Vik
It would not just be CTC cadets, our defintion of a cadet is a guy with nothing more than a Frozen ATPL, it doesn't matter how s/he came about it.
As to the why, very simple. The nature of the charter business in the UK is still one of massive demand in the summer, less so in winter. If a company takes a pilot on full time they are paying them to work hard in summer and less so in winter. The money men love the idea of having enough full time guys to cover the winter and hiring in contract pilots in summer.
BALPA hates this contract free for all, it drives down just about everything but that is an argument for another place. This scheme is two way, we get pilots flying punters to wherever for 6 months after the first 2 months or so of groundschool and sim.Yes we train them but the other side is we get the extra pilots we we need in summer but don't have to pay them when we don't need them in winter and the company gets its money back for the training by means of a significantly reduced salary.
It isn't perfect but it is a whole world better than contract and IMHO a whole solar system better than the no fly, no pay FlexiCrew type set up which I find abhorrent and not far off the 1920's working man hoping to catch the foreman's eye at the factory gate in order to get a days work and pay. If he failed, he starved.
The added bonus here is tat the cadet is subject to our full MoA agreements and gets allowances etc on top and because there is no middle man there is no skimming off the top of what is left from repaying training costs, it goes to the cadet.
I have tried very hard to not stir up the debate on the rights and wrongs of the practices of certain training organisations but this scheme opens up the field to other pilots trying to get that all important first job. No matter what anyone says, these schemes depend to some extent on the ability to pay and if you can't pay or can't take a year + out of your life then options until now were limited.
Consider this; two identical candidates, both excellent. One is 20 and has the ability to raise the funds and has no responsibilities. The is other is 25 and trying to change career and cannot raise the funds because he has a mortgage, a wife looking after a baby who can't work and maybe another kid. Currently the first can demonstrate his excellence and fly through to a job, the second can't - no less excellent, just unable to raise the funds and /or put his life on hold for a year or more. We want to be able to offer the chance to both these excellent candidates regardless of whether its taken them 14 months or 14 years to get their ticket.
And before I get shouted at, for he / his above, read equally she / her!