Josh
Don't worry about Dartagnan.
In February 2006 he wrote:
I am a ryanair pilot, and I suggest you to stay away from them.
I had to wait 12 months before to touch an airplane, they took all my money.I have been threated by their manager tha if I leave they would sue me,...
now I am flying, I wake up at 4 am everyday, we work 13-15h non stop, 7-8 hours fly a day, week end included, no holyday.
It s creazy, we are very tired, and we have to go back flying.
I pay for my B&B, uniform, food, for everything. after 6 months, they didnt pay me yet...
they treat us like ****, even less than a piece of ****, we have to pay even our own pencil, their stupid dispatch room has no office ustencil....
this company is an insult!should I say more?
yet on 10/9/6 he wrote:
just a little sondage on your experience.
slightly over1500h TT, mainly single time, 400 light multi, UK JAA frozen.
still looking after 2 years!
Somewhere else he's said he's been looking for 10 years, and somewhere else 5 years.
It seems that now he may have paid for an A320 type rating with CAE and been placed with Vueling, but in any case he only started the type rating in January
I have applied in April, and I start my training with CAE on the 320 next week.
(not ryanair).
it is hell expensive (24'000+8000euro for base training)
add accommodation, food, transport,license fee,...
regrettably, this is the only training/job I have found which "worths" the money spent .I wanted be sponsored, but no luck!
I started a 737 type rating in January and I only did my first line flight on 12th April, admittedly there were some training delays for me, however if Dartagnan started an A320 rating on 13/1/7 I would think the earliest he would start line flying would be the middle of March, and therefore he's got fed up with it in less than a month.
In fact he was fed up with the company by 10th March
I hope Vueling will pay their first officer a little more. we do a hard job and we have invested lot of money in our training. If you want keep your pilots, pay them more!!! this is not only for Vueling, but for any companies. vueling does not pay for your type rating! only for highly experienced pilots.
pilots join Vueling to fly the 320 (Airbus school?).
You can barely survive if you are single (no kids)...
On 30th March
I discovered something new at Vueling:
before starting on your line training(and thereafter every 6 months), you have to pass an OPC check(operating procedures check
So perhaps he hadn't started line training by April????
It is possible that he is telling the truth, and has now realised he's made a big mistake and flying is not for him.
From a newbies point of view I think that there is so much to learn, so much to think about and consider that you need to put the autopilot in to free up the mental capacity to make sure you doing your job properly. When you join at our level there is so much work to be done, and so much to work towards, initially you are working towards getting rid of the safety pilot, then you are looking to cover all of the Line Training syllabus and perfect your landings to enable you to pass your line check and get rid of the training captain. I find it difficult to see how anyone can find such challenges boring, and Dartagnan is surely in the minority.
Cat3, great post, My first line flight was an amazing experience, it's so good to finally get in the seat after years of training.