Post: #1

pilots.jetblue.com/gateway-select
http://www.pilotcareernews.com/jetblue-l...programme/

Eligibility Requirements

• Must be legally eligible to work in the United States.
• Must be 23 years old by the completion of the approximate 4-year program.
• Must have a high school diploma or GED. College degree preferred.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a First-Class Medical Certificate
• Able to obtain a valid passport with the ability to travel in and out of the United States by the end of training.
• Must be able to demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking English.
  

Pretty attractive option for high school grads or someone with an AA degree. Or someone older who wants to change careers.

Travel. Get paid. Wear uniform (DHV). Wear hat (DHV).

Post: #2

You didn't mention the price tag though, from what I've seen this costs upwards of $100,000.

Post: #3

If there wasnt a cost (like cathay pacific's program for Hong Kong citizens), this would be a game changer. With a cost like that, its pretty much worth it to go to a standard flight school and rack up hours that way. But the problem with that is it can be difficult to get wnough flight hours to become a first officer. Theres a fantastic pilot datasheet here, and anyone who is considering becoming a pilot should read it, it has some great info. Thanks for posting this, ill probably look into this program.

Post: #4

Considering the likely pay, the likely prospects for advancement to a better carrier in light of the training and without military pilot experience, and the nature of the work, you're probably as well served becoming a municipal bus driver. That's all you are doing anyway, except replacing wheels for wings and more complicated controls. The latter sentiment isn't my opinion, but that of pilots with whom I've spoken.

Post: #5

It's actually $125,000 payable over 15 months, see here.

Post: #6

I don't see how this is a deal. The whole thing behind the "starving pilot" idea is that they don't have 125k laying around to finance renting a plane for 1500 hours, so they then have to grind it out flying bush planes or instructing. It's like that old joke, "What's the easiest way to end up as a rich pilot? Start out as a very rich student"

That said, I recently met an instructor from Australia who said a thing that what some Asian airlines are doing is sending people down there for full training, with a guaranteed job on return, and the condition is that they stay for a prescribed time and the debt is forgiven. Modern day bondage, but an opportunity for those with more drive than money.

Though it was similar when I worked in oil in Asia, they'd send you for massively inflated internal training that on paper cost more than you'd make in a year for a 4 week course, but said if you quit in 2 years, you'd be liable for it. Not sure how enforceable or legal that was, probably wouldn't fly in the west, but in poor Asian countries, people seemed to not question it and were happy for the opportunity.

Post: #7

If I could be 20 again and my parents would fund me I would consider it.

Not to derail but is there an actual need of airline pilots at all?

Post: #8

Not a horrible deal in a sense I suppose given the industry is in the pits. You basically pay them a ton of money for a contingent job 4 years from your start date. People go into massive debts for useless degrees all the time so at least this promises learning real skills and a job at the end. Of course, I bet if you fail out or something goes wrong, you still owe the money.

I laughed at this though:

Quote:The cost of Gateway Select is approximately $125,000, payable in installments over the course of roughly 15 months. We are currently exploring multiple options for financial assistance to help alleviate monetary barriers to this program. Check back in the near future for more details

But they are talking about making it an accessible social enterprise/cost effective kind of thing? That's rich.

The only people who can afford this are vets with the GI Bill (assuming it covers it) and rich kids.

Really amazes me how little pilots make. If I had to do it, I'd be making a beeline for a foreign airline that actually pays/treats pilots better than a bus driver.

Supposedly (seen conflicting info on this), the airline industry is gonna have a massive amount of pilot retirements in the near future so being a pilot might not be a shit deal in the near future. Since I have the GI Bill, gonna have to give this a look.

Post: #9

Yeah, that got me laughing too, $125 being "socially accessible".

The important thing with airlines is getting all the licenses/ratings and enough flight experience (few thousand hours). Once you have that and are willing to work abroad, there are many options available world-wide, especially with number of flights rising and the industry warning about upcoming pilot shortage for years.

Post: #10

Aren't pilots going to be fazed out like bus drivers and taxi drivers with technology going towards automation?

Post: #11

Agree with the sentiments in this thread. $125k over 15 months to become a commercial airline pilot is ridiculous. If I recall correctly, starting pay at a national airline like JetBlue is like $35k per year (I'm too lazy to Google it, but that's my recollection from a few years ago).

If you really want to become a commercial airline pilot, my guess is you'll be better served by doing something else for a few years, if not a decade. As I understand, the world airline industry will soon face a shortage of pilots, when all the baby boomer pilots retire and/or die. I'd guess at that point, the airlines will subsidize your training more.

The program makes sense from JetBlue's perspective though. Everyone knows the pilot shortage is coming, so they're hoping that by being the first mover, they can lock in some pilots for cheap.

Regional airlines are already feeling the pressure - because their pilots are usually the newest, and the major airlines can offer higher pay to regional pilots.

Post: #12

Where is the foreign airline with the hot flight attendants, non-PC culture, and high pay that is offering training? I believe Cathay Pacific does it for Hong Kong citizens but I haven't verified that. If there is one that offers training to American citizens, I think we will have a new Oil Sands type of thread. Haha.

So for me: If being a pilot meant I could make 150+k, bang model hot flight attendants, give out my buddy travel pass to hot sluts to visit me wherever, and fuck off in my free time traveling to wherever the fuck I felt, I'd say it'd be a pretty good deal. The job isn't very exciting (I've ridden in in the cockpit before as a passenger and it's pretty boring) but the perks and benefits would make up for it. Probably still wouldn't do it since I've got other options but I would give it serious thought given the unique benefits.

Instead today it is 20-40K pay for years on end with only possible potential to promote, shit quality of life, tons of debt unless ex-military, PC culture, and ugly flight attendants. Who the fuck would sign up for that?

Random thought: I'm still traumatized by the insane model like attractiveness of the foreign flight attendants I saw in Boston one time; they had little green hats and I think they were from a middle eastern airline. And while I'm not impressed easily by looks generally speaking but GAWDDAMN, those were some 9s and 10s if I ever saw some. They were hypnotic inducing.

Post: #13

@captain_shane

Not for a long time. Drones for specific tasks (military or civil) are one thing, but passenger transport is a completely different world.

The entire air traffic system is so vast and complex that it will take decades (centuries?) to completely automate it. It's not just the aircraft, it's things like air traffic control that will need revolutionary changes. We don't have the technology to replace human judgement and experience yet.

Once we have the technology, legislation will need to adapt. But the biggest issue will probably be the passengers themselves.

Post: #14

@The Black Knight

It's meant to be boring. If it's exciting, something's wrong.

The whole idea of air travel is to get passengers from A to B as quickly, safely and uneventful as possible.

If you want excitement, hire an aerobatics-rated pilot to give you a ride or maybe join military. Hell, even here with modern weapons it can get really old really fast, especially in theaters like Afghanistan when there is no real air threat ("JDAM blues").

Post: #15

Many regional airlines are hurting now for pilots and it's expected to get much worse in the next 5-10 years as many pilots retire. It's not unheard of for airlines to give experienced pilots a $50,000 sign-on bonus, and that is expected to rise in the near future if more pilots aren't there to fill the slots. If I'm not mistaken, the number of military pilots has decreased; when you combine that with the high cost of financing private flight instruction, it makes sense that a regional carrier would try a program like this.