Phil,
It does have a bearing on type ratings (if I understand you).
I don't understand how airlines can afford to provide people with a free type rating. The economics of it do not make sense to me. I could understand, I think, that there remains an argument for airlines trying to train experienced pilots for free, as the training risks are lower than for the likes of newbies such as you or I, and especially as we are both older and less easy to train than our 18-25yr old colleagues. The idea of being given a free training course seems odd to me, and there are few airlines that do it. RYR make you pay upfront, BA and many others make you pay by way of reduced salary, and those that still do genuinely give it away for nothing will surely stop soon?
Open question to all members - what is the argument for free type ratings, I have had a trawl through a lot of threads on RYR and many others, and have not seen a succinct argument put as to why the airlines, and not us, should pay.
Wally.