Yeah agreed, well said FANS.
You may think the industry is all messed up because you've paid out a fortune and got nothing back except a part time gig with no money and no future but on the other side of the fence you've also screwed the system for the rest as well. Im stuck in corporate on a small jet and rubbish money for which I waited years and years to get. That would be fine, theres nothing wrong with it, if it were not for the fact that because of guys like you paying your whole way through to the top jobs to subsidise your lack of qualifications, skills and intellegence, guys like me are stuck going absolutely nowhere and the whole airline career path is now just a dead end.
I could have 3000 hours on my a/c and it now doesnt count for dick if i try to forward my career with a bigger operator or a bigger a/c. Thats because rather than acknowledge experience and skills built up over years in the industry they would sooner take the money from a sniveling little oxford punk with wealthy parents. Candy from a baby I think they say??!
Do I blame the airlines? Of course not, they exist to make money and if they can get away with it it's hardly suprising they will try. Strangely Im not sure I even blame guys like you. You want a job, you need a job, and having already paid out 80k the extra 30k to go straight onto an a320 almost makes good sense in business terms. After all, with the career path as I've mentioned, why would you pay to get rated on a learjet or a citation so you can donate your life to a charter for 20k with no scope for future progression whatsoever.
BALPA/EASA/CAA are the only ones who can now fix this mess which