Funding Type-Ratin vs Not funding Type-Rating
Look close at these numbers:
Cost of living
1000 euro/month x 12 = 12'000 Euro
Lets say you fly SEP's as an instructors and MEP's as a halftime job with a taxi company.
You'll earn about 25 Euro/hour doing instructing and perhaps 50 euro/hour flying taxi. Lets say you fly 20 hours as an instructor per month (this is optimistic due to weather) you'll earn 25 x 20 = 500 E/month. Lets say you'll fly another 15 hours per month as a taxi flight pilot 15 x 50 = 750 E/month. In Sweden we've got a 33% tax so that leaves you with 750 + 500 = 1250 x 0,67 = 837,5 E left. That doesnt even cover the cost of living. So to add the extra money you take up another job. And what other job would have the flexibility of you working there when not working as a pilot. None...
Now you might be lucky and get to fly a lot during the summer but I know that the instructors that the school where I'm studying hasn't flown more than 20 hours since october... and financially they're still living with mom or have a very nice girlfriend who pay's a lot of the bills...
This situation is not acceptable, not for me and certanly not for the bank where I have most of my debt. And there is no other way of getting a complete training other than paying for it with a loan and the getting an airline job as fast as possible.
Now look at this:
You pay 50'000 E for an ATPL license and 250 hours to add to that. You pay another 25'000 for a type-rating, you pay another 30'000 E for line-training.
50'000 + 25'000 + 30'000 = 105'000 E And still you have to count in the costs of living during the time you study, that's another 20'000 E.
105'000 + 20'000 = 125'000 Euro.
Lets say you get a job at EasyJet flying Airbus aircraft which pays 4250 Euro/month (33060 pounds/year)
At this rate you'll pay off your debt with 2500 Euro/month
125'000/2500 = 50 months (4,1 years) in which time you will have flown 3750 hours (900/year) if you're lucky =)
To sum all of this up, after aprox 4 years:
Not paying for a TR
50'000 Euros in debt with an income of 837,5 e/m flying 35 h/m, 1750 hours on SEP/MEP aircraft.
Pay for a TR
No debt, income of 4250 E/m, 75h/m, 3750 hours of ME Jet
Now these figures may differ a bit and are on both sides optimistic. But here's is at least a guideline to why I'm paying for my type-rating first chanse I get...
Best Regards
/T