In regards to paying or not paying for an endorsement, here is one other point that people always seem to overlook or turn a blind eye to, managements especially.
Regardless of whether you pay for the endorsement with a personal loan, upfront, or the" company pays for it" upfront, the simple fact is that if you are not receiving a good salary when you join the company either as an F. O. or a Captain, THEN YOU ARE STILL PAYING FOR THE ENDORSEMENT!!
For example, if the starting salary is $80,000 per year, and you pay 30,000 for the endorsement upfront, you are effectively only earning $50,000 in the first year. If the company is only paying $50,000 as a salary in the first year, but say that they are paying for the endorsement as you are not getting a personal loan to do so, you are of course, STILL PAYING FOR IT!
If this is what Virgin Blue and Jet Star are thinking of doing when they stop charging upfront for an endorsement, that is pay a lower " training wage" , then since the pilots are still paying for their endorsement, they have no right to ask for any kind of a bond period as the money is still COMING OUT OF THE PILOT'S POCKET NOT THEIRS!!!!!
Back to the example I used above, that means the first year wage stays at 80,000 per year,AND the company pays for the endorsement cost, then a one to three year bonding period is fair enough, 5 years as some have suggested IS NOT.
It will be interesting to see what the EBA or AWA 's at these companies state as far as starting salaries go once they "drop endorsement costs".