Many people are being affected by the pandemic right now. One way or another, people are finding ways to survive. The tourism industry has taken a big hit. Together with all the lockdowns and people telecommute instead of meeting up, air traffic has reduced drastically. As of now, it doesn’t look like it is going to improve in the next 6 months to a year despite having the vaccine.
My current situation can be simply illustrated in this illustration. It is pretty similar to what I mentioned in my previous blog. I am pretty much last in line in a queue that won’t move much for at least the next few months. Let me introduce the characters in my illustration: “New”, “Experienced”, “Airline” and “Existing”.
Characters
Firstly, “New”. These are the newly minted instructors who wants to get in the door for the first time. Started training before or during the lockdown begin, ride through the lockdown, weather and school closure and finally got their rating. Hooray!! (right?) I am in this group who just got a rating that some called “a license to learn”. We are inexperience in instructing and have low hours. The only advantage we have is cheap. Our salary is at the bottom of the barrel. Some schools who focus on profits may like us second only to student pilot, aka customers.
Next, “Experienced”. This a group of experienced instructors who lost their job when the pandemic hit. They maybe doing part time instructing now. But what they actually want is a stable job in a flight school/club where they can have a stable income. They are definitely ahead of me in the queue.
Followed by “Airline”. They are airlines pilots who have an instructor rating. Lost their position in the airlines and come back to schools to work. Many of them have a Class 3, Class 2 or even Class 1 instructor rating. Experienced both in instructing and commercial flying. They definitely took a pay cut coming back to flight schools. But hey, at least they have income. They are already in the door that I am queuing for and I doubt they are leaving soon.
Lastly, “Existing”. These are the ones who are already working in flight schools. They have been in the school for awhile and are familiar with how things work in the school. I highly doubt they will be let go for anyone in the queue. I am guessing they are smiling from ear to ear now since they did not take up the job offer from airlines just before the pandemic hit.
What have I done so far?
I sent out resumes as soon as I got my rating and waited. That was during the Christmas/New Years holiday. Not surprisingly, I didn’t get a reply. After two months, I send my resumes again. But this time, I printed them, visited the Chief Flight Instructors (CFI) of various schools and passed it to them. We had a little chat regarding employment and the industry as a whole. Not surprisingly, again, they all say very similar things along the lines of, international students are not coming in and there is an oversupply of instructors now (airline pilots coming back), etc. There was a glimpse of hope when one of the CFI said some of his pilot friends are being recalled by the airlines. But long story short, they are not hiring now and they asked me to hang on.
What’s next?
I am exploring other options. But they are a work in progress. Oh right, I should also mention, I am a foreigner in a foreign country. Which means if I don’t find a job anytime soon, I have to leave and may have to give up aviation all together. This will of course be my last resort. But as the days passed, I am getting pretty nervous. Stay tuned….
