And where does all this lead to from a training perspective? He who pays wins? Where is the oversight from the safety/SMS boys and girls to ensure the 'right stuff' is being assessed rather than the size of a person's wallet? Have the risks of wallet based hiring been assessed? Are airlines looking for cash cows or employees? How many instances do we need of people who don't know where they are in an aircraft nor a notion as to what is going on all through type rating, making the instructor work extra and causing their partner's development to suffer?
Lots of these questions are rhetorical I admit but must we start speaking up that we aren't happy if it all changes drastically?
Is that incredibly naive? Will it take an accident for someone to realise something has gone wrong?
Do we need EASA/CAA law to be that all parts of recruitment (assessment and type rating bar living costs) are expressly not allowed to be funded by the candidate so as to maintain the integrity of recruitment? It would be an easily justifiable regulation from a safety perspective.
I was very lucky to have been hired by one of the few airlines who i never had to pay a penny towards, from assessment to type rating. I had this discussion with one of the decision making pilots in the company and he said the company's view is that it is their responsibility to fund it all. I should hope it stays that way in the post COVID world (along with me staying in employment!
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