The CTC scheme and others like it work fine when there is a steady job market. Unfortunately the wheels fall off somewhat in a down market. As we can see now there are very few jobs. Big CTC customers like Easyjet are now turning the tables and offering only short term summer contracts and not fulltime employment as was originally anticipated when the scheme was setup all those years ago. In the past summer contracts were exclusively the domain of the charter operators to take account of the unique nature of their business.
Even when the market was booming people were swimming in the CTC hold pool for up to a year. I hate to think how long it is now. Then when called forward people are not getting their 84 months of work experience but far far less. Unfortunately the bank funding was all worked out on a repayment plan with x amount of cash coming in the door over a prescribed period. Now when you crunch the numbers you will have to be very risk averse.
You then get into some interesting dilemmas. What happens if you only get a few months of work with Easyjet for example. Do you have a seniority number that puts you at the front of the queue next time around when they are hiring? Or are you just hoping that some nice Easyjet HR person will help you out and do it off their own back as there may be nothing in your contract to cover such eventualities? What if they want 737 people next time around and you are 320 rated? What if another operator comes along and needs pilots - can you jump ship? The list of what ifs is almost endless.
I am not binning the scheme at all. All I would say is tread very carefully. Do your numbers and base them on worst case scenarios. Compare a modular course cost to the CTC scheme and see how it all stacks up in the end including salary sacrifice, financing costs, deposits (including loss of interest) etc. If you are lured to the CTC scheme because of the job prospects then only you can judge if there really are any at the moment or for the near future. Good luck.