Time on Type Vs Instructors rating
 

Hi All,
Like many others I find myself in the awkard position of having finished all the flight training with no job to go to and very little market movement, both now or in the coming months. I have also gone one step further and got myself an A320 TR which was based on a job that fell through in February of this year - the bank loves me right now! Great rating, zero hours.

I've been working away being the desk saving what I can and trying to get the first right hand seat job but with zero success. I'm trying to suss out what would be better, paying for the Instructors rating and trying to get a job instructing (cost about £9-10K all in) or take the final financial plunge and use an organisation to get time on type for a shed load more about £25K for 500 A320 hours. I'm at the point now where I'm too far in to stop (where have i heard that before?!?!) and can maybe just afford one final punt.
I welcome any opinions and views because I am getting nowehere quickly with this!

Cheers.

All I can say is good luck. Personally I'd get the instructors rating and get a few more years of hands on flying under your belt.

Thanks. I've got mixed opinions but ultimately neither is guarenteed to lead to a job. I'm based in UK so I can imagine instructing over winter isn't going to bring about too many opportunities. Somewhere sunny would be nice, then you get into the licence conversion saga. The joys. :ugh:

You have to ask yourself, realistically, will 500 hours on type actually improve my chances of getting a paying job? In this market personally i'd have to say no, given that there are far more experienced people than that out of work. That is apart from all the discussions about the morals of paying for line training. So then you're in 25k more debt for no advantage whatsoever.

As for instruction I don't know the market out there but i'd imagine that's also pretty dire, go round the flying schools and try and judge the demand they have for FI's, ask plenty of questions. It may be more sensible to sit tight, keep as current as possible, work in another job to keep paying the bills 'till all this improves. Good luck with it all :ok:

WBV

I'd sit tight and save some money until things pick up. You're only 27. If you do an instructors rating, you'll be placing yourself (probably) for employment with a TP operator and your jet TR may not sit too well with them. Keep current in an A320 sim.

It depends on the operator I think. If the operator just wants an "experienced" pilot on his cockpit, then it would help to have 500 hrs on type, but if the operator just wants to get the money from a young pilot to be hired, then they will get the first in line ready to pay for a type rating, sold by the operator of course.
Looking at the job offers around the web, it looks like that 500 hrs on type, MIGHT lead to a job in Asia right now.

no one has said this yet, so ill bite

TOLD YOU SO!

How many time will people have to be told not to pay for a tr! Im guessing you didnt have a contract infront of you!

As for what to do know, do what you should of done a long time ago, the FI. good experience. but you're going to struggle getting a job, theres lots of FIs sitting around at the mo. and why would a school give you a job when they know you'll run off as soon as the market picks up.

Just my tuppence worth - dont spend any more money! Can we not just accept the fact that the employment situation is in dire straits and we will all just have to wait until things improve. Throwing more money at it is not the way forward. We are shorlty coming into the winter season which will undoubtedly see more lay offs. As for the FI, great idea but realistically you have as much chance of finding full time work as you do with finding an A320 job. The UK FI market here is saturated just now. Save the money, stick to the day job and wait till things improve. At least until next spring when things may(big may!) change. Re-assess after the winter.

Time on type, even if not very recent, is more valuable in my experience. Sorry that the contract fell through, happened to me too years ago.

Atlasjet is currently hiring even without time on type (but the contracts are poor), I believe Wizz and Onur too, in spring you can try Freebird, Sky and Turkuaz. They take people without hours, but generally not this time of the year.

If you bought 500 hours, you would probably start somewhere in spring (they are not in a hurry to check you out in the sim and on line, as you cost them nothing), then you will fly all 2010. unlikely to get paid before 2011, me thinks, but likely thereafter.

Good luck! IP

Winton
 

You will be in a much more awkward position with another 25 or 30 grand to pay back with interest I am sure. Do you really think that this is worth it? There is no market movement at all and never mind in the coming months, try years before that happens. We are all beginning to realise the gravity of this current situation.
Great rating, zero hours. You said it, useless though, I suspect the pay to fly pimps would insist on you coughing up more wonga for some sort of training before letting you loose in one of their machines? 500hrs on type is nothing compared to the competition.
Unfortunately our airline has started this rather unsavory practice. The bitterness towards these imbeciles behind closed doors is widespread. This is understandable and especially given todays climate. Possible future redundancies and pilots coming in and paying to fly, hmmm.
Historically airlines trained their own abinitio pilots to furnish their requirements, now there are floods of people waving cheque books around and paying to fly. Its all gone wrong!
Stay behind the desk and enjoy a bit of private flying, an instructor rating without a job waiting at the end would be a foolhardy option too.

Its a painfull process, however, if, and I say If! you can get any hours on type do it. In Feb you will have to pay 1600 or so to keep your rating current, if you are flying, albeit paying to do it, that renewal is usually thrown in, and you get the benefit of doing an OCC with a OPC before you start.. it's not free sim because you have bought in in the package. Instructor rating in today's climate.. No.. lots of guys sitting at airfields waiting for students and with no experience.. not a chance. The other issue is while you are flying the type you are networking, you can't do this from home or outside of the actual working environment. Best of luck

I never saw a proper contract no, just a few sheets of paper and after the TR was completed we spent a month in a hotel overseas and they said see ya.
Sounds like cash is king even more so at present. Sit tight and save.