The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

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Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By lobstaboy
 Mon Feb 21, 2022 9:33 am #1900438
There is a school of thought that says that turning something you enjoy doing into work is the quickest way to ruin it for yourself. You've got to make sure that all the downsides are compensated for.
In any job what you actually do (the technical content, if you like) - accountant/doctor/ teacher/ dustman whatever - is only part of what makes it satisfying or not. Much more important are how it feels on a day to day basis; people you interact with, commute, job security, prospects etc etc
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Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By A4 Pacific
 Mon Feb 21, 2022 10:11 am #1900444
lobstaboy wrote:There is a school of thought that says that turning something you enjoy doing into work is the quickest way to ruin it for yourself. You've got to make sure that all the downsides are compensated for.
In any job what you actually do (the technical content, if you like) - accountant/doctor/ teacher/ dustman whatever - is only part of what makes it satisfying or not. Much more important are how it feels on a day to day basis; people you interact with, commute, job security, prospects etc etc


Well, for the first half of my career, I had two or three of the most interesting pilot jobs it’s probably possible to imagine. They do exist! However I reached a stage in my life when I thought I’d had enough ‘excitement’ in an aircraft and with toddlers appearing in my home, it was time to provide for my family. So I gave up flying and became an airline pilot!

However airlines just don’t pay anything like as well as they did 27 years ago. Making any return on investment a bit of a nonsense now. I very much doubt I could justify making that same choice today?

One of the reasons airline pay has, and will continue to fall. is precisely because so many see it as an aspirational career. If an employer has queues of young ‘self sponsored’ people banging on their door to do the job, why would they bother offering terms and conditions commensurate with the considerable responsibility they are so eager to bear? (One simple mistake and hundreds of people can die.)

Other opinions are obviously available!
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Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By Flyingfemme
 Mon Feb 21, 2022 3:26 pm #1900481
You do seem to be concentrating on the airline job. If you just want to fly there are other ways to do it and an ATP may not be required. You don’t say what sort of restraints you have in your life - mortgage, family etc. Some interesting opportunities are available abroad, if you can Chuck it all in and go for it. But you don't come across as that sort of chap/chapess.
The other way is to come up with your own niche, blending what you do with what you want to do, so that flying can be a part of it.
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Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By SH87
 Tue Feb 22, 2022 5:52 pm #1900709
I guess I should have avoided staying my own ambitions in this thread, as I really wanted to have a conversation around the statistics which I am actually interested in!

I have made an FOI request to CAA and maybe will make more in the future, putting my career aside for a moment, I am interested to know approximately how many start but don’t make it.

Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By SH87
 Tue Feb 22, 2022 5:56 pm #1900710
Flyingfemme wrote:You do seem to be concentrating on the airline job. If you just want to fly there are other ways to do it and an ATP may not be required. You don’t say what sort of restraints you have in your life - mortgage, family etc. Some interesting opportunities are available abroad, if you can Chuck it all in and go for it. But you don't come across as that sort of chap/chapess.
The other way is to come up with your own niche, blending what you do with what you want to do, so that flying can be a part of it.



Yeah I am, but I have taken the view that if I went a different route, completing ATPL exams isn’t going to hold me back, whereas vice versa it may.

I am relatively limited in terms of where I live but could get to most bases from London to Manchester with relative ease.

At this point I suppose I am just enjoying learning, developing and asking silly questions like this one! You must think I’m mad to enjoy my ATPL studying but I do enjoy my 9-5 on a Saturday doing so!
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Re: The statistical likelihood of completing flight training and getting a job..

By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
 Wed Feb 23, 2022 9:25 pm #1900996
SH87 wrote:1. how many students start flight training? Not sure if this is recorded but perhaps we could use initial class 1 medicals issued as a proxy?


I'm not sure this is an easy one to answer. Where would you start? PPL training? Hour building? CPL? Signing up for a ground school course? Then how do yo define the jobs and how does anyone know who's working these jobs?

Class 1s, maybe, but then how do you measure "I have this idea I might like to do it" vs. "I'm going to try my hardest to do it"?

What about those who just want to work casually? Or those who do it for the challenge of acquiring more ratings?

I know several people who had the idea when they were young, but then found that life, families, etc, get in the way. Some have good jobs in ATC now. :-)
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