With reference to Britannia Airways' advertised Pilot Sponsorship Scheme, I suppose one should applaud this token gesture, because that is all it really is. The hunt is on for six cadets who must be between the ages of 19 and 26, have three A-level passes with a total science base and ideally have up to 30 hours' flying experience, preference going to degree holders in science. And oh, I nearly forgot, £15,000 ($23,000) in cash on the table!
Britannia would save itself significant time by going straight to NASA's academy where these sorts of chaps are currently undergoing training and a handful might be able to stump up the cash required.
The academic content of professional pilot training requires only five good O-levels including maths, physics and English language. I agree that, as a selection tool, an additional two A-levels is sensible. But three passes in sciences is not necessary. A degree would be a hindrance because, quite frankly, the career would not stretch your average Oxford Phd in physics. The latter would return to the academic world or go elsewhere after a few night flights to Tenerife.
Any 19 to 26-year-old who has amassed this level of academic trivia and has also found time and money to fly up to 30 hours while also coming up with £15,000, will not be interested in flying up and down Amber 31.
Britannia will have no trouble in finding its six cadets, but I doubt that the same six will be in the company after five years.
Capt Gordon MacFarlaine
Bahrain
Source: Flight International
