The Pilot Shortages begin to Bite

Due to its rapid expansion, NetJets Europe has become the first business jet operator with a sponsored ab initio pilot training scheme. In an industry "first", a sponsored cadet scheme with training institution Oxford Aviation is to supply first officers to Netjets. The fractional bizjet operator expects to take in 180 new first officers every year for three years, with the balance comprising direct-entry pilots. Netjets is a company which offers fractional ownership and rental of private jets. Fractional ownership starts at 1/16th of a plane giving the fractional owner 50 hours of flying time per annum.
NetJets Inc. (formerly Executive Jet, Inc.) was founded in 1964 as the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. The NetJets fractional aircraft ownership program is made available through the NetJets family of operating companies. NetJets Inc. is a Berkshire Hathaway company. It currently operates Cessna Citation VII/Bravo/Excel/XLS, Dassault Falcon 900/2000/2000EXs, Gulfstream IVSP/V/550s and Raytheon Hawker 400XP/800XPs.
        Under the scheme, pilots will attend the 17-month ab initio training syllabus with Oxford Aviation, then undergo six months training with Netjets as line-oriented flight training (LOFT), after which they will be paid the same as already qualified direct-entry first officers. However then, unlike existing airline bonding schemes, the graduate will be obliged to begin paying back the cost of their training in monthly installments. It's not clear what the wastage rate or financial commitment will be for those who may not make it through the course.
        Netjets currently services 42 gateway airports throughout Europe and its spread of pilot nationalities runs the full gamut. The company claims to be offering lifetime careers to pilots in order to attract the best quality candidates. Fractional aircraft ownership enables people to fly on their own terms from the airport closest to their home/office to the airport closest to their final destination. The fleet that NetJets operates enables access to over 5,000 airports worldwide. Owning a NetJets share enables people to exchange (or interchange) among 14 different jet types in a global fleet which is distributed between NetJets Aviation, NetJets International, NetJets Europe, NetJets Middle East and NetJets Large Aircraft companies.
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