Airport expansion needs pilots, not just runways

Amy Leversidge, General Secretary | British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA)

There are many hurdles someone must clear before becoming an airline pilot. They must learn how to fly a complex aircraft safely, master aerodynamics, navigation, meteorology, flight planning, aviation regulations and emergency procedures, all while developing strong decision-making and communication skills.

This makes sense. We want pilots to excel at skills that keep us safe – always their top priority.

But there is one hurdle that makes far less sense. Unlike surgeons or engineers, UK pilots must pay for their own training in full and upfront. An aspiring pilot today typically faces a bill of well over £100,000 to go from beginner to fully qualified commercial airline pilot.

Some lucky ones secure a place on the handful of massively oversubscribed airline-funded programmes. For others, a modular approach can help a little to spread out but not avoid colossal bills, and payment plans exist but the full amount will typically still need to be paid before the end of training. Aspiring pilots cannot access the student loan system, and high street banks no longer offer loans for pilot training.

The result is that becoming a pilot in Britain today is an opportunity largely closed to people with plenty of ambition and potential, just not the cash to cover massive upfront costs. Even the Bank of Mum and Dad has its limits.

This is not how access to a highly skilled profession should work in a society that wants everyone to have a fair chance. We would not accept this for aspiring surgeons or engineers; why do we accept it for pilots?

The need to fix this system is urgent because with airport expansion projects getting the ministerial green light, demand for pilots is set to skyrocket. At the same time, many in the current pilot workforce, especially those who trained in the 1990s, are fast approaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. Many experienced pilots will retire just as demand surges.

There is understandable focus on the sugar rush of short-term construction jobs that airport expansion will create, but once runways and terminals are built, those jobs disappear. The long-term focus needs to be on the highly skilled roles the aviation sector will need for decades to come: pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers and more.

Airport expansion is part of kickstarting economic growth, one of the government’s six missions. Breaking down barriers to opportu­nity is another of those missions. Well, here is a six-figure barrier that needs breaking down.

A pilot apprenticeship scheme already exists on paper and is fully approved. It needs adjustments to work for industry, but it could become a flagship example of the “gold stand­ard apprenticeships” the Prime Minister spoke about in his conference speech in Liverpool.

Alternatively, more airline-funded programmes, a government-backed loan scheme, access to the existing student loan system or even a fair loan offer from the banks could open the profes­sion up to those with talent but not means.

Being a pilot is a vital, rewarding career that demands exceptional skill and dedication. But the current eyewatering training cost shuts out many who otherwise have everything they need to succeed. With pilot demand set to climb, we need the government to work with BALPA and industry to ensure access to a career on the flight deck is based not on money, but on merit alone.

For more information, email Stuart Bonar, Public Affairs Advisor, at [email protected].

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