Pay for type rating
Hi Guys,
If none of us paid for a type rating this problem would disappear. I have made it to a position where I hire pilots and as I have never paid for a type rating (I have 7) I will not hire pilots that have or are willing to pay for the rating.
Pay for training is the cancer of our business. When I arrived at the company I am at they required pilots to sign a 3 year "bond" for their training. I was typed and current, not an issue for me. (I was a contract pilot paying for my own training events, but charging plenty to make it back). When I hired the next pilot they wanted me to "bond" him. I dug my heals in and said "not as long as I am in charge, if you want to do that I will quit". It was a gamble, but I have been there longer than any of the guys that ran the department before me.
With this comes the issue of pilots getting typed and then leaving. This would make me look terrible, so I fight for our pilots every chance I have making sure they are paid appropriately and have a good quality of life. If I treat them right, they will treat me right.
I would like to start a group for pilots that are not "whores". Membership would require things like never having paid for a type rating, not having worked for peanuts, never having referred to the principal as "my owner". (It implies that you are a slave).
We need to be professionals. If we behave like professionals and act like professionals we will be treated as such. Let them step all over you and they will. The aircraft owners are business men, they are usually the ones that are easy to deal with. The problem is when a lawyer or accountant is trying to score brownie points with the principal by beating up the flight crew.
I realize I am a dinosaur in the industry (I am 42), but I wouldn't be in this business for the terms and conditions many are accepting. I am not just interested in flying a shiny jet, I am looking for a return on my investment.
I have never been a union guy, but we need to shun the scum that pays for training.