Silverknapper
Eastern are one of the few companies in the UK that do not come out with this "are you Integrated/1000hour plus" crap and that's why I really wanted to work for them. I have many friends with Eastern and it was one of my shortlisted airlines to work for. Unfortunately loosing 3 weeks worth of income(if you can get the time off without loosing your job) and paying 3 weeks B+B during the groundschool whilst unwaged and with no firm job offer, rules a lot of people out. Therefore you are left with the DBIs(Daddy bought it) and the desperate..........are these really the best people to recruit? The answer is a resounding NO! Thast's because these are the exact people that in 18 months will be off to shiny jetland and Eastern are right back to the problem of staff retention.
I do feel that an FNPT1 assesment is perhaps much fairer for people looking for their first job as this is more in keeping with previous IR experience(I for one have around 50 hours FNPT1). However to charge for this, which some schools (Triple A included) give solo time for free is very questionable. Certainly not the £176
I just can't see how anyone can get 3 weeks off work at short notice and not get sacked. If you quit the job you may not get called up for months. "Do any job to survive" .... not so simple I am afraid. I work as a full time FI and am very well paid with a yearly retainer plus flight pay. This just about keeps the debts from the door and my head above water, how can I give that up on a maybe? Say I pass the assesment but wait several months for a position, that's hundreds of hours flying lost and a lot of income.
It really isn't whingeing, it's sheer dissappointment.
