FairPlane

I would just like to clear up a misconception that has been brought to my attention. This campaign came about following my experiences with finding funding to assist my son when he was offered a place at a flight training school. We are not a wealthy family but I have no regrets about taking a second mortgage, it was entirely my choice and I am not complaining about that. It did however make me realise that we were fortunate enough to have enough equity in our property to do that – what about potential student pilots from less fortunate families or even families that did not own their own property. It seemed hugely unfair that this they would be discriminated against on fiscal grounds and it is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I began the campaign. There is no gain in this campaign for myself or members of my family and I am making no complaint about our situation. My issue is with the unfairness of the current system. I believe that all students should be able to access funding or loans that enable them to follow their chosen path, provided of course they meet the criteria and aptitude required for that profession. I cannot campaign on behalf of all students and have chosen pilots for obvious reasons. I have witnessed first hand how hard it is to even get on a course let alone pass it. We constantly hear Ministers talk about social mobility – let’s see it put into action. I accept that not everyone will agree with my campaign (it would be unrealistic to believe they would), I have no problem with this but would point out that if you sign the “support us” page you are registering your support. You can, however, place any comments also on this blog page and there is a fair plane forum set up on facebook as well.

Following consultation it is looking like if we follow what was originally suggested as a way forward by the Government the amount of money we may be able get them to consider as a student loan is only going to be about £4,000. A mere drop in the ocean against training fees of £60,000 plus and i cannot see how this will help students from poorer backgrounds. I am aware of a loan system that is in place for businesses whereby the government in effect guarantee the loan therefore eliminating the need to find security. I have written to the Minister enquiring whether this could be made available to student pilots or if a similar scheme could be set up for them. Of course the banks involved would want some assurance that anyone they lend the money to is likely to pass and get employment so I have suggested that they make it a condition that applicants for the loan have to pass an aptitude test such as the one done at Cranwell. A slight change in tack I realise but I think it is important that the pilot training is open to all.

Fairplane will be present at the next Flyer Exhibition on the 24th April at the Soffitel Hotel at Heathrow so please do come along and see us.

Just a quick general update following our last meeting in Westminster. The committe that has formed consists of Caroline Evans (BALPA), Jeremy Diack (FTN), David Laws MP, Lembit Opik MP, Charles Henry (Cabair), Paul Cooper (Oxford Aviation), Will Bruton (works for Lembit Opik) and Jane Desforges (Fairplane). We discussed a great deal concerning the VAT situation as well as the qualification side of things. It was generally felt we should be going for zero rated VAT and should not be setting any limit on the amount required for student loans. We are now in the process of putting together some stats and reports before we go back to the Government. It is felt that it is now more important than ever to drum up as much support as possible both from within the industry and also from the general public. I will be attending the next Flyer exhibition and we are looking at other ways to assist with the support. If you could keep getting people to sign the “support us” page of this web that would be fantastic. As an aside we now have a logo for the campaign and I am attaching it here for you to see.

Having spent some time with Lembit Opik MP I am pleased to say he is supporting the campaign and will be present at our next meeting on the 12th January 2010 when we hope to put together something regarding the VAT situation to the Treasury as well as look at options to move things forward following our meeting with David Lammy.

Had a meeting with Lembit Opik MP this week and will give you an update on that shortly.

In the meantime I really wanted to put this information on about a young lad called Tim, it is people like Tim that this campaign is about. Here is what Tim has to say…

“My name is Tim and I am 15 years old. I am currently in Year 11 at Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby where I am taking my GCSEs next year. My ambition is to become a commercial pilot, something that I have wanted to do since I was six. For my 15th birthday in May, I was given a trial flying lesson, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and since then any money that I have goes towards more lessons with the aim of achieving my Private Pilot’s Licence to improve my chances of getting on a flying course when I’m older.

A few weeks ago I went with my parents to the Flyer Exhibition at London Heathrow. We soon found out that my choice of career is going to be a very expensive one. Not only do we have to pay for the flight training ourselves with no financial help from the government that is available to other students, but VAT is also levied on the cost of the training. The cost of the commercial flight training is around £80000. This means that at the age of 18, I will have to find a bank that will loan me this vast sum of money that I will have to start paying back when I finish the course, regardless of whether or not I have a job. The alternative is to see if my parents can help out in some way. This is very unfair as other students benefit from subsidised course fees, and government backed loans at a preferential rate. I feel that all students should be treated the same, whatever their choice of course or career.

A majority of the public are still under the impression that airlines train student pilots themselves, and we need to get the message across that this is not the case. There are many young people who are in the same position as me, and we need the government to act now.”

I can totally sympathise with Tim and his family as I had the same choices to make for my son, Oliver, we ended up taking an expensive second mortgage.

Here’s an update for you all following our meeting with the Minister for Skills and Innovation, David Lammy. Attending the meeting were myself, David Laws MP, Captain Alan Cooper (BALPA) and Paul Cooper (Oxford Aviation). We were allowed approximately half an hour and following the introductions I set out what our campaign was about and why I felt the current situation to be unfair to student pilots. Alan Cooper and Paul Cooper gave valuable insight regarding the VAT situation and how pilots are currently funded. I have to say that both the Misters Cooper and David Laws were very supportive and their input was invaluable.

The Minister talked much about other professions and how they compare to the Aviation industry and his main point seemed to be that the flight training schools were commercial as opposed to Universities. Eventually it became apparent that he was a supporter of the Alan Milburn “social mobility” initiative. It would appear that there has been a forum set up to further this aspect and an invitation for the aviation industry to take part was extended to us.

The possiblity of finding a way to make part of the flight training a recognised qualification was also discussed and Mr Lammy confirmed that if this could be done the Government could look at a way of helping with funding for this qualification.

So all in all it would appear that the door is open for discussion and consideration. We will keep you posted as we progress.

Attached is a photo of us following the meeting. left to right is David Laws MP, Captain Alan Cooper, Jane Desforges and Paul Cooper

Regarding the VAT situation we will have to make a separate case to The Treasury on this.

So not quite the heavily slammed door I had anticipated or prepared for, my only concern is if the voice we appear to have been given becomes mute with the forthcoming general election. That said if a door is opened then we absolutely must go through it.

First of all a huge thank you to everyone who has signed their support – keep those signatures coming.
Please do have a look at the piece posted here that Lembit Opik MP wrote inthe Flight Training News. Lembit has also agreed to put some questions to the PM at Prime Ministers question time for us.
Things are moving on now and we finally have a date to meet the Minister for Innovation and Skills and will be attending this on the 1st December, will post again after this to let you all know how it went. Both BALPA and Oxford Aviation will be attending this meeting with me so big thanks to both of them.
I went to the Flyer Exhibition at Heathrow last Saturday to drum up support for the campaign and met some wonderful people there. I really do have to thank Flight Training News who allowed me to take part of their stand for this purpose and gave me valuable pieces of information which will help the campaign.
To finish off with, the last thing to bring to your attention is that we have posted a letter on the “support us” page which you can download and send to your MP, we have even given you a link to find out who your MP is if you are not sure, we couldn’t have made it easier!, so please keep up your support and help me to persuade the government to make changes to the way student pilots fund their training as well as removing the VAT from their fees, it really is time that there was an even playing field regardless of your financial background.
Thanks again everyone, keep putting the word out there.
Until next time
Jane

Flight Training News have just published this piece by Lembit Opik (© Flight Training News 2009) about the Fairplane campaign.