So when is the best time to start training?
 

Ok guys, I've been told that now is NOT infact the best time to start training. The industry is still recovering. So when is the best time to start training? Next year, two years, three years?

When are we all going to be able to get jobs without hunting too hard for years?

Cheers

Paul

Greetings again Paul

The fact that the industry is still recovering my mean now is the RIGHT time to start training. If you think about it, Easy have recently ordered 60 aircraft so there going to need at least 120 pilots. Okay so theres an overflow of trained pilots at the moment but they will get absorbed in the next year or so i think. WHEN things pick up again youll be a bit miffed if youve missed the boat. On the other hand your gonna be in the same boat as every other wannabe if things havnt picked up by the time you finish training (about a year). Basically what im saying is its a bit of a gamble.

Lets hope this dosnt turn into another slanging match!:D

'Bout ye big wings. :D

Thanks, so NOW is the best time to train. Well, I'll wait and see what others say, not that I don't believe you, that is exactly what I wanted to hear. I'll have to do some battling with the HSBC too, but thats a whole different thread.

Slagging is all part of it! Just kidding!

Thanks wings. Talk soon.

savage

Well I have taken the gamble, and will start training in February!

Yes the industry is slow right now and factors like the looming Gulf war can/will hit the load figures.

My father's job puts him right in the mist of the industry's statistics. His advice is "Go for it!"

Currently stats are down, but they are still recovering even with the possibility of war and further economic down turn. There is also the fact that airlines are loosing a large number of 'Baby Boom' pilots through natural wastage.

So until someone can read the future, it's going to be a gamble.

Being brave could mean boom or bust. Being conservative could leave you behind at the gate!

What ever you choose, I hope the best for you!!!;)

Gotta fly http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/.../aktion085.gif

'Baby boom' pilots?

Making or a result? ;)

Hi P.Savage,
I agree with 2wings and touch "n" on this one. Go for it my man! I really think this is the right time. O.K so the industry may take a year or two to upturn or even stabilize. All the more reason to do it now. Look forward to reading more strings on this.
Best of luck on what you decide.:)

10 years ago, i asked the same question?
the answer was: "go for it, it s the right time".
now, I still dont have a job and I am in debt!

but go for it!up to you if in 4-5 years you will struggle for a job.there will be no shortage pilots for years.

faacfi
 

What do mean you mean, no job and in debt? You're still that way after 10 years?

Me Confused!!!!!!http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/...fragend013.gif

I don't think now is the best time to start training as it's dark outside and you need to be VFR in daylight in the initial stages of flying training.
This morning would've been a better time to start as it was really sunny and as the scientific studies say the brain works better before dinner you would've been laughing.

Hope I haven't missed the point of your post........... ;)

VFE.

Unless you have 60,000 pounds burning a hole in your pocket, now may not be the right time to start training.

Currently there is a little too much uncertainty in the world right now. Gulf War II will have a major impact in airline strategies world wide (if it actually kicks off) plus indicators are that Germany may well slide into recession next year, which will have a knock on effect on all European economies (yes even Britain...).

If you are commited to the concept of being a pilot for a living, then consider doing a modular course. This at least allows you the flexibility to stop at certain key stages without incurring huge amounts of cost/debt and remaining current on say a twin and keeping your CPL, rather than having to pay for IR renewals.

When to start is tricky because what do you mean start? Jack in a job and enrol with OATS? Start distance learning the ATPL's? Go for a first trial lesson as the local airfield?

Its better to ask; when is a good time to become first qualified?

At the moment it certainly is not rosy to be applying for jobs. I know many who are and they are getting nowhere fast. And thats nowhere no matter whether they have just stepped out of OATS or have hundreds of multi hours and turbine hours.

A few months back I was starting to feel more optomistic about things picking up. However I think its now quite clear that we are going to see major military action in the Persian Gulf. For this reason alone I think it will be a bad time to become qualified for the next year at the very least.

I wouldn't want to be job hunting until Spring 2004 in an ideal world.

I would use the waiting time to study the ATPL syllabus to death whilst applying to the CTC academy for one of their airline sponsored places.

Good luck,

WWW

use WWW's advice... i can't really say this from experience, but airline industry follows a fluctuating trend... i would also suggest to start it now, now we're well down-hill... so to end your training when the market is going up-hill, and you have more chances to be the right person at the right time.

Hold it, just checking crystal ball..................

Ok, got it.:)

Twenty-five past ten am on 30th February 2003 is categorically the best time to begin your training (you read it here first). It must be true; my crystal ball said so. However, wait a minute..... my economic advisory team is advising caution and are suggesting that a poll is carried out to see if a multi-year study is required to determine the terms of reference for a commission which could objectively assess the statistical probabilities that the best time to start training is, in fact, determinable in any shape or form. This commission would report in, ooh, about 2035. It's answer is confidently predicted to be 'Perhaps'. Or, possibly, 'Maybe'. Or, and this has less support, 'Maybe Not'.:D

More seriously, but with no greater guarantee of accuracy, here's my opinion. Just like the warning you get with investment products, economic conditions can go down as well as up - often with little or no prior warning. Economic experts have conclusively proved over the last fifty years that they can reliably predict absolutely nothing at all! Yes, we may well suffer a war early next year. Yes, Western economies look set for a 'double-dip' recession, at least in manufacturing. Yes, the UK property market (and possibly the US also) is getting more and more likely to experience a 'sharp correction' (nice term for losing your shirt - again!). However, aviation has survived and even prospered in similar conditions before, and will again.

Many of you - perhaps most - who start training will never succeed in achieving a RHS in an airliner, for a whole raft of different reasons. That was as true in 2000, when things were arguably the best ever for wannabes, as it is now. But some will succeed, whatever happens. The trick is to be the one who succeeds - and that is almost totally within your own control. Remember that no-one owes you a living, and that you have to go and get what it is you want. I should say, at this point, if you want an easy life, look elsewhere! Don't be one of the whingers; get off your arse and get on with it. Start networking, get yourself contacts within the industry. Use 'friends of friends' etc. Don't wait for an airline to come knocking at your door.

All this advice has been given many times. Many complain that they've tried it - even to the letter - and still failed. Well, that's life - but while they failed, some succeeded. Will it be you? Only you can answer that. When should you start? When you believe you're ready for the challenges I've hinted at above. Not before then, but not a minute after.

It's your call!