Sir - I read the article "UK schools angry at US training plan" (Flight International, 13-19 September, P20), in which the General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association's (GAMTA) chief executive, Graham Forbes, expresses his members' concerns over what they perceive as unfair competition.
I do not expect the average UK trainee pilot to be too sympathetic, however. While US aircraft-hire rates remain so much cheaper and US airspace more tolerant of general aviation (ie, no landing fees, etc), the USA will always have an "unfair" advantage.
Although National Vocational Qualification tax relief (which, as far as I was aware, is only applicable to UK-based training) is welcome, it is not enough to redress the imbalance. In any free-market system there will be winners and losers and, in the case of flight training, the UK is losing.
DANIEL ALLEN
Stockport, Cheshire, UK
...The overall picture must be studied to understand what is happening.
The main reasons for the drift across the Atlantic are fuel costs and weather conditions. There is little one can do about the latter, but plenty that GAMTA could do about costs. It could lobby the UK Government to reduce duty on aviation fuel - particularly for training. It could also attempt to reduce aerodrome or airport landing fees and value-added tax on aviation items, thus addressing the root of the problem.
Also, there are overseas centres providing the opportunity for many more UK students to start training, which they could not otherwise have in the UK. Would GAMTA prefer the number of UK students to decline to the point where all UK airlines have to recruit new pilots from overseas? What about the overseas students upon which, UK schools have relied for a large proportion of their business? Would GAMTA like their governments to be lobbied to keep them at home and deny the revenue to the UK?
It seems to me that GAMTA members are suffering from "sour grapes". Maybe they should concentrate on marketing our harsh weather conditions and the great experience gained from it.
BRUCE PEMBERTON
(UK pilot)
Hove, Sussex, UK
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Source: Flight International
