First of all, if you do an aviation degree, then you're stupid. Period. Second, if you go to Basair, you're even more stupid than the person that does the aviation degree. Period.
If you're passionate about flying, there are four options:
Option 1: Qantas Cadet Program
Yes, this involves an aviation degree but it has the support of Qantas. Despite it saying that Qantas does not guarantee that you will be offered a job after your industry placement, almost everyone does. That is a fact. The reason why doing an aviation degree under the Qantas Cadet Program is acceptable, but not doing one from UNSW is this very simple reason: If you go to UNSW and do an aviation degree, you WILL have to find a job in outback Australia. General Aviation employers do not give a toss about an aviation degree. They care about one thing and one thing only and that is how many hours you have under your belt. Although I wouldn't count on this option because last year it was cancelled due to Qantas not needing to hire any flight crew.
Option 2: Pilot in the Australian Defence Force
In my opinion, the best option, despite it having a 14.5 year return of service obligation. This too, involves an undergraduate degree but you're doing it at ADFA - one of Australia'a top leadership institutions. On top of that, they pay you to study and a host of other benefits. However, don't apply if you have no passion for serving in the military You won't get an offer even if you try because the process involves numerous stages including a flight screening program at BFTS Tamworth. However, when you complete your ROSO, you will be one of the best pilots in Australia. Military-trained pilots are among the best pilots in the world and Qantas readily hire military pilots for conversion onto jets.
Option 3: Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme
Don't apply unless you're under 25. If you're over, then choose one of the other three options. The main gist of this is that they pay for everything so that when you finish, you get employed as a second officer on the B777 or A330. But you get paid shit all, you MUST live in Hong Kong for at least six years (i.e. most of your salary goes to paying rent in one of the most expensive, if the not the most expensive city in the world). However, if you're young, you can afford to share a place with three of four others and just live a shit life for a few years till you get promoted and can bid for an offshore base.
Option 4: General Aviation aka The fastest way to the airlines
You do a CPL at a reputable flying organisation, not Basair. You can then either an instructor rating or go bush. After two or three years, you would've progressed onto twins. After another two-three years of twins, you would accumulated around 3000-4000 hours. When airlines begin to hire, you'll be at a nice age of 25 with a sizeable amount of hours. Airlines like to employ young pilots since they cover the cost of their investment when they train you. And training isn't cheap. When I was there as an intern, SIM sessions were $7000 for four hours. And they run 24/7 11pm-3am, 3am-7am, 7am-1pm etc.. The downside of this is that you live in outback Australia, you get paid about 30k a year and risk your life flying dodgy aircraft. But, pilots that I've spoken to say that GA were some of the best years of their life and that they learnt most of the flying skills whilst flying bush.
In the end, everyone has dreams of making it into a legacy airline, but few make it. At Qantas, there are only like 1500 Long Haul Pilots. The highest-paid Qantas pilot was some A380 captain who overtimed heaps and made it just pass 500k. That is only one pilot. Most captains in Qantas get paid about 210k-280k pre tax dollars. That range is due to bases, overtime, fleet and entitlements.
One final thing, don't think you're going to get to stay in the city. That will only happen if you choose the instructor path. Instructors get paid about $20/hr. Do that for about eight years? If you find a job as an instructor in the city, count yourself really lucky.
FYI, none of the above figures were inflated or exaggerated. I got into the RAAF as a pilot, made it into the QF cadet scheme, but then chose to do a law degree. LOL. Why? The salaries of pilots will constantly decrease. Just look at the relationship between Qantas managers and its pilots. Cadet schemes are being brought in place to hire cheap pilots to replace more experienced pilots who demand higher salaries. When you consider that Qantas pilots make up abour 4% of the total expenses of Qantas group operations, it's actually a fair bit.
So now I've decided to set my sights on becoming CEO of Qantas.
