders, who think that they're a special snowflake because they already made a bunch of money in finance / accounting / IT / whatever, and they are under the illusion that for some reason this will improve their odds in the great airline job lottery. You can spot them a mile off, they park the Audi out the front of the school, and buy the Bose headsets on day 1, and sit in the student lounge discussing daft things like whether they prefer BA or Flybe.

99% of them end up back in the old office a few weeks after they've finished training, and the bills start coming in, and they've posted a couple of CVs to their preferred airline targets, and lo-and-behold they haven't been selected for interview.

Next minute they are back having their friday night pints with their currency trader mates, whinging about how they could have been, but the whole thing is a ripoff and a scam and a circus.

Which is no great loss to be honest, I'd 100 times rather employ someone who put it all on the line and went out to Susi or Botswana and got stuck in and did some real flying, than someone who sat there filing their nails and daydreaming about which airline is the best fit for their particular minimum required standard of lifestyle.

Anyway, best of luck to you. Once your royal highness has determined whether he will grace BA or Flybe with his presence, please be sure to let them know, I'm sure their recruiting departments are waiting with baited breath to roll out the red carpet for you.

Please let us know how you get on :ok:

Budding
Welcome to the Wannabees forum!
You have had a number of replies which perhaps give you an insight into the various aspects of the current job market. I would support the comments.
May I suggest the you do some research in this forum which will give you even more information?
HWB