Wheelbarrow..... You obviously have made the grade through CTC. Tell me, after forking out for all your training (or did someone else pay for it?) how did you manage to get the money for CTC? Bank manager a friend of the family or something?
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I think you'll find that most of the comments are from pilots who live in the real-world, and managed to get a flying job through sheer hard work and determination. There are a huge number of qualified pilots out there looking for jobs, whether it's a first job or trying to move from a small carrier to a larger one and get that elusive jet job, and it would be a lot fairer on everyone concerned to level the playing field and take money out of the situation.
I have no doubt that there are extremely good pilots out there who would excel in an airline job - having the right personality as well as flying skills. However, perhaps because funding their initial training absolutely wiped out their bank account, and loans are still being re-paid, they haven't even considered CTC because of the further cost involved. And yet some tw*t who only just scraped through initial training but has lots of money could easily go there and get a job to which they are really not suited.
Now before I get everyone having a go at me for wide-sweeping statements, I am not suggesting that everyone who goes to CTC is a rich tw*t! Far from it. All I'm saying, and I think what the whole gist of this post is, is that money should not be a factor in recruitment. It should come down to old-fashioned CV's, Interviews and Sim Checks, and then once you are accepted for your training, you can then be bonded to the airline. With a normal pay-packet making it's way into your bank account from the day you sign your contract the only way you'll be liable for any money is if you fail the course (so make sure you don't!) or if you leave. And if you leave, it's most likely for another job, in which case you have no option but to pay back the airline the money they invested in you.
If Safeway decided to start asking all new personnel for £500 for the cost involved of training them how to work the till and how to stack shelves correctly, all hell would break loose. Not because Safeway want to safeguard their time and money invested in you, but because it would rule out all those people who can't afford £500 from getting a job. If it doesn't happen anywhere else, why should we allow it to continue in aviation.......