For now my career as a seafarer , is pretty stable and at now its height - Now the big question remains on how long will I be at the height of my career. Surely from my logical thinking the universal law of atrophy applies to all and that it's possible that one day my career as a seafarer will end ., On what date and time will it end is still up to be seen.
For now , like I said I'm pretty much stable on the job position and possibly I could still be around a couple of more years , but then after that will be a big problem for me . Sadly "Ratings" category on being a seafarer has an age limit meaning that the inevitable that I became too old for them (and probably out lived my usefulness) , I will be discarded just like any other seaman that got too old to work., and this is the reason why now I'm writing - what will be my next step after being a seafarer.,
One plan that I had been coming up ( out of the many possible plans ) lately is to start all over on another career. Probably jump to the aeronautical profession ., I have done a preliminary investigation (and more will be done ) on "how to be become an airline pilot" and found out recently that , it's not that difficult to be a pilot compared to being a seafarer in the Philippines. With the rising cost of education and training on seafarer's plus the limited employment opportunities offered where almost more than half of the class will not be employed anytime soon ., a student would start to think that being a airline pilot would be more than pragmatic.
Now being an airline pilot has its own share of problems ., first and foremost (and the biggest blockade) the number one reason why there aren't so many airline (Filipino) pilots to begin with is the cost of the education and training fee which is a staggering 2.6 Million Pesos to somewhere around 4.1 Million ., ( or in between that which depends on the school ) . Definitely the price tag of the training and education is NOT FOR A COMMONAIRE ., any student being educated on this type of programs should have a large pool of money to back up there education . To make it worst , the education in becoming an Airline Pilot is not on installment basis payment ., meaning a student has to pay in full the fee's for training and education. So the student should be prepared to basically drill a huge hole on they're wallets.
The good side in being an airline pilot, is that basically anybody can be an airline pilot given that he / she completes the training education and licenses., the pre requisites are not that strict (at least on the Philippines) and rules are not that dogmatic., and to top it off , the employment opportunities are not that bleak as compared to being a seafarer..
My early inquires on aeronautical schools reveal that airline pilots education and training are in four stages ., two are compulsory and the other two are optional. First is PPL (private pilot license) which is equivalent like a "student license" in driving a car., Second is CPL ( Commercial Pilot license) which is equivalent to "professional driver's license" ., These two are compulsory and imperative to be taken .,
The other two license are optional and these are ATPL (airline transport pilot license) , basically I have no information about this yet but I do know it’s a "hardcore" mode of sorts . Flight instructor license , which practically means you're a teacher in a aeronautical school and building up flight hours experience.
Anyway on my case…..
Probably I should have started preparing on this project years ago., in fact I should have started on this year's back and possibly a decade back when I was still a rookie seafarer and should have been one of the "Back up" professions incase my career as a seafarer would not materialize (or materialize) or met some disastrous event. Targeting 4.1 Million pesos is a tall order and therefore will take time to accomplish, even my rough current estimates would take me at least half a decade to accomplish ., let alone the time it takes for the implementation of the training.
