Robert G Mugabe - we have all once been 200 hour pilots, and I was fortunate at that stage in my career to have supportive captains who understood the deal. My personal obvservation is that large numbers of CTC guys and gals are great people, but just lack experience. You cannot buy experience - you just have to get it
No problem however CTC and the like used to have a selection process in order to stream the candidates. They would then accept for training those they believed would reach a good standard on line.
As a generalisation and an observation the latest batches of the product are not as good as they used to be. So either the training provided by CTC is not as good or the raw material is inferior.
Either way those paying for the training should ensure they have the aptitude for it or that they receive value for their money.
One could even say that easyJet is happy to resource its expansion by using this inferior product as it is cheaper to retrain/recheck provide recency checks than it is to recruit,train and employ their own product.
Part of the process is that if an individual needs more support to maintain the required standard, they will get it. That means that, on occasion, someone may be taken off the line to undergo further training
I would also suggest if the problems are related to the flying of and landing from a basic AP coupled ILS approach the product is very poor and should not have passed line training in the first place.
In my view if our company SOP's severely restrict new pilots from operating the aircraft in accordance with FCOM/FCTM and our unrestricted SOP's there is a recognition that the new cadet is less able than his/her predecessor.
That does not mean the system has failed - it means the training system checks and balances are in place and working correctly.
Thank god. Our minimum standard has got lower in my humble opinion. One does hear that our training department is constantly battling other company departments in order to restrict the erosion of pilot quality and standards.
We have a number of Captains who, for reasons primarily related to their own insecurities, have elected to make life incredibly difficult for our newest pilots and make them feel small in order to make them feel better about themselves
Well if those Captains are known to the training department they should be taken off line to undergo further training themselves.
Summary. For those about to pay to fly. Ensure you have the aptitude for it and ensure you receive value for money when training. Good luck.