Originally Posted by
Buzz
My question is... What have you guys seen as far as the amount of people willing to start civilian pilot training only to quit due to the huge cost and poverty wages the first few years?
As others have said, enrollement has actually been up at most of the flight schools that I'm aware of. That being said, I believe the washout rate once in school is something like 80%. Someone posted the stat on here once but I can't find it now. I remember my first day "Aviation 101" where the class was full of new students wanting to enter the professional pilot track. Four years later myself and the guy that sat next to me were the only ones who had advanced beyond the commerical rating, with most people "Washing out" on the instrument. I have noticed that a lot of people enter the college aviation programs with the professional pilot track in mind only to change midway through to an aviation mgmt degree or something similar such as airport planning.