[alistairSH]

A lot of pilots are going through "0 to ATP" courses to get a good paying job...

Are those "0 to ATP" graduates landing quality jobs? Has pay at the smaller regionals actually moved up into "good paying" ranges (used to be $20-$40k/year starting, and that's usually after $50k+ in tuition/fees to get first set of pilot credentials)?

Last time I checked (10+ years ago), landing a job at a major airline still required years of experience at a regional OR some special combination of degree/networking/military service. And the regionals didn't pay well and had pretty crap working conditions (getting better post-Colgan Air crash, but still not great).

I see United has an in-house "0 to ATP" program now, but it's still more than $70k and a few years to graduate, and then the pilot still spends time at a regional United-affiliate before having the chance to move to United itself.

Really just curious what conditions are like for new pilots today (vs roughly the Colgan Air disaster era). And what the pipeline looks like post-COVID.

[seabass-labrax]

Many major European airlines have such programmes, including KLM and Virgin Atlantic. This would not be possible in the USA, considering the American requirement to amass 1500 flying hours without passengers before being granted an ATPL. I don't know what the salary is like, but there aren't as many scholarships available as there used to be. Virgin Atlantic charge £100k for their complete ATPL program, for instance, although they do guarantee employment at the end of the course.