The Harsh Reality!!
 

Another envelope sealed, more paper used, and I can’t get the taste of a postage stamp out of my mouth. That is because for the last 10 months, I have been sending hundreds of CV’s to potential employers to gain my first step onto the ladder of being a professional pilot!!!

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that thanks to JAR and terrorism it is now harder than ever before to make it in the aviation world unless you have been honoured with a sponsorship (and even then it isn’t easy!).

What annoys me is that people (and I am included) train to become a CPL/IR on the basis that they can fly for money…However, the only flying possible at the moment is instructing and this costs a further £5500!!! Air Taxi work is ruled out due to the JAA’s rule that you must have 800 hours.....

So what is the answer???? How do low houred pilots get themselves a job???? If anyone know could they please let me know!

Only job is instructing?
Time to look outside the square I think.
Parachute ops
Fish spotting
Glider towing
Fire spotting
Ferry flights
Ag flying
Scenics
Ariel surveillance/photography
Frieght flying

These are just some of the commercial jobs that I can think of that doesn't or shouldn't require an ATPL etc.

You may have to do a fair bit of searching for these openings. You may have to even leave England.

I heard a story about an Irishman once. He finished his CPL/Multi IR, sold every thing he had at home and he said...

"Im going west. Im going to carry on going west until I find a job"

6 weeks later and half way accross the pacific he got a job flying Beechcraft in Guam. I believe now he is back in Ireland sitting in the left hand seat of an ATR 72.

I am half way through my JAA course and not really bothered about trying to get in the right hand seat of a 737 straight away. Id rather just go somewhere and find a job flying any old thing any old place. It may not be the most glamourous of jobs, but it gets the hours up, and I bet its a whole lot of fun. I have spoken to people who have packed up a good job flying jets in the UK to fly twin props to places in the back of beyond. They say they wouldnt give it up for the world.

If I were you, and all done with my licences, I would get a ticket to some place, turn up on the doorstep of a company and ask for a job. Its been done a lot.

Cheers

Have a read through the African forum. There are a few stories of how folks got jobs over there, by going down and asking for one.

Midland Maniac

Dont blame terrorism and especially dont blame JAR.

You have made the mistake in planning your training - simple.

You have paid 12k for an IR you can not use instead of 5k for an instructors course you can. You did your IR hoping that some cheif pilot somewhere would put you in a 60 million dollar aircraft with 200hours (Not forgetting those 20 hours multi).

In two months your IR will expire, if you manage to get invited to a sim check you will probably fluff it because you are not current. The last ten months could have been filled with 400 hours satisfying flying in the summer and the tail end of an experience building winter.

Borrow the 5k do a season, improve your flying, get some hours and maybe just maybe you might get ahead of all the other 200 hour guys who expect to land an even half decent job with absolutely no experience.

I am sorry for my tone but your post suggests that the industry owes you something - you are owed absolutley nothing.

The fact that you have the taste of stamps in your mouth counts for what?????????? Maybe blisters on your hands from sweeping hangars would be more appropiate

You have made your bed I suggest you pull up the duvet and lie in it

That is the harsh reality!

Sorry to sound pessimistic but the sad reality is that even if you can manage to legally work in a country that offers even some of the opportunities redsnail suggests ( and good suggestions they were ) , right now there is not a lot of work out there . I hold a U.K. & JAA ATPL , FAA ATP & a reasonable amount ( thousands ) of hours experience gained mainly in the U.K. & Europe . I have been employed by a couple of well known flying schools & a couple of major airlines in the U.K. & can think of no reason why I would not be suitable for employment . However , there is practically nothing around unless you are suitably type-rated & even then it is a struggle . I decided to 'go west' & try my luck in arguably the most densely populated aviation environment in the world , where I have the right to work & reside & hold the necessary qualifications . But even in the U.S. I found nothing - I couldn't even find work instructing fo a few dollars an hour . Not intending to sound arrogant , it is possible that I may have appeared overqualified to some schools but I am extremely keen & well motivated & just want to fly again - the problem was that not one school I approached was hiring - & I approached as many as I could find .

Now I know that a few fortunates have found employment recently & well done to them , but the harsh reality is that it really is a bit grim for the rest of us at the moment .

Heres hoping for something good to happen ... soon !

Good luck

I'm afraid that I would have to agree with G-Spot in that you maybe havent thought through your training schedule.

I was talking to a flying instructor today who qualified as a restricted FI(A) on Monday, picked up his licence from Gatwick Tuesday and by Thursday had three, I'll say that again, THREE job offers to instruct!!!!!!!!!

One was full time, another was nearly full time and the last was just at weekends, his only problem was that none were particularly near where his young family live so he couldnt decide which one to take!!!!!!

There are jobs out there, you just have to follow the advice of a certain (for those of you old enough to remember him) Michael Hesseltine, "GET ON YOUR BIKE AND FIND WORK", he did and look where it got him!

Its too late now to not do your IR so if you can, beg borrow or steal the money to get your FI rating, even if you end up only flying trial lessons at weekends at least you stay current, build hours and someones going to pay you for it!

