Depends on the circumstances
I guess it depends on the circumstances you found yourself in but my gut feel is that a bond is a perfectly reasonable requirment for a company about to invest upwards of £20 000 in an employee who might walk. My employer bonded me for three years and so I'm now out of my bond period anyway but in all honesty if I had left for a better job I would have paid it without question. Why? Well frankly I want to live my life with integrity and dignity and as a gentleman who can say he tried to 'do the right thing' by poeple and organisations.
But maybe that's an old fashioned view. I'd also like to add that I strongly oppose the creep of self sponsored type ratings into the industry so when an airline like Flybe in my case or BA or whoever pays a rating then I think paying off the bond is the right thing to do should I leave. That way they will continue to offer bonded type ratings rather than demanding £20k from everyone who joins them.
Dosn't integrity in life count for anything anymore?
Desk-pilot