ATPL Graduate unemployment rates
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: el quinto pino
Posts: 40
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Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to call bullsh!t on the post saying you should just go around the world and it'll be easy to find a flying job in places like Africa or Canada. Fact is, I have buddies in Canada with loads of hours who can't get a job and have been laid off numerous times in the last year or so. Generally you'll have to work your ass off on the dock in Yellowknife for a year or more before you get right hand seat in a twotter, and if you think its easy getting a job on the dock then go talk to the ten or so guys working at the local pancake house or gas station. It sounds good to talk about these opportunities elsewhere but whether or not they exist is another matter.
Some insinuate that our problem is being too ambitious and holding out for a RHS in a jet, but this is not correct of the people I know in a similar situation. Fact is that a lot of the 'traditional' apprenticeships have dried up since the turboprop went out of style and the LCCs took over the majority of regional flying. I don't know any fATPLer who wouldn't give his right nut to get a seat in a Saab340 or a Shed, but the jobs aren't there.
For what its worth I know of two who have secured jobs out of 14 or so on my course that finished a year a go. Bit of luck and good networking is what it takes, and there are no guarantees. Incidentally the two I know who have been hired are both in jets, despite being turned down by all the prop outfits this side of France. Its true to say you need the fatpl to get a job, but you're investing 60 grand and if your odds of any return in a year is about 15% you have to be pretty sure you don't need the money before you throw it at a school. You may also tell yourself that you'll work extra hard and be in that top 15%, but as WWW pointed out that may not be good enough, unless you've got a horseshoe up your butt and you know you're lucky!
Other side of the argument is that this may be a good time to enter the market, buy low sell high and all that. If things pick up in a year and a half you could well be right. Personally I'd wait for a clear sign of the improvement before i started, so all us sad cases that have been sitting around for a while are either hired or have given up before you enter the market. Good luck whatever you decide!
Some insinuate that our problem is being too ambitious and holding out for a RHS in a jet, but this is not correct of the people I know in a similar situation. Fact is that a lot of the 'traditional' apprenticeships have dried up since the turboprop went out of style and the LCCs took over the majority of regional flying. I don't know any fATPLer who wouldn't give his right nut to get a seat in a Saab340 or a Shed, but the jobs aren't there.
For what its worth I know of two who have secured jobs out of 14 or so on my course that finished a year a go. Bit of luck and good networking is what it takes, and there are no guarantees. Incidentally the two I know who have been hired are both in jets, despite being turned down by all the prop outfits this side of France. Its true to say you need the fatpl to get a job, but you're investing 60 grand and if your odds of any return in a year is about 15% you have to be pretty sure you don't need the money before you throw it at a school. You may also tell yourself that you'll work extra hard and be in that top 15%, but as WWW pointed out that may not be good enough, unless you've got a horseshoe up your butt and you know you're lucky!
Other side of the argument is that this may be a good time to enter the market, buy low sell high and all that. If things pick up in a year and a half you could well be right. Personally I'd wait for a clear sign of the improvement before i started, so all us sad cases that have been sitting around for a while are either hired or have given up before you enter the market. Good luck whatever you decide!
