Comments of the type just issued by 747JJ are most unhelpful as they are steeped in woeful ignorance and foolishness. It is simply not accurate or fair to term these pilots as 'p2f muppets'. The impression being given is that these guys are incompetent buffoons who are roaming about in easyJet Airbuses having no idea what they are doing. That is simply not the case.
As we all know, the first casualty of war is truth - nowhere is that more true than in the case of JC. I am not a personal friend of his, but do know him professionally through easyJet. He is not some thief or criminal, and in his role as an easyJet TRE is nothing other than a top bloke. The snag is that he has a sideline as a businessman whereby he has started providing dirt-cheap Airbus pilots to particular companies. The picture is actually quite complex and it may be worth highlighting some of those complexities. I cannot comment on the host of schemes and business associations being discussed earlier - I can comment on the ATP scheme and the subsequent situation at easyJet.
The original JC ATP scheme (as opposed to the CTC ATP scheme which is a completely different animal) was a disaster overall. The biggest single failing was that there was no credible selection process - consequently many of those on the scheme were simply not of the calibre required to be professional airline pilots. They were completely misled and sadly a number either never saw the inside of an Airbus or were so poor in line training that they were never going to be employed again. The ground training was a disgrace in that it was done at the wrong pace to fit in with the personal schedules of the scheme owners and not the students. It was a model of how not to provide training. Most of the sim training was provided in Amsterdam by easyJet TRIs/TREs. Nonetheless, the schedules were not appropriate for the students' needs and given some of their natural lack of aptitude it was very difficult indeed to make it work. The bottom line is that you cannot put in what God left out! I cannot give an exact figure, but only about half of those who started ever finished their 150 hours of line training to an acceptable standard - a pass rate substantially below virtually any other airline scheme I have ever heard of. To top it all off, JC had virtually guaranteed jobs to all the participants and in the end, not a single one of them got a job. In fairness to JC, he believed he had been given jobs galore by various companies. Alas, the credit crunch bit - no one was interested at the exact moment his pilots appeared out of their 150 hours of line training. The easyJet head of training was sufficiently alarmed at the calibre of the candidates that he basically binned the contract and kicked out the people who had difficulty on base training. Hard rules, but it is difficult to argue with either his logic or the integrity of the decision.
However, it should be pointed out that things have moved on. JC has now persuaded BMI to provide line training instead of easyJet. More importantly, he has substantially changed his recruitment criteria and has undoubtedly acquired better candidates than was previously the case. I have personally been involved in the training of some of these people who have come from BMI to easyJet under the Parc Aviation contract pilot scheme. From what I have seen, these are no worse than say the CTC pilots who come through as 200 hour cadets - in some cases they are better. Therefore it is reasonable to say that JC has got his act together and is also being favoured by good luck in that there are now at least contract jobs to offer his customers. It should also be said that there are still court cases looming for JC from disenchanted ex-ATP scheme pilots who feel deceived by what they received in terms of jobs at the end. How that will end I do not know, but that is the current situation.
The final comment that needs to be made is about the accuracy of the jobs claimed. There was a list of 'testimonials' mentioned previously - I know one or two of those quoted in that I have been involved with their training. It needs to be pointed out that to the best of my knowledge not a single permanent job has ever been found for any of JC's pilots. Every single one of those 11 out of 15 pilots quoted are on temporary contracts under either the CTC flexicrew scheme or as Parc Aviation contract pilots from this year's batch. There are, allegedly, going to be a number of permanent jobs on offer at the end of the season at easyJet, but controversy reigns internally as to how the bun fight will be decided. There is talk of a separate recruitment process - that is fraught with potential difficulty. Not surprsingly, CTC are also keen to ensure their own graduates get first dibs and it may yet turn into an unholy scrabble. My own view is that jobs should be allocated on a 'seniority' basis - ie the first permanent jobs go to the pilots who have been contract pilots with easyJet the longest. It does not look as if that is what will happen, but that decision is way outside my pay grade.
Anyway, a bit long-winded but that is the way it is. In summary, JC is a top TRE at easyJet. In my view he is also a good and fair man along with it. His business enterprises with his mate Stelios (not THE Stelios I should say) are altogether a different story. The most recent batch of pilots are, to my mind, as good as any who have appeared through other schemes. In addition, the ATP graduates we still have on temporary contract (less than half of those who started) are good people who now have well in excess of 500 hours on type. However, despite being a number of years into these p2f schemes, not a single one of them that I know of has yet managed to obtain a permanent job. That is my take on it - others may choose to disagree!