So, I'm signed up to start on the CTC Wings Cadet scheme later this year and thought I'd add my thinking behind this decision into the discussion.
I'm in my mid-twenties, and am in the fortunate position of having about 75% of the capital (including living costs, TR contribution) having trained and worked since I was 17, and having run my own business for the last 3 years.
I'm a fairly long-time member of this forum, and seeing the wood for the trees (which, according to a previous poster, is something I should be awful at) is something I think I've become quite adept at. What I see is a less-than-perfect contract available to new trainees, but really nothing else.
I was originally going down the old fashioned, cheaper route - but that leads no where fast. Even on today's T&C's making the business case for going integrated is quite easy - I'm still working and earning right now, and if all goes to plan I'll be sat in the RHS of a jet-liner at the end of next year, earning a decent salary in perhaps 2.5years.
What will I do when I'm only working 20 hours in a November/December you ask? (...aghast at my stupidity)...
...Well, I'll earn money elsewhere of course, using my existing skill set.
I appreciate that I'm paying a lot of money for expensive training, but CTC are bloody good at getting you work flying jet aircraft at really quite good hourly rates. And, as even the likes of WWW have alluded to in the past - the job is still pretty darn' good.