CTC have probably one of the best records at placing cadets with airlines and I can see your temptation to go with them. However, you have to ask yourself whether a holding pool, followed by eventual placement on a Flexicrew contract (most likely with EZY) with no job security and the chance of being based practically anywhere in Europe, does it
really fulfil your life dreams? I'm not putting the words in your mouth, just asking the question. We've all been there and dreamt of being an airline pilot, shooting an ILS in thick fog and a howling crosswind or flying a VFR approach to a Greek Island on a sunny day to drop off a load of holidaymakers. Yes, CTC will probably give you the chance to do that, I'm not going to lie. But if you think that you're going to be able to do that with the flash car, the nice house, the expensive holidays, a great social life (remember you could be based anywhere away from friends/family...) then unfortunately that's not going to be the case. Remember CTC have a very good reason to place so many cadets with airlines - because it makes them money as well! They're not doing it because they're your best mate.
If you don't owe anyone money and haven't made any promises to be rich once you're a pilot, have some stashed away to tide yourself over for the first couple of years until things settle down and you land a permanent contract, don't mind potentially being apart from family/friends for a while, then go for it! You have to look at it reaslitically, some of my friends on Flexicrew contracts are genuinely concerned at how they'll make loan repayments during the winter months. And another friend who has recently taken the step up from EZY Cabin Manager to EZY First Officer has already admitted that he'll be earning practically the same salary under the new Flexicrew contract. If this doesn't bother you, and I know that for some people they are fortunate enough to be in a situation where my above points are of no concern to their personal circumtances, then consider taking the plunge.
If you need to hear any more about CTC then I suggest looking at the thread over here
http://www.pprune.org/interviews-job...t-2-a-212.html.
If you decide against CTC by going modular, then I guess that you have a lesser chance of landing an airline job in the short term because CTC's cadet hold pool does give you an
element of security if you wait long enough, albeit not guaranteed. However, you would have extra cash in hand by the end of your training (I think 'zero to hero' at somewhere like Stapleford costs in the order of £55K, give or take £5K), but then you are on your own. Some people might immediately land a Type Rating at Ryanair (rememeber that's another £30K but I believe that Ryanair pay is better than the Flexicrew contract), some people might end up instructing for a few years, some people might end up back in Tesco's paying once a year to keep their IR current. But the key thing is that your destiny is in your own hands so to speak, some people may prefer that idea some may not.
The key thing to remember after all of this is that we
are in the worst recession of our lives, whether we like it or not. Times are tough, airline recruitment is probably about as bad as it's ever been, and so spending large sums of money
is a big risk no matter how you choose to spend it.