Have a look at this thread on D&G
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...hreadid=125760
For those of you who can't be bothered to read it all the story is, that the Ansett Australia sim centre are flogging a 737 -3 -4 -500 series rating, complete with full ground school, all the CBT, 20 hours fixed base sim, 36 hours full flight sim, instructor and all manuals, for $20,000 Aus dollars.
On XE.com this morning, that translates into £8329.87.
This is a totally comprehensive rating issued by some of the most experienced and professional airline sim instructors in the world, and it is fully accepted and recognized by the Aus / NZ / several other top quality first world Civil Aviation Authorities.
Meanwhile my flatmate a couple of weeks ago signed up a £23,000 loan contract with HSBC as the price of getting into Easyjet via the CTC TRSS type rating scheme.
That's a total difference of £14,671 ... or to put it another way the CTC package is
276% more expensive than the Ansett one.
The supreme irony is that, apart from the IR test and jet flying, the Easyjet / CTC cadets do all their training in New Zealand anyway
So my gripes are
1. Other than blatant money grabbing and protectionism of their dodgy drink-at-the-same-gentleman's-club-in-Piccadilly, nest-feathering JAA-sim-type-rating-issuing mates, what possible flimsy grounds do the JAA / UKCAA have, to deny me the right to fly in Europe on a rating issued by the Aussie CAA?
2. Why does sim training in Europe cost so bloody much? If it was actually the aircraft I would understand, cost of fuel and landing fees and all that ... but the DOC's of a simulator can in no way justify the price difference. I'm sure the Ansett sim instructors are on very good money for what they do, just like the UK ones.
It makes my blood boil to be honest
There must surely be some European human rights act / restraint of free trade law or something, that we could all sue the CAA under?