Majority so far against ----------
It is gratifying to learn that many of my fellow pilots are also against the passive acceptance of whatever recruitment procedures are presented to them.
There are other airlines who are ' trying it on ' with type rated,experienced pilots eg Fly Dubai with their ' pay to interview at CTC ' and ridiculous bond mentioned by my old friend captainjns. Some of you may be able to produce other examples of corporate arrogance.
To provide some balance to the topic there are airlines who deserve much credit for their selection procedures. In the last 4 years I have done the selection for both Korean Airlines and Jet Airways. In both cases the airline flew me overseas { Seoul and Mumbai ),gave me excellent hotel accommodation and,regardless of the outcome, did not ask me to spend any of my own money ( apart from my travel to Heathrow,the airtax(refundable if job accepted) on Korean business class and minor items in both hotels ).Both selection procedures were done with mutual respect and I had no complaints so FlyDubai and similar guilty airlines---
take note ! You can conduct a dignified process and you may avoid missing out on highly experienced candidates who will benefit your airline.
Regarding the figure of 2,000 euros mentioned in my original post,please note that this is only a guesstimation on my part.To recap,Parc declined to be drawn when I asked for more information but it seems a reasonable figure based on flying Amsterdam to Jakarta,a sim check and several days hotel accommodation.
Anyway,we all make our own way through life and this is one subject where we will never be in total agreement.
Regards,
Caissa