Hey guys, the cash bond is a bit steep. But then again, it is in a form of a bank fixed deposit ( or time deposit as some of you may call it ) in a Singapore bank, but signed to the company as a trust. The time deposit will still pay you interest. ( Yes SIA does not keep all the cash! ). The rest of it is in a form of a "pledge" to re-imburse the company for the training and the rating that you get.
The conditions for the confiscation of the cash bond and subsequent payback of the rest is ( the payback amount reduces each year )dependant on the conditions of you leaving the company eg: Dismissal for disciplinary reasons, Falsification of past flying experience (parker pen hours) or gross incompetance. Believe me, all these have happened before on some of the DEC who have applied to SIA.
If you complete the 3 year period, you get all your initial cash bond plus interest and you are scott free, but the contract they offer you is for an initial 5 years so you have to think if you want to hang around in this "police state" for another 2 years.
Off days are not a problem, with the cargo crew operating patterns being 8 days average and according to the current union agreement, should get you 4 days off. Comuting ANYWHERE is another matter. The staff travel pricing absolutely sucks and will burn a hole in your pocket really fast because of the taxes and surcharges that you have to pay.
In short, if you are willing to eat humble pie and fly with an outfit that does NOT fly clapped out aeroplanes with dodgy maintainence, then SIA Cargo is pretty decent. There are a lot worse places to be. (Being able to stomach the Singapore system is all together another matter!)
But be warned, this company has a LOT of high priced lawyers on retainer. You can try to fight them, but then the costs (in REAL money to you!) will be HIGH.
You got to remember, at the end of the day, these guys run a business. They certainly DO want to recover some of the training investment in you, and the way do this if by asking you for your services for which you are paid. ( Isn't this the same everywhere else? )
Happy flying.