Haughtney,
I never said I was a pilot! I would however, consider re-mortgaging the house to the tune of 20k if I were offered a higher paid position whereas I could recoup this money within a relatively short period of time. Makes sense don't you think?
(150 or 200 hours on type should get you a job, how you achieve those hours, well that's up to you!)
I think you misinterpreted my meaning of the above, I didn't want to suggest that a pilot pays to fly, I'll stay well away from that subject thank you very much!
I would hasten to add that the airlines look for 'quality' time on type. I receive CV's weekly and without divuldging airline identities (but a particular Turkish operator springs to mind), there are airlines out there, where pilots pay to fly, or fly for free, and to be honest, any pilots from such a source go to the bottom of the pile.
If you're going to pay to fly then look at the quality of the operator you're going to be doing it with. A future employer, of any repute, wants to know you've got the required hours of quality and not merely time occupying the seat with a questionable operator.
I don't believe an airline would be exploiting a pilot by asking for previous experience on type regardless of how that experience was gained. They've merely set their minimum criteria and any suitable applications will be considered. Of course, were they not to receive suitable applications they may have to reconsider their minima.
They're looking for experienced guys that can get up to speed perhaps quicker than the lesser experienced guy. Such a practice of asking for previous experience is not unique to this industry, it's the same in any industry. They are not suggesting that people pay for this experience, people do change companies during their career and it is these people such airlines may be trying to attract.
Perhaps it being suggested that pilots that pay should be blacklisted? A similar scenario might be if banks, supermarkets etc. blacklisted anyone from a government YTS scheme, those people worked for free (equivalent of unemployment benefit only) to secure their jobs.
Last edited by Phileas Fogg; 10th Nov 2004 at 14:55.