MIKECR That is all correct.
When I started my current job I was paid from the day I started training, my accommodation and meals were paid for, come on chaps no pay for three months!!! I still have a copy of my FR training contract with details of the training pay and believe me when I tell you I would have been sleeping in my car most nights! I know of some FR pilots that do this on a regular basis whilst line training because they can't afford to run their cars or pay for a B&B...etc. Just imagine you and your family sitting in the back of an FR 737 and the brand new FO has had a few hours sleep...think about it!! Personally I would be off loading myself.
I know the long term pay is good and it would have been the first steep on the ladder but I just wasn't willing to fork out all that cash, and I know it's a career that I want but you have to draw the line somewhere. The FIC was the best thing I've done so far and I don't regret it and it only cost me £5K. If a career opportunity was to present itself then fantastic but I have realised that I could be instructing for a few years or more before I get that first airline job.
Fireboy