Logical reason for Sponsorships?
 

Hi Guys,

Can someone explain to me the logical reason for offering Sponsored cadet schemes with so many pilots qualified at different levels? It annoys me when you read the description "looking for motivated individuals with a passion for flying".

The motivation and passion comes from people who have always aspired to be a pilot and put themselves through training working hard to cover the costs only to be constantly overstepped by cadets just doing it as its handed to them on a plate!

I contacted BA regarding their latest scheme i have a CPL MEIR with ATPL credits and 1000TT so don’t meet the cadet level as over qualified. On the same note i don’t have 2000TT and a TR so not qualified enough but people with basic A-Levels will be sitting doing our dream job before us having waited years!

I know this might seem like I’m ranting on but need it off my chest as i am starting to hate this industry with a passion and just can’t believe what has happened to it. You would not train as a doctor/lawyer/Engineer and be over stepped by someone who is not even qualified and with no experience!

Because almost anyone can get the licence and some time, but airlines are historically ultra-conservative and have clearly found in the past that being ultra-selective right at the beginning can help them find certain kinds of captains / management pilots etc of the future that will more than likely stay with the company for a sizeable portion of their careers.

Speaking as someone in the same boat, who made the final interviews of a cadet scheme (so some indication I might be in the required mould).

The bottom line is that we all self sponsored. By doing so WE chose that we should be pilots - it was OUR decision that we're good enough/the right personality/ the right PEOPLE for the job. No-one stopped to ask the airlines if we were or not.

Not saying that any non sponsored pilot is NOT the right fit, just that everyone knows someone through their training who frankly shouldn't be allowed near a paper plane, let alone 80T of jet powered metal.

The airlines want to sponsor because they can then control who they get and ensure they fit their precise requirements, rather than just assuming that a pretty blue book is enough. This latter statement is what has happened for the last ten years. It should be enlightening that the airlines appear to be deciding that this mechanism isn't appropriate.

Sad but true. No point in getting down about it. Either pack up and walk away (as I have) or keep trying...and if you do the latter, best of luck to you.

A case in point. Aer Lingus recently advertised for direct entry pilots. They got over 3,000 applicants, many of them type rated on the 320. Despite this huge number (they were only looking for 45 pilots) they had to reopen the process as they apparently did not get the "right sort" of people.
They have now advertised for cadets who will be part sponsored. Aer Lingus, as well as other airlines, have a long history of selecting people with no flying experience, that they know, from their selection process, will make excellent Captains in the future. There seem to be very few "washouts" from this process.
The airlines obviously feel there are long term benefits from such cadet schemes otherwise they would not run them. As these schemes are part funded it also opens them up to more people who have an aptitude for the job but not the resources to come up with 100K, especially in these tough economic times.
No doubt Aer Lingus and other airlines will continue to recruit both qualified and cadets for years to come (hopefully!).
Best of Luck to all who are job hunting!:ok:

V1

Possible answers.

A) BA are doing it specifically to annoy people such as yourself.

B) BA has noticed that it is perfectly possible, given enough cash, for a total cretin to get him/herself a fATPL. They have thus decided to take on cadets that they have filtered before any training and then follow them through the training pipeline to ensure suitability. This fits their policy of taking on proven pilots from other airlines, and ex military pilots who at least have at the begining passed a very stringent selection proceedure unlike self improvers.

This policy obviously means that BA will miss out on good guys first time round, but they seem more concerned not to get any chimps, than miss out on stars.

This does not mean BA recruiting is bad for the rest of us. Everyone working for them is one less to compete with for that first Airline job, and you can always try for them as a DEP later in your career.

N77 its the term Aer Lingus and others use to denote qualified pilots (though not necessarily type rated) as opposed to cadet pilots (unqualified).

Well it still doesnt make sense to me. There will still be a lengthy selection process for these cadets They will still be inundated with applications and they will still get lots of muppets and chancers applying. At least with qualified people they know they are getting somebody that can pass the ATPL's and can actually fly. I assume there would be a sim check and the same lengthy selection process would weed out anybody unsuitable. I think this is more about the ££££ than anything else.

I have read a few interviews from pilots that never really thought about a career in aviation until they saw an advert in a magazine, thought it could be an interesting job and are now flying for the likes of BA. This when there are many unemployed and qualified people out there that have always dreamed of flying for a living and may never get the chance. It shows what a messed up industry this is.

I know there will be people out there that are just now cut out for the job, we have all met people like that, but there are many others who would make good pilots and have an interesting background that would also make them good company in the cockpit.

If I were in recruitment for an airline I would be opening it up to low hour fATPLs and paying for the TR whilst bonding them for 5-7 years. You would be able to select the best of what im sure would be lots of applications and build a loyal workforce that enjoys the job.

This would probably never get passed the commercial and HR departments in most companies nowadays though:mad:

Prophead

Your answer suggests that you would fail such a recruitment proceedure.