Prob 30,
Sorry, I don't seem to have been clear enough, I did not mean that LCC's pay a reduced wage as a rule, I was thinking specifically of the EZ Jet so called Type Rating Sponsorship Scheme.
You pay EZ £23,000 as a bond on your type rating training, which as I said I am not against. EZ refunds this bond over your bonded period of 5 years, meaning that if you stay for 5 years you become unbonded, if you leave before the 5 years then you lose any remaining bond payments.
All seems fair so far, many airlines ask for a bond, although most will get you just to sign a guarantee, not actually have to stump up the cash.
My big problem with this scheme is that aswell as paying a bond you lose a proportion of your wage!!!!
Straight from the EZ website:
First Officer who hasn't had to pay the bond: £29,766 per year
First Officer who has paid the bond: £24,766 per year
This means that someone doing the same job who is unbonded gets £5,000 a year more than you. So over the 5 year bond period EZ saves £25,000 in wages. How is this fair, you have paid the bond (fair enough) but you shouldn't then lose a percentage of your wage!!!
This is not a sponsorship, in effect you have paid for your own type rating and as a thank you from EZ jet, they take £5,000 per year from you which they then give you back telling you that it is a repayment of the bond. Seems that EZ jet is coming out after the 5 year period with a pilot that hasn't been able to leave for the past 5 years after PAYING FOR THIER OWN TRAINING, companies in other industries would not get away with this.
Very fishy and very, very unfair!!
