jamestkirk – w.r.t. ‘If you work for the company that we are enquiring about, thats hardly going to happen.’
Well think again sunshine !
I think you'll find that hamrah has contributed a significant amount here upon PPRuNe, much of it for the benefit of wannabes at all levels.
Indeed I know of few other senior airline managers, never mind Operations Directors, that have done as much as he w.r.t. being open & honest about how the training and recruitment system works, and / or that try to help wannabes, and / or that even post here upon PPRuNe fullstop – and, in his alter ego as hamrah, John is well known for this ( might I suggest you do a search of his posts ).
Aside - Did you know that hamrah was once a wannabe himself ( he started out sweeping the hangar floor and washing aeroplanes ), and so too was Danny, and likewise PPRuNe Towers, and me, et al… and regardless of which airline people might work for, I think you’ll find that many of those who post here in wannabes only have wannabes best interests at heart.
We all remember, often with bitter advantage, what it was be like to be looking in from the outside..... and for those of you who seem to think that a 'long time' is having to wait a couple of years maybe ( after obtaining ones CPL the fATPL ) until you get paid pilot employment..... well, for my own experience, I started on the rocky road that is aviation in the mid 1980’s and it took well over a decade until I got my break ( when, I hasten to add, I was well in to my 30’s ) and it wasn’t for lack of trying either !…. wherein the person who rescued me from my despair was hamrah.
Whilst some of us do indeed presently work for Astraeus - just as we have worked for the same and for differing airlines - no matter what or whom we work for, we all have a genuine interest in providing both honest and forthright advice on matters pertaining to getting paid employment as a pilot – would you have it any other way ?
Indeed, if you look through the posts made, across many years here upon PPRuNe, by all the aforementioned people, you’ll see their message as been both clear and consistent.
With regard to self-funded type-ratings, be under no illusion that none of us like to see wannabes hocking themselves and / or prostituting themselves to get a foot on the aviation ladder – but to a greater or lesser extent the cause of this is driven by the effect of supply and demand wherein one can rest assured that just as soon as the pool of pilots dries-up and flights look as if they’ll be cancelled due to lack of drivers, then ( and only then ) will the tide turn in the wannabes favour.
Until that time you can expect the T’s & C’s of pilots to continue to be eroded and wannabes will continue to have to shell out substantial sums of money and / or take huge risks therein to join the professionals.
Ultimately of course, from your first trial lesson, to passing and maintaining a Class 1 medical, to passing all your exams and flying tests, to electing to do a self-funded type-rating, right through to obtaining and keeping paid employment as a pilot, the harsh reality is that:
“THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES WITH ANY OF IT !"