I'm going to continue on a little from my post #27 because the more I browse the forums today the more I see this very same topic coming up again and again!
Quick question. Many people keep saying they want to apply for the pay2fly schemes because companies want 500 hours on type. Please enlighten me. How many airlines are currently recruiting pilots with 500 hours on a 737 or an A320? I dont know any. There are adverts for pilots with 1500 to 2000 hours total time of which 500 should be on type. If you are a fresh fATPL holder, please don't be so naive to think that the 750 hours TT you have on completion of the pay2fly scheme is enough to land you a job. Now your stuck with a type rating that is about to lapse, not enough time to be hired by a employer recruiting direct entry F/O's and a debt you can't pay off because you have no career to do so.
Secondly, please avoid telling the pilots who are fortunate enough to be employed by an airline to stop airing their views regarding pay2fly and that their advice, which many of you don't want to hear, is useless as it is all negative and doom and gloom. May I remind you that these pilots are the ones that may be recruiting you at the end of your training, and you are only increasing the resentment we have towards these schemes.
Thirdly, may I remind you that these pilots who offer the blunt, gloomy outlook on the industry we love so much, are the same pilots who offered this same advice to you in 2008. Did anyone listen, no. Are you in the same position they said you would be in 3 years down the line, yes. So why complain so much about the advice that seems so negative? They offered their 50 cents before you began training and they were right. Obviously it might be time to listen to the advice, rather than constantly rejecting it because it is not what you want to hear.
Next, be careful when you choose to buy a pay2fly scheme in a third world country. It can be difficult to get employed elsewhere. At my company, we tend to reject the CVs from the 500 hr jet pay2fly schemes. Reason being is when we have employed them in the past, it has become evident that they paid to fly because they were not competent enough to pass an interview to get employed to fly. Now don't think I am generalising everyone. There are some fine pay2fly guys who I know who had the funds to gain experience. However all but one were released following the scheme and are now worse off than they were when they completed their fATPL.
Finally, from what I have read many of the pilots who are encouraging pay2fly are currently enrolled on the schemes or still working at minimum wage following the scheme. When pilots explain that pay2fly is damaging T and C's it is, and when you have been employed for 10 years struggling to move up in your career you will understand why, and will hold the same resentment.
I understand what people are going through, I really do. I've been there. All of us have. It is not the right time to be a new pilot just now. Europe is failing, the Chinese property bubble is about to burst dramatically, Japan has a dept dreadfully above its GDP, AMR are laying off over 13,500 staff of which at least 400 are pilots from AA, Malev failed, Spanair failed, Thomas Cook is in trouble, the list goes on. Add to that the 1000's of guys that are already looking for work and the future seems bleak. Be patient, find a job doing something else for the time being. Do the old fashioned thing and network. In a couple of years I'm sure things will be looking up.