Even then, China won't be soaking up many expatriate pilots. Their pilot training pipeline last year was in overdrive to the extent all the trainers were burning out. The pace of training has slackened off this year but they are still cranking out almost all the pilots they will need for the foreseeable future. Which means all the expat pilots who might otherwise have gone to China remain in the big pilot pool here, meaning there is very little progression through the local ranks to open up entry level positions for low hour CPL's.

China will have a secondary issue down the road, pre-2020 thousands of domestic cadets were going to Australia, America and Europe.

That has completely stopped. Domestic training is rising but still can't support the supply. I've trained many in Australia over years until covid ended that, and still stay in contact with a few of the good ones. They tell me that a massive number of those assigned to widebodies are now back doing 320/737 ratings. Initial type rating training for cadets has almost dropped by 75% at one of the major Chinese Airlines I was told because the last of the cadets they sent overseas (including Australia) returned in Jan this year.

That's not actually what I meant. I meant that if China doesn't open its doors to its own people and allow them to travel the world like what happened in 2000, which is what kicked off this unprecedented growth rate, that not even a GFC could slow down over the last 20 years. Unless China starts travelling again outside of China and the cruising industry is restored, then it follows that demand would be around 50% (a guess) what it was prior to 2020.

Just curious as to why you decided to do did the FIR in the current climate...

Did the flying school you did it at say there was a job for you at the end of it?

Yeah I was told I would be offered some unpaid flying at the end to assess my suitability but then the lockdown came. They told me there was no chance and they would give work to their existing instructors so I am now in more debt with no job. I have read that flying schools are selling the dream and all of us students are getting roped into it.

Well, there was your mistake. Don't trust anything you are told in this caper. Don't trust anything you get in writing either, but at least if you get something in writing you have half a leg to stand on. Rather than none. And above all else, if you get any offer for unpaid flying work, keep that to yourself because mentioning it here can never be good for your career. And keep in mind if you fly/work for free, chances are liabilities might be on your shoulders, and insurance might be non existent. The call center job seems the way to go. Much safer than flying and better paid.

Yep, sorry, that’s the end of any sympathy.

Hi Petra,

Don't listen to the misanthropes.

Young / new pilots have had a bit of bad luck entering the aviation industry during a global pandemic, but do not give up.

Use this time to put some money in the bank, increase your employability in preparation for the new normal (whatever that is going to look like). Obtain a bus licence, senior first aid, book keeping skills (MYOB / Xero), anything that will make you more employable to a GA Charter company than the next new pilot resume in the pile.

Whilst it is true that international travel is kaput at present and border closures etc are causing challenges, remember that a pilots first flying job is usually located in remote parts of Northern of Australia.

Try to book a caravan site or hotel room in Cairns, Kununurra or Broome,,,, you can't, they are all full.

The Aboriginal Communities are still busy, services and produce flying in and out.

So, why don't you have a flying job ?

You are not likely to be offered a job whilst you are sitting thousands of KMS away.

Pick a place where your first job is, move there, get a job picking fruit, pulling beers and/or some other job you can do. Submit your resume with local operators, become a part of the furniture and wait. Be very careful how you behave, these are small towns and stories of bad behaviour will spread very quickly. My first job was with an operator in Kununurra, the owner was a clever bloke, the final step before employment was the Friday afternoon BBQ, the prospective pilot would be fed full of full strength beers and the boss would sit back and see what emerged, it was quite breathtaking at times. One person got into an argument with the CP (who was a top bloke), another got totally wiped out then jumped into his/her car and drove back to town...

Above you have read about B777 Captains that are unemployed, you are not competing with these people for your first job. They are unlikely to be willing to work in the locations where these jobs are, for the money on offer. But most importantly when their B777 jobs restart, they will return to those jobs immediately (I sincerely hope this happens sooner rather than later), and the GA Charter operators know this.

Don't fly for free, ever.

^^^^^This is good advice.

Try to find a place that has some reasonable paid work, that will allow you to stay in the mind of the charter companies.

Kununurra, Mt Isa, Katherine, Alice, Kalgoorlie, Broome, and to a lesser extent, Cairns, Darwin

For example, I recently saw an add for baggage handler in Mt Isa, a great start and a good way to learn the area and who does what in aeroplanes.

If you could see that their existing instructors had been laid off, I'm not sure why you believed them when they told you they'd give you a job at the end of your rating.

I'd have thought it would seem pretty obvious that they would bring back their existing instructors before employing someone new.

FYI:
Like any other educator, flying schools are in the business of training pilots.
Whether or not there is a job at the end of the training is not their problem.

Why? it's also on their website as 45 experience hours (non-paid)

Thanks for the tips everyone. I just got the job at Red Energy call centre and I will be pursuing this as my career for now. I will look into getting another loan for a helicopter PPL. This might help...

Petra you have been given lots of wonderful and considered advice. How is getting a helicopter PPL going to help in any shape or form. Why would you go in to further debt.

petra.oskertrich1995 you do yourself no favours, I suspect this to be bogus, no one could be so unaware, could they?

Good luck with the chopper license. Brilliant thinking (and trolling)

You’ve had a busy 6 months during these COVID times! So what was the feedback from the Operators you visited in Broome and Alice?

What ever credibility and sympathy you might have had, that is well and truly evaporated now. Borrow even more money for a helicopter PPL. Utterly insane.

Absolutely top notch fishing - and so many bites!

Step 1: keep applying and don't give up. You are not competing against 10000+ hrs 777 pilots.
Once this is over, they will compete against themselves for a very limited number of seats. The rest positions will be filled with young people like yourself.
Step 2: go to Step 1.