Goodbye Vietnam Vets - Hello Employment
 

New to the forums, just wondering...

I myself am not far off the PPL and after talking to a few people in the industry they reckon in the not so distant future there'll be alot of pilots retiring and job positions will increase massively throughout the world. As someone who wants to continue on and fly commercially I wonder are these false hopes expressed via those I have spoken with?

Knowledable heads advice or opinions appreciated,

Thanks.

There will always be an oversupply of inexperienced low houred pilots, there is already a shortage of drivers with experience in most areas.
BF

The Vietnam pilots retiring has been gettin said to students atleast since 1998 when I did my licence. You will find that there are loads of pilots around with less than 2000 hours.
The shortage is IFR/TWIN experience, nothing else in my opinion
Ringer

Obviously an oversupply of inexperienced low houred pilots is a fact Bigfoot, I wouldn't doubt that, and the low I.F.R/Twin time need agree with.

It was something a few people had mentioned and questioned through pprune for an answer/opinion on, so thanks.

Another case, here in N.Z is of a pilot with 360 hrs C.P.L(H) I.R The fore-mentioned pilot can't understand why getting employment is so difficult. I entered training with the idea of hard graft and time involved to become employed, I myself want to obtain A.T.P.Ls and please god get a job flying.

I've a long way to go and hope to get there eventually.

Comments appreciated.

Don't forget all the ex-mil Pilots leaving after GW2, Afghan, drawdown in the FW market etc etc. Mate of mine ATPL H and A, looking for a job with over 3000 rotary and the last 4 yrs flying Airbus, no joy yet..

Indeed there are lots of my vintage beginning to drop off the vine finally....but nowhere as many that merely threw in the towel.

I believe the good news is not in the sheer number of Vietnam Veterans retiring but more the positions they are leaving vacant. Those a bit shorter in the tooth will move into those vacancies and create the possibility for young adults to progress.

You wee kiddy's out there will still have to work your way into the industry the same old way but hopefully will have an easier time of it provided your training, experience, work ethic and ambition combine favorably with your judgement and maturity. Breadth of experience is much more important than sheer hours and tickets.....don't get stuck going around a traffic pattern for years to the exclusion of "working" the aircraft in as many different sectors of the industry you can.

It is a profession thus one must obtain the continuing education, training, and tutelage professional advancement requires. Generalists will have far more opportunity than will those with specialized skills only.

I would also hope you young snots will tip your hat to the old dogs as they depart....your pay packet today as a result of their fight for better pay and conditions.

Take what they leave behind them and build upon it.

Has the US military actually recruited 'extra' (as in more than the armed forces usually required) helicopter pilots for a conflict since Vietnam?

I heard someone say that they trained 40,000 RW pilots for Vietnam. Even if only half of them continued flying after the war I'm sure they would be getting near retirement age (or passed it).

I don't think we will see 150 hr pilots flying EMS helis anytime soon but I think it will definately lower hour requirements across the board. Lately I've been reading old helicopter magazines from the late 80's through to late 90's and as far as I can tell the minimum hour requirements have come down dramatically.

Also there are more helicopters in the air than ever before, due to a number of factors, and I can't see the industry slowing down anytime soon. Probably the opposite in fact.

Yes, thank you a thousand times for all you've done.

Why stop at our hats? Personally, I'd happily rip all my kit off and run naked through the streets in tribute to you.

Sure there are! Have you not come across one of your local law enforcement pilots that thinks he could fly anything from a 300ft long line to a space shuttle after graduating one of these fabulous in house training programs with a grand buck fifty!!!

say what Willis?

shortage is nothign but IFR twin. Well you havent been looking for good longline seismic, drill and mtn pilots...

Where are you from?

Rotorboy if that was for me, I'm from Australia.
The shortage here is IFR twin captains. We don't have much long line stuff on mainland Australia otherwise there probably would be a shortage.
Ringer

Same here!:D

Retiring Vietnam Vets
 

SASless:

Excellent post. Only a hint of your strong opinions.

"Throwing in the towel". I know many have, but as a lazy person I realized that it is this or a real job. Scary thought.

When the rest of us retire it will indeed open up the market for the promotion of others.

"Breadth of experience" is the key.

We couldn't get the job without experience, and no one would give us the job until we had the experience. Remember those days?

I do believe they could "tip the hat".

However, some of the replys to your post, we should declare that we are hetero.

Just returned from Bangkok, and DID NOT go to the Happy Boys Disco.

Izzy Friedman alive and well in Pattaya. Still has the Crown Royal on Patpong II.

Rant over.

SirVivr
[email protected]

"Throwing in the towel ... " - not until the AME throws my application for medical certificate in the bin!

I have noticed that getting a job flying helicopters lately isn't that difficult. However, all my time has been in twins with a good bit of IFR experience but it was my impression that the industry as a whole was demanding pilots. Someone said earlier that a "generalist" is in more demand than someone specialized; I would probably agree. I have seen many job advertisements wanting pilots with long-line, firefighting, seismic, etc., experience. I don't have the aforementioned but I believe if I did, I would be in greater demand.
I do, however, believe that better times for helicopter pilots are coming but I also believe we should give lots of credit and thanks to those who came before us; they have been dealt a crappy hand for many years and deserve better.

Thanks to all you "senior" guys. :)

The title of this post has an optimistic, youngish kind of flavour to it.



Quote: "Why stop at our hats? Personally, I'd happily rip all my kit off and run naked through the streets in tribute to you."

Been there, done that.... and it landed me a whole different thing than a flying job! :}