Re: Type ratings - yes or no?
I assume that the vast majority of wannabes wish to fly in order to earn a living. It seems perverse to me to spend so much on your training that the repayments on the inevitable loans eat up most of what you will eventually earn. Add to that the fact that the further up the ladder you pay to fly, the further down the line it will be before you receive a salary - and, because your 'employer' sees people willing to pay to fly, he will feel that he can pay fewer people less money, so your earning capacity is reduced in the long term. Surely this is self-defeating?
I do not have a problem with the training industry offering type-ratings. There are many reasons why people and organisations wish to contract others to provide that kind of training. Obtaining qualifications speculatively is not immoral - if it were, what future would there be for Adult Education Colleges, or The Open University? What I do have a problem with is the creeping increase in the number of hours that people are prepared to pay for. Where does it end? The logical conclusion is that BA 747 pilots will be people who earn their living elsewhere and pay BA for the privilege of flying. Ridiculous? Maybe - but the idea that FOs on some lo-cost airlines would be effectively unpaid for the first 18 months of their career would have been laughable only a few years ago. And this is at a time when jobs are there a-plenty!
While I have little truck with those who spend their time ranting incoherently about 'scabs' and using other emotive or profane terms for those who purchase type ratings with line training, I am distinctly uncomfortable about the way this is going. I suspect that current employment legislation is inadequate to protect us from the ramifications of this trend, and that it will take strong representation to Government by pilots' unions to prevent it spreading further.
However, in the meantime I am aware that buying SSTRs plus line training is legal and, for some, may be worthwhile. If you can afford to go this route, be careful you go with reputable organisations. That's about the limit of the advice I will offer; after all, you can obviously afford to do the research yourself - or pay someone to do it for you!
Scroggs