When asked at your interview what did you do for the two years since you qualified? Professional stamp licker is not what you want to be saying!

Good luck mate, if you dont make it work for you sure as hell someone else will make it work for them.

D;)

Two of the biggest errors people make when looking for flying work is 1. send resumes only 2. don't hang around in an area that is known to take low houred pilots long enough.

So, target your area and operators. Go and see them. Be prepared to wait in the area and get to be known to them. I am very aware that there isn't much "GA" in the UK. However, there is some. The trick is to find it and position yourself to be the next person on the starting block. UK no good, then go to a country that does a lot of GA.

Use the telephone and the internet to plan your attack. Network like crazy to find the niche jobs. They are out there. It's up to you to find them.

Good luck.

Yep,

Do you want to be part of the 70% or the 30%? not sure?

70% of people in the ATPL exam hall when you sat never go on to get a commercial aviation job............................................... those that did took the advice offered by those above.

Good luck

PP

No Jobs !!
 

Hi MM

Sorry to hear that nothings happening, but to add to all the posts above you have to make it happen.
Get your instructor rating, I did and now instruct weekends and have got a sniff of some weekday work also. Getting the rating and some work takes you on to the first step of the ladder and keeps you current, I may be wrong but the airlines also look favourably at recruits with the rating.
Chin up.
All the best,
FF

Top post G-Spot

I cannot agree more, alot of the low hour guy's think that because JAA states that you can sit in the RHS of a nice shiney airliner that the airlines will let them and more so will want them to.

Fact is that they wont.

Pre 9/11 low hour people were getting RHS jobs as fewer and fewer instructors were becoming available due to that fact that JAA allowed you to go airlines with the minimum hours and skip the instructor bit. THEN 9/11 happened and a fair few typed guys were laid off and took the pickings of the jobs available and even filtered themselves down some of the flying schools as the airlines took a hammering. Result was that the gravy train got longer and longer and it became less and less likely that a low houred pilot would secure a position with an airline.

The amazing thing is that some have just rested on their laurels over the last 12 months and not tried to move their experience level on any further.

As G-Spot states over the last 12 months you could realistically have amassed a further 400++++ hours in the last year and some of you would have seen (if you could have been bothered)your hours increase by 200%.

I have just checked my log book and over the last 12 months have done 641 hours of instruction total now stands at 1389 hours. I'm current,valid and hopefully in a position to be employable in the next year.

Now is the time to slowly start the FI rating ready for next years season as some of the current instructors WILL and i have no doubt move on.

And instead of complaining about that taste of stamps in your mouth you could now have complained about a poor old achy hand and that your pen has run out of ink because you have been filling in your log book with loada hours.

THINK ABOUT IT, IT MAKES SENSE.


Fact is that they wont.

The Harsh Reality
 

There is a surplus of pilots over jobs
There is a surplus of airline seats over demand
The airlines are cutting each others throats
Nobody is making money - it's a game of survival
People don't trust the corporate 'spin' anymore
Banks are getting nervous (Germany)
Many share prices are v. v. low - AirTours and BA
Jobs are at risk in Europe - consolidation (Eddington)
then more JAR multicrew pilots may come to work in the UK
The Gulf War II may begin soon - Oil Prices could rise higher
Pilots are having to work harder for below inflation rises

Jam tomorrow
Glass half full
Every cloud

Deja vu?

Harsh Reality
 

I think everyone has a fair piont! But I have a feeling that things will get worse before they get better!

But, everything is not lost. Thare are plenty of jobs outh there, people just have to never give up. Now, to get a job it takes alot of blood sweat and tears.

I'm only starting out and a pilot friend said to me that " Theres no piont starting training now, wait a couple of years and see how the situation is then"

But, I will start next year and even before I finish i'll be on the hunt.

Stay positive and never give up!!

Dufus

Was it not Norman Tebbit that recommended you " get on your bike " ?

Good advice from all here , and certainly encouraging that there are instructing jobs around , but the market has certainly shrunk & things don't look good in the short-term . It is sadly indicative of the U.K. industry at the moment that two mates of mine , recently made redundant by a U.K. carrier are actively seeking to get out of professional flying completely - so jaded are they towards the unsettled nature of the business .

Now that is depressing !

Good to hear of people getting instructing jobs. It suprised me when I heard of a friend getting one a month back.

There is a lot of truth on this thread. If you must start training now then the only sensible option is a well spaced Modular route whilst keeping your current job. Finishing off in nearly 3 years time would be a good timescale. And if things pick up then you can easily accelerate your progress to match.

I did the hard slog of building 1500 odd hours before the airlines. Looking back it was fun and I met some bloody good blokes and flew some amazing flights. Really really good flights in a Tomahawk or Warrior - memories I will have forever. At the time all I did was dream of airline flying and bitch about the measley money but thats aviation.

Things will bounce back I am sure. For those that have recently qualified then you have my heartfelt condolence. Just try to keep smiling and take solace that one day you will be ragaling your FO about how tough it was when you started out and the kids today don't know they're born etc. etc.

Cheers

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