Talking about the CTC Scheme and how timing is oh so important. I was having a long conversation with a cadet last night, after 12 months of deferring his unsecured loan HSBC are now forcing them into bankruptcy. They flew 6 months with easyjet over the summer, got stood down and is now heading off to Africa to fly light singles and twins. Some may argue they are in a good position, debt free and flying for a living. The wage they quoted me wasn't too bad considering the cost of living out there. They also drew my attention to a friend who finished 3 months earlier, they have just completed their A330 conversion and is flying long haul for Thomas Cook on a permanent contract.
I never saw CTC as a cheaters way to become a pilot, if you want to become an airline pilot, surely you should train as that from day one. When I signed up it was doing exactly what it said on the tin, taking people with the ability from zero hours into the RHS of an airliner on a permanent contract within 2 years. Of course it was a risk taking out that much debt in my name at such a young age, however the evidence I had seen suggested that getting into CTC was a sure in to an airline job. As opposed to FTE and Oxford. With that sure in was all the money you required, unsecured! Jackpot, who at the start of their careers would have turned that down and decided no, instead I'm going to diligently save for 5 years and do this on my own. It would be noble if we all thought like that, but unfortunately were human and that just isn't the case! And plus, its unsecured, so if it does all go tits up I'll still have my parents house to go back to.
I'm sure I'll get a bit of flack for the last paragraph I've written, I don't mind, I simply wrote it to try and reply to northern_boys post and explain it from a prospective cadet.