The "is CTC sponsorship" question raises a lot of interest - it should also raise some speculation - of course it is not truly sponsorship, moreover I think the differences perceived between CTC and OAT are not as vast as many people would think.... CTC cadets are constantly told that they are NOT customers, however I'm sure many of them certainly feel like customers with all the invoices that appear in the cadet post boxes!!!!!
"We provide accomodation"
- Yes, but if you want to move into a clean room then you have to pay for it to be cleaned.
"We provide all equipment"
- Yes, but if you want laminated maps so they actually last then you have to pay for that"
"We provided training geared towards preparing you to be a professional airline pilot"
- Yes, but if your family/partner/friends pay £800+ to come and visit, then you now have to pay for a private hire flight to show them what you've been training towards. If you can't take passengers from A-B in your training, what exactly are you training for?!
"The 60k is not paying for your training, it is just a security bond - the airline pay for your training"
- Interesting - funny how the CTC cadet salary for easyJet almost exactly equals a direct entry salary minus the bond repayments they make, once to take into account tax. And I'm sure the CTC cadets who are on their way to BA (hopefully) will feel like they've paid for their training when they are getting the same salary as an OAT cadet and NO bond repayments.
And so on...
As far as I can tell, the 2 most important distinctions are:
CTC get paid when they place a cadet, so they have a huge incentive to place you, as mentioned before.
The tough selection means they can cover you for the first half of the training costs if you don't meet the standard.