Ryanair low hour Cadets BEWARE!! - Brookfields!!
Hi guys,
First Off, moderator, PLEASE dont merge this with other threads. This is really important for people wanting to get into Ryanair and not wanting to be taken for a ride and ripped off.
Just though I would write a post on here to see if anyone else is having issues like me with Ryanair and some organisation called Brookfields Aviation.
Seems to me there is a whole lot of confusion about this, and people are making money off low hours cadets trying to get their first job.
If you have been to Parc to do your MCC, you will most likely have met a guy called Se Pardy. He is the guy who runs a company called SimTech, who haev the B737-200 sim that you do the MCC course in at the Aer Lingus building in Dublin.
Once you have completed the training, he will forward your details onto a chap called Declan Dooney at Brookfields Aviation. These guys will then organise an interview with Ryanair at East Mids for you.
At this point, you may get a a call from Se telling you not to go for the first date offered to you, because you will need to go back to Dublin to do EXTRA training in the B737-200 sim, (that his company runs), at a cost of 400 Euro/hour. On average you will do 4-5 hours, so thats effectively £1000. It really isnt needed to be able to pass the East Mids interview. 20 hours for the MCC is more then enough!
Ok, so we are now at the interview at East Mids. This consists of a Clacton 6B departure out of Luton, and then an NDB approach back in. Very easy stuff if you have managed to pass you IR.
In your interview, you will be asked where you would like to do your type rating, when you can start, and where you would like to be based after line training.
This is where it gets interesting!!
Ok. Within 3 hours of finishing the selection, if you are successful, a guy called Paul Deeves, who IS from Ryanair will email you saying congratulations, and then offer you a type rating start date. It will also state that the contracts will be sent to you on confirmation from you of when you want to start the type rating.
At the same time, you will recieve an email from Brookfields with contracts and details of security checks. This email will ask you again, where you want to do your type rating, and when you would like to start. It also tells you to sign the contracts and send them back as soon as possible.
The problem now facing you is, if you sign the Brookfields contract, you are an AGENCY pilot working for and agency, flying on a day to day contract with Ryanair, not a pilot for Ryanair direct.
The brookfield contract aslo states that you must pay them 4100 Euro per year to keep your B737-800 type rating current, (clause 17). You also will only be paid in Euros to an OUTSIDE UK back account, meaning you will have to sort your own tax out, meaning you will be, in their eyes, self employed.
This is the bit where they start making their money. If you sign the Brookfields contract, you are contracted to them for 5 years. Should you then be offered a job with Ryanair direct, (which is likely if you finish the 100 hours odd line training), then you can accept it, but only if you then pay Brookfields 2,500 Euro to buy yourself out of the contract, (Clause 18 on the contract).
In summery so far, If you sign a contract with Brookfields, you ARE NOT employed by Ryanair, and you will have to pay them 450 Euro for you currency of your B737 rating, (Non-refundable), and then if you go to be employed with Ryanair direct after your line training, 2,500 Euro to buy out the contract. You are now 3000 Euro out of pocket for NO REASON!! (not including the extra 1,500 Euro if you went back to Dublin for the pointless extra sim hours)
Ok, now for the scare stories, (if I havent bored you enough yet??)
When contacting you, Brookfields may tell you they are from Ryanair. They may also tell you on the phone that ALL pilots who will start working for Ryanair will be agency pilots on their books - NOT TRUE!.
The best one i have heard of so far, is a guy who has signed the 6 month training contract from Ryanair direct, (that will be sent to you once you have confirmed with Paul Deves the Type Rating start date), then was sent the contracts from Brookfields. He contacted them to find out what was going on. Brookfields then told him Ryanair had made a mistake, and that he should be on agency books. He was then told to write a letter to Ryanair Direct RESIGNING so he could then sign a Brookfields contract. The reason he was told to do this:-
"All pilots will do their line training under a Brookfields contract, then they will be offered a full time job from Ryanair, and transfer over" - NOT TRUE!!
Refer to what i wrote before, and clause 18 of the Brookfields contract:-
"If the pilot transfers from this contract to direct emplyment by Ryanair, then a fee of Euro 2,500 will be due from pilot to contractor"
Again, in summery, a nice little earner for Brookfields of 2,500 Euro because you signed their contract before Ryanair had time to send you a direct employment one.
Dont get me wrong. Being an agency pilot can and does work for some people, but if you are wanting to fly for Ryanair, just be very warey of what is going on. There are alot of people trying to make easy money out of you low hours guys because they know that you are desperate to get that first job.
My advice, always read the contracts, and contact ALL parties directly that are ever mentioned in a contract to confirm what you have written infornt of you is actually what should be happening, because once you have signed that contract, you are stuck with it.
Thanks for reading, and be careful guys. I've been stung, and I dont want other people falling into the same trap that some people are setting for inexperinced low hours pilots.
And again, moderator, please dont merge this with another thread. People wanting to go to Ryanair need to read this.