Welcome

 FIVE STAR GLOBAL RESOURCES AUSTRALIA PTY LTDunderstands all the factors and difficulties facing the flying enthusiasts and have customised an affordable flying training program which will enable cadets to complete the full Commercial Pilot Training program and achieving the required flying hours to be attractive to commercial airline operators. 

Cadets will be taken aboard from ab-initio-to-ATPL at a price which no flying academy will beat us in value for money and most importantly the price.

All successful cadets will be guaranteed with jobs to build their flying hours up to ATPL requirements and earning money during the flying hours building process.

THE PILOT SHORTAGE

It’s a phrase that’s everywhere at the moment: the pilot shortage. The huge numbers predicted by Boeing and Airbus – both manufacturing giants have forecasted the need for as many as 617,000 new pilots by 2035 – have been shared far and wide, with many outlets proclaiming that now is ‘a great time to become a pilot.’

But what’s the truth behind these numbers?

For those saying the pilot shortage is a big, fat myth, the numbers can’t be argued with: economies are growing, airline fleet numbers are expanding as never before, and over the next 20 years, projections show that, at the current rate of pilots entering the profession, there won’t be enough pilots to fly them.

However, once we break the numbers down, it’s not such a straight forward story.

Regional challenges

As can be seen from Boeing’s outlook, the overwhelming need for pilots will be seen in the Asia Pacific Region. With soaring demand for aircraft in Asia, the carriers are recruiting for experienced pilots from Europe and the US. However, it is the captains, who can train their first officers, they are after, rather than freshly-qualified, low-hour cadets or qualified pilots without hours on type.

The overwhelming demand for pilots will be seen in the Asia Pacific region (Graphic © Boeing)

A shortage of pilots is also a genuine problem that’s facing US regional airlines right now, as more captains reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 and following an FAA requirement for first officers to have 1,500 hours total time as a pilot. Add to that the fact that fewer young people are choosing commercial aviation as a profession, and regional carriers face a challenge.

A major factor driving fewer people to take up the career is the cost of training. In the past, many airline pilots have come from a steady source of retiring military cockpit crews, though as those numbers have gradually dwindled, the onus has shifted on to civilian-trained pilots. Aspiring pilots, who aren’t able to secure a place on the limited number of airline sponsored training schemes, need to find large sums of money to pay for their own ab-initio-to-ATPL training costs, and in many cases, a Type Rating too, before an airline will consider them employable.

Previously, cadets would have been funded predominantly by their parents – we know that from our own membership surveys – but when we had the financial crisis, a lot of parents weren’t able to liquidate funds and the banks weren’t loaning for pilot training.

For someone who wants to take themselves from novice to the right hand seat, it can cost anywhere between AUD 100,000 TO 500,000+. In order to cover these training costs, many pilots will take out substantial loans, yet even once they get into an airline flying job, the starting salaries are often not high enough to live on, after factoring in repayments. In other words, the number of pilots willing to commit the time and money to their education and training when the return on investment is at best unpredictable, is far fewer than it’s ever been.