Peter wrote:
I guess that comment was in the context of where ATPL schools are.
While there might not be that many ATPL schools in Ireland, there are at least two 
And there may well be Scotland….
Peter wrote:
The UK is the only European country which speaks English (the universal aviation language) natively.
There’s Malta too :)
English is an official language (Maltese is the other one) and exams are in English of course. It does have ATPL schools (afaik) and better weather than the UK.
By really it would be madness if the UK introduces visa requirements for EU students… Nor do I believe the UK will manage any deal that would restrict the free movement of EU people as the leave campaign promised.
One would think these warm-wx FTOs would be doing fantastic business, but for some reason they aren’t. For example Egnatia in Greece (LGKV – an easy airline flight direct from Gatwick) should be 10x the size it is currently.
I think one factor is that students have been fed a lot of slick PR about the UK schools being the most favoured by airlines. And, on certain professional training sites, they get fed a huge amount of bull about not getting a job if they do their CPL/IR in say Greece. The posters are obviously FTO people. Consequently FTE in Spain (run from the UK) is doing a lot of business (of the “warm-wx” FTOs).
This preference by airlines may actually be true; I have no idea. It would seem daft, because they should judge people individually. I once stayed in a hotel in Bournemouth, full of ATPL students, and watching them do their homework collectively while messing about I really hoped none of them will ever end up working for Easyjet 
So, all the time the training industry keeps churning out that publicity, the UK should continue just fine.
I doubt the UK will introduce visas for genuine students. But they might look at them more carefully. Let’s face it – the logical reason for student visas is that a lot of them remain behind afterwards, illegally. That’s why when you go for the M1 visa to the US Embassy, they want to see proof of income and other ties e.g. a house mortgage. The UK is one of the better places in Europe for disappearing into the crowd… no ID cards, etc.
Might the UK be forced out of EASA?
Without getting in to the politics of whether it’s a good or bad thing, it looks increasingly likely that there could be an acrimonious separation between the UK and the EU.
My thinking is that in this event the EU might see membership of EASA as a benefit to the UK aerospace and airline industries, and could therefore deny the UK this privilege.
If that is the case the CAA might have to suddenly step up to the mark and start regulating.
As my little contingency I am keeping all my ratings up to date just in case this happens; live ratings would surely be transferred, maybe dormant ones might not. So last week I went and renewed my ME ratings on a DA42, even though I don’t fly MEP from one year to the next…
Neil wrote:
EU might see membership of EASA as a benefit to the UK aerospace and airline industries, and could therefore deny the UK this privilege
Given the amount of EASA regulatory material tracing its roots to the UK, a reasonable approach would be exactly the opposite – retain the UK in EASA at all costs. Whether politicians are to be presumed reasonable is a different question.
EASA and EU membership are not self exclusive. Several non EU states are EASA members so a membership of the UK in EASA after Brexit is most probably the most likely outcome.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
EASA and EU membership are not self exclusive. Several non EU states are EASA members so a membership of the UK in EASA after Brexit is most probably the most likely outcome.
I would say the least probable. Anyone can become “member” of EASA, the only requirement is to adopt and follow the EASA regulations. The question is if the UK is willing to do that without having a deciding voice in those regulations. I find that highly unlikely because nothing about EASA makes much sense unless you also agree to the “4 freedoms” (free movement of people, capital etc). From what I gather, those “4 freedoms” were the reason why the UK voted out.
Given the amount of EASA regulatory material tracing its roots to the UK, a reasonable approach would be exactly the opposite – retain the UK in EASA at all costs.
I tend to agree. It is in nobody’s interest to damage this bit. It’s like chucking the Brits out of Spain. Nobody wants them back. They have spent their money so would end up on the NHS
Also every EASA license/rating of relevance is fundamentally a UK one. The PPL, CPL, IR are the same as the UK ones. The UK’s IMCR is the great bonus and Brexit ought to preserve this beyond the scheduled 2019 termination date. Another great one would be the preservation of the NPPL + medical declaration for certified aircraft; currently scheduled to end April 2018 and grounding some large number of UK pilots.
So basically most of the loss would be EASA’s, via a reduction in the one great symbolic thing they were always after: standardisation.
Also the UK speaks English which is mandatory for international aviation and thus all CPL/IR training, so the UK will always lead that scene, whether anyone likes it or not.
As my little contingency I am keeping all my ratings up to date
That is always a good policy. One aspect is the IR revalidation, which if allowed to lapse by just one day forces you back into the FTO system for “retraining”.
How do you keep an NPPL valid? Is it a flight every 2 years?
As regards the wider political angle, it seems fairly obvious is that the present “the UK must be sodomised to set an example” which is Barnier’s brief, will last only until the person who really runs mainland Europe gets bored with the show and decides to protect domestic industry. So I don’t lose any sleep over the stuff which is currently on the news. It was always going to be like that i.e. most of the two years would get wasted on posturing.
I cannot imagine that the current farrago of grandstanding and posturing will last much longer. It is not in either side’s interest. It is a symptom of there being no logic to Brexit, only emotion, and therefore only the stupidest and most emotional of our politicians being put on the case; but reality will dawn and a last minute deal will be found.
I have seen almost no appetite in the UK end to leave EASA (just one iconoclastic and eccentric helicopter operator so far) and just don’t see our leaving it ever being on the table.
