Arline Employment Rumour

[Artie Fufkin]

Times are currently very good. Relatively.

There has never been a recruitment shortage and never will. But there are a lot of airlines recruiting right now. If we're honest, recruitment is as good as it has been for many years. The T&Cs are not good, but give it ten years and they'll be seen as amazing.

The old guard have gone. Virgin has an uncertain future and too much of a history of large scale redundancies to be taken serious anymore. Monarch's enviable old T&Cs have been decimated. Thomas Cook want to get rid of their UK airline. Even at BA there are rumours of FOs on shorthaul regretting the move, allegedly.

Look to the new kings; easy are recruiting and are now arguably either the no2 or depending on your age and attitude about flying heavy metal, the no1 employer of choice. Ryanair have allegedly improved T&Cs, for new joiners at least. Look back to 2015 in 2025 and you'll think about the halcyon days.

[mikedreamer787]

No rumour - Arline (RIP) was employed in Hollywood B Grade movies and IMO a very good actress.

[Time Traveller]

Look to the new

Yes, a career can be made or lost on one good or bad switch of employers, and zeddb and I chose a stinker (I did try and warn him by pm). It has taken me five years to get back on track, with a command on a very popular type, (not that obsolete preserve of pensioners flying for beer and hookers). If you're well placed, then age is not a problem ... Get sidetracked onto a bad type with career gaps, and it can be a major problem).

[zeddb]

zeddb and I chose a stinker

Well it wound up in hindsight being a bad choice but in fairness it was a pretty happy ship right up to the time that BA kicked us in the nads and nobody saw that one coming.

You could equally have claimed that British Caledonian, Dan-Air, Orion, or even Virgin if you were on the wrong end of one of their redundancy panics were bad choices but many would disagree.

I was very happy at GSS and had every intention of staying until I hung my boots up and so were most of the others and that includes some of the BA guys.

that obsolete preserve of pensioners flying for beer and hookers

Sad but ultimately true. It is a dinosaur but a nice one for all that. I'm well past the age where hookers are an attraction but the thought of another type rating plus two years learning the ins and outs of yet another aircraft is even less attractive although I guess going back onto a previous type would be less of a bother if I were ever given the chance. (Allows 5 minutes for laughter to die down).

Get sidetracked onto a bad type with career gaps, and it can be a major problem

And there you hit the nail on the head. Add in being past 50 and not a Captain due to redundancies, seniority and plain bad luck and those who had a command in their teens and who generally do the recruitment instantly write you off as a failure. I wish they would remember that it isn't contagious and not everyone is a lucky sky god with the knack of being in exactly the right place at the right time but we have to deal with the world as it is which in my case probably means behind the till at Aldi in the new year.

It has taken me five years to get back on track, with a command on a very popular type

In the 8 years since my luck turned sour I have been up the road twice and as I mentioned in the paragraph above, that is in effect a death sentence. I have two popular types in my log book but as I am no longer current on either, they might as well not be there, especially with the cadet factories churning ready made pilots the way they do. However, well done you, its always nice when someone beats the system.

I've tried J2 for the 2nd time in two years but they generally ignore me. BA just sneered and told me to PFO without a chance of doing selection - twice - and that was when they are specifically looking for current 744 drivers, Norwegian seem only to be interested in ME returnees and/or trainers , the Far East/ ME is out due to age limits age and quite honestly no great desire on my part, and here in the UK, if you are not a current captain, you will only get looked at if you got a license within the last few months and are willing to be a revenue stream. So no on both counts.

There is a rumour of a new 744F outfit rising from the ashes of GSS but it is only a rumour although that would fit the bill very nicely. Outside of that I will have to start looking outside of aviation next year. Whilst that might cause wild cheering on the part of the wanabees and maybe the thought that I deserve it from certain other parties, it is of little comfort to me and I can only warn the lucky ones that they will be my age one day and possibly even in my position so think on. Whilst I would like to look 30 again, I wouldn't want to be 30 in this business.

[Wireless]

obsolete preserve of pensioners flying for beer and hookers

That's description is terrible! I'm not yet a pensioner at all.

Ultimate put down of a rating. I may burn my licence from the shame

[skyship007]

I've just returned from the US and the situation there as regards pilots jobs has started improving. Most of the airlines are recruiting, but the 2 big changes are that United and other big players have removed the requirement to hold a US passport. It's easy for them to get a work permit for a new pilot, but will cost an applicant about 9K usd in legal assistance and fees if they try it themselves.
Southwest airlines had a one third no show incident on a recent type rating course, which was caused mostly by some of the main biz jet operators either increasing pay or offering the applicants a command.

In UK terms because most commercial pilots work for BA, what they do is the big factor. I think that if the fuel price and the interest rates stay low the good times will return, as most HR departments will make every effort to prevent pilots leaving and that will involve more than just pay increases.

It's not difficult to get an FAA ATP as you don't need the 500hrs multi crew time, just the written exams (One week of online study should do the trick), CTP course of flight sim and groundschool which should be done before the writtens (Costs about 5K usd if you shop around) and the actual ATP flight test in a twin. You will need to get a letter of verification sent from the CAA to the FAA and an FAA medical (I did the initial FAA med in Stuttgart) and fingerprinting by the TSA etc.

I was based in the far East for 3 months once and I can assure you the pollution levels, illness rates and difficult driving conditions are no joke, but what the big Far and middle East airlines are doing is already having an effect.

The Germanwings investigation is also having an effect, partly because of increased medical failure rates, but also because there is a movement towards changing the current type rating training bonds legal basis to allow a pilot to resign without financial consequences (Tomatoe Andy was seriously in debt and could not afford to leave). Slavery is not good for your mental health!
Do not pay for a type ratings upfront or sign a bond, as it is now regarded as a sign of a serious mental health issue by many cheif pilots, the smaller US airlines will pay for the type rating and some are even paying for the CTP and ATP ratings.

Drifting off topic slightly, if you are suffering from too much stress and need some time off, just visit your local doctor and tell him you are feeling suicidal, it should get you a real good sick note. I did that once and it works real well, although the doc knew I was telling a porkie pie, as the real reason was the aircraft I was flying had a seriously defective engine (It kept overheating) that the ginger beers could not seem to fix. Luckily a US pilot bent it whilst I was off sick.

Yep the times they are a changin, as Bob Dylan once sang!

[skyship007]

That comment from Clamchowder is very interesting, because the flight schools in the US are very busy and are having a hard time finding good instructors. They are already starting cash to join and annual bonus schemes.
I was a instructor at OATS for 5 years and I remember the CFO suddenly increasing the pay by one third for all instructors after a few left to join Brittania airways. That meant we made as much as a BA co-pilot!
Oddly enough one significant sign of a pilot shortage is what the flight schools do both in instructor pay and expansion terms.

If I was a lot younger and sitting on a pile of cash big enough to pay for a CPL/IR course and the extra time building for the ATPL, I would apply to all the airlines with cadetship schemes, BUT refuse to sign a contract involving a serious training bond. The reason for that is there is a risk that the major airlines will change their minds about just recruiting rich kids who can afford to work for peanuts (After deductions). Refusing to sign contracts sends a definite signal to the bean counters!

It's one big mistake to pay for training with an impending shortage of qualified pilots, because it won't be long before some airlines give up charging for type ratings in particular. Obviously agreeing to a P2F rip off would be silly at present.