burna,
Some contract airline staff are also paying for their ASIC's.
Bugger paying for the ASIC... $182 every 2 years is cheap... paying 30+k for an endorsement is crazy! Besides that if the company pays (and they don't happen to be an issuing authority themselves.. ie airlines) then they can ask you give back what is essentially 'their' ASIC when you cease employment there... meaning that at the next operator you are effectively grounded for 4 weeks whilst the new one is done! At the major airports they tend to put the company name at the bottom of the ASIC, so I doubt company ABC would let you run around with an ASIC with their name on it when you are now working for company XYZ!
If the company IS an issuing authority then they MUST get the ASIC back when you finish, as according to them you no longer require the card for 'valid work related purposes' and the issuing authority is responsible for all cards it issues.
Incidentally, and back to the original gist of the thread... got mine last week only took around 2 weeks from posting off... that was using AVID.
