Many things are wrong with recruitment and training inside the aviation world at present with BANKS cashing in on FAKE pilot jobs that do not exist...You can read a great article below from Airobserver who will tell us more...
Nienke Groenendijk-Feenstra is a
science journalist who investigated on the alarming unemployment rate of
the pilots in Netherlands. She found murky links between banks, pilot
schools and airlines, making profits at the expense of the dreams of
young Dutch people aspiring to fly. Her book,
De vervlogen droom
(literally translated ‘the evaporated dream’), is a moving testimony of
a lost generation of pilots. She accepts to tell us more about it in an
exclusive interview for Air Observer.
Hi
Nienke! Thanks a lot for accepting this interview on Air Observer. I
must admit something about your book unsettled me right away. People
usually believe that being a pilot is a glamorous, unique experience.
But you seem to see things differently…
Hi Roman, thanks for inviting me to Air
Observer. Unfortunately, lots of people still believe being a pilot is a
glamorous job. I use the word ‘unfortunately’, because many young
people dream of becoming a pilot and imagine themselves in a large jet,
thundering down the runway, surrounded by pretty stewardesses and
visiting all parts of the world. However, since the low cost carriers
entered the aviation industry, this is no longer the case, except for
flag carriers such as Air France-KLM or Lufthansa. The life of pilots
that work for airlines such as Ryanair or other cheap airlines is not
glamorous at all. It’s hard work, long hours, no flights to exotic
destinations, just plain commuter trips. Their salary – if they are
lucky enough to receive a salary and don’t have to work as a contractor –
is barely enough to make a living, let alone to repay the huge loans
they had to take out for their CPL (editor’s note: Commercial Pilot License) and ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot License, ed.).
Can you describe to our readers the exact nature of the employment system you denounce in your book?
In my book De vervlogen droom, I
denounce the system that a government owned bank hands out huge loans to
young people that dream of becoming a pilot. These loans are based on a
dream and a high school diploma.
In the Netherlands there are 65 flight
schools, and about 11 of them offer an integrated training course. They
are very expensive, more expensive than anywhere else in the world. The
Dutch bank ABN AMRO is the only bank providing these so-called ‘pilot
loans’.
Student pilots have to pay 800 euros per month to cover their ‘pilot loans’
FTO’s (Flight Training Organization,
ed.) and the bank lure young people who dream of becoming a pilot and
offer them loans of 125,000 euros, or even more if they need to pay for a
type rating afterwards. The students have to pay an interest rate of
appr. 6% from day 1. That is a lot of money: about 700-800 euros per
month. This means the students have to borrow extra money in order to
pay their monthly interest. Most of the students that have graduated
since 2008/2009 have been unable to find a job as a pilot and they are
completely stuck. They can’t start their own life and often end up in a
lowly job, because nobody wants to hire a pilot. ‘Hire a pilot? You’ll
be leaving us soon for your glamorous job!’
It seems to be one loan after another… Do they manage to cover their debt eventually? What happened if they do not find a job?
They are slowly strangled by their debt.
The lucky few that are hired by an airline usually have to take out
another loan to pay for their type rating, or in the worst case, to pay a
dubious broker to buy them a cockpit seat somewhere in Asia.
I think it’s unethical and perverse that a
state owned bank continues to provide these loans, since there is no
security at all, except for the invented system with so-called
‘guarantee funds’. The students pay between 5,000 and 6,000 euros and if
they can’t find a job as a pilot ‘the guarantee fund will take over
their interest payments to the bank’. And that’s the catch: the student
pilots, who often don’t get to see these contracts between the flight
school and the bank until their first day at school or never at all,
feel safe. They think they’ve paid a lot of money for this so-called
security, that actually only protects the bank.
“Student pilots often don’t get to see these contracts between the flight school and the bank”
I think it’s insane this whole situation
is still going on. Flight schools still recruit new students and the ABN
AMRO still provides loans. Everybody is making money at the expense of
these young people with a dream: FTO’s, the bank, the Dutch government (medical, exams)…
Some pilots consider themselves lucky because they were able to get a
job via a pay-to-fly construction. Actually, to me that is not a job. A
job is something you get paid for, not something you have to pay for
yourself. It’s a perverse system. The subtitle of my book ‘De vervlogen
droom’ is: Pilot, from hero to mercenary. Need to say more?
How many pilots and first officers are concerned in the Netherlands? In Europe?
At the moment, there are between
1,300-1,400 unemployed pilots and their number is still increasing. Most
of them are pretty desperate, because they have to pay a huge amount of
interest every month, they can’t find a decent job and they almost all
still have to live with their parents because they cannot even rent a
room.
I don’t know about the numbers in Europe, but I know the problem also exists in Belgium and the UK.
Why is such a thing happening?
Because there is too much money involved. The FTO’s
make a fortune with their trainings, the bank charges a high interest
rate and the LCC’s are thrilled that pilots are willing to pay for their
own training. This not only saves them money, but to some airlines like
Ryanair, the training of the cockpit (and cabin) staff is highly
lucrative. In Indonesia, the locally trained new pilots are put on hold
and the pay-to-fly pilots from Europe are welcomed on board. Of course,
they first have to fork out a fortune for their training, gracefully
lent to them – yet again by the ABN AMRO bank.
I
would like to go back over what you said on banks and industry
professionals. Could you tell us more about the links between the two?
I think there might be a conflict of interest. The FTO’s need the bank, because otherwise their students can’t afford the training. The bank needs the FTO’s, because the students are considered cash cows, and pay a lot of interest for their loan.
I think, but unfortunately I can’t prove it, that some FTO’s might pay incentives to the pilot desk, a special department of the bank. I know for a fact that one Dutch FTO
hires freelancers to tell lovely fairy tales during their so-called
open days and that those freelancers (who know next to nothing from the
real aviation world) are paid a large amount of money for each student
they manage to lure into this school. To me, this means the information
provided is not objective, and even biased.
“The FTO’s need the bank, the bank needs the FTO’s: in the end, pilot students are considered cash cows”
By law, the bank has a duty to protect
people against borrowing too much money, but until recently the
information about the flight training provided by the bank was unclear
and incomplete. These young people trust the bank, and take out the loan
to fulfill their dream of becoming a pilot. And even today, FTO’s
tell prospects that there will be an enormous pilot shortage in 2034 or
so. They conveniently forget to tell them what to do for the next 20
years.
Could it be that this system is a consequence of the pressure of airlines employing pilots with Irish contracts?
No, I don’t think so. Since there are so
many unemployed Dutch pilots, the ones that can start working for
Ryanair are thrilled. Moreover, the bank is happy to lend them the money
for their type rating, and indirectly helps Ryanair boosting its
profits. They don’t care, a job is a job.
I’ve spoken to pilots who had a job and
also had a significant number of flight hours, but were still unable to
pay back their loan because their salary is too low. I know a pilot who
has a loan of almost 300,000 euros and works for an Asian company on the
black list. How is he ever supposed to pay back this money? I just
don’t understand why the bank doesn’t realize most pilots are underpaid
nowadays. It’s like the bank still has its own dream.
What does the Dutch government plan to do about it? What about Europe?
Questions were asked in the parliament
and ABN AMRO promised to restrict their loans to cadet pilots. They told
the State Secretary they would only give a loan for one new student
when the FTO in question has ‘placed’ two graduated pilots.
In an interview I asked the bank what
they meant by ‘placed’, but their answer remained vague. In fact, they
are not keeping their promise. Last month a FTO started a class with 15 new students and I’m pretty sure they have not ‘placed’ 30 graduated pilots from their waiting list.
“Europe should stop these slavery contracts that definitely affect the flight safety”
I have sent a copy of my book to our King
Willem Alexander, who happens to be a licensed pilot, to draw his
attention to this enormous problem. I received an answer from one of his
representatives stating that my book and accompanying letter have been
handed to the State Secretary ‘for handling’. I truly hope this will
work and that the government will finally act. As for Europe? I think
Europe should stop these slavery contracts that definitely affect the
flight safety. I just can’t understand how they can invent all kinds of
silly rules about the size of banana’s and just let this pay-to-fly
cancer grow into our aviation world.
What will you do next? Do you have another book on tracks?
I’ve almost finished the Dutch translation of the French book ‘
RYANAIR, low cost mais à quel prix?’
by the Ryanair captain using the pseudonym of Christian Fletcher. I
read it when working on my book and decided to buy the translation
rights and publish it in the Netherlands and Belgium. It will be
published on 22 November and believe me, it’s a page-turner.
http://airobserver.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/nienke-groenendijk-pilots-are-slowly-strangled-by-their-debt/
John said,
Great that journalist out there are printing these serious issues regarding pilots and banks.
Ryanair used Bank of Ireland for many years,who gave out training loans of £3000 to probationary cabin crew.With hundreds if not thousands not able to pay this loan.After i contacted the bank's ceo and others about this loan,in 2009 they stopped,well not really. Ryanair had gone to the Allied Irish Bank and set this loan up again.Again i contacted the ceo and others in 2010....December 2010
''THIS RYANAIR TRAINING BANK LOAN FOR CABIN CREW HAD BEEN CANCELED ''
VICTORY ''Mr O'Leary''
)
