Originally Posted by
cactipilot
I gotta say I hope all the intelligent professionals and interested future pilots keep alert for regulation changes that could radically benefit airlines at the even worse expense to pilots. After reading up on how shady the pilot training process is in, say, UK, for an airline like EasyJet (pay >100k for your training from an exclusive provider that fleeces you, pay >35k for your type rating, take a loan out for all of it that may be due if you leave the low wage atmosphere of the company before it's paid off, work as an intern with no guarantee, then maybe get hired from there) it seems like a smart lobbyist group could easily sell a structured program like that in the US here, to "ease" the upcoming pilot shortage. Airlines get more crews, low cost, training companies that charge tons more than 61 providers make out also, etc...
Does anyone have any thoughts on that scenario? I've worked in media relations and government lobbying so say it's totally plausible with some $ to grease the legislative skids.
All the Feds would have to do is order the Dept of Ed to authorize Fed student loans for accelerated flight training programs like AllATPs--if anyone with any credit/no credit and a pulse could get Fed loans up to the cost of education (including housing/books/etc.), more people would go shell out whatever they need for that $19/hour job.
Honestly, it would make more sense for the Feds to loan money to student pilots than journalism and philosophy majors at every University in the entire nation, and/or not loan money to any University/training program unless it was a job-shortage/skills-shortage area....but I'm just a guy.
UVSC used to run the same scenario through a loophole, albeit with now non-existent SLM loans (and they don't do it anymore after the financial crises dried up that cheap pool of loan money).