Lee said that the green shoots of recovery were well on their way and that by this time next year things would be back to normal...
Unbelievable.
That'll be the green shoots of recovery that have just led to BMI announcing to their staff that 600 job cuts are on the way, Aer Lingus in massive financial strife, BA still needing redundancies, etc; the eurozone only just starting to pull tentatively out of recession and Britain still being in it. The list goes on.
On the subject of the hold pool... yep, I imagine it should be reduced soon... when next season's bunch of summer-contract intake are removed and sent off for their 6-month work experience.
There are still an average of 12 cadets per month going through the course. Even if all 112 are shifted (and how likely do you think this is given the current climate?) common logic dictates there will be around 140 more by this time next year.
Remember that will still be 2010 - not yet 2011, which for some reason everyone has suddenly started assume will be the point at which the demand for new pilots surges. I'm still yet to hear any clear evidence pointing to that - "my mum's cousin's son-in-law's stepdad's mate's mate's dog said things will be better in 2011" doesn't really count. You'd need a crystal ball to work out when things are going to be back to pre-recession levels, and since when was CTC's crystal ball bigger than anyone else's?
I'm sure the presentation was as slick and smooth as ever and a lot of people were left drooling at the prospect of becoming part of the CTC 'family'. But this bit concerns me:
I was in a room full of students who thought it was the best thing since sliced bread and was already creating a bit of tension through asking some "off-topic" questions.
A bit of tension? Can you elaborate on that a bit? If they're dodging or getting uncomfortable about answering direct, relevant questions about something in which they're asking you to invest upwards of £75k, I would be asking myself the question why. Exactly what did you ask them?
As I've said elsewhere, without a doubt it's a great course and if you must insist on spending a fortune on a course like this at the moment then go to CTC and enjoy it; but honestly, anyone thinking of blowing nearly six figures on any sort of fATPL training right at this moment needs a visit from the men in white coats.