Pretty simple really. Other industries make you pay for your training. How much would you be willing to pay if :
You passed your Assessments
You passed your Medical
You could then pay for an independent rules course so you would be fully rules trained and could then apply to any TOC for local rules and traction.
Lots to discuss but I really wanna hear your magic number.
So I’ve been a “commercial pilot” for about 12 years. I did not pay for my training as there is no way on earth I would have ever been able to find the spare £100k to fund the course and required add-ons. Even the semi sponsored schemes in the U.K. require you to take out a secured loan against a property. Risky business.
I was lucky enough to get into a fully paid up course. One of the very few such courses that existed then. I suppose I paid in some amount in the form of a slightly reduced wage for the first five years but given the alternative ways pilots are required to fund their own training it was still far better.
Simply put I was able to get sponsored because I showed the aptitude for the role and our of a huge candidate pool I was (on the day I hasten to add I’m not special) the best candidate. Had that sponsorship not existed I would never have been a pilot.
It’s a slippery slope and now not only do airlines generally only hire qualified pilots they also expect you to self fund a type rating (another £16k), and as an ab initio quite likely fund some of your own initial line training. The whole process takes years and in that time you’re making very little money, if any, whilst paying out tens of thousands. To say it isn’t very egalitarian would be an understatement. It is not a system that favours the best candidates but the candidates that can pay.
It is also a system that has led to a real drop in terms and conditions as people become more and more willing to pay for their dream. Not realising perhaps that commercial flying isn’t quite what they expect.
I’m now pursuing a career on the railways. I love flying planes but the industry is not the same as it once once, and I have to admit to a long term love affair with rail travel. Not a spotter per se but a fan of rail as an environmentally friendly, engineering heavy means of travel.
I would be disheartened if the railway followed the same path as my current industry as I do not think it produces the best candidates or the best working environment for its employees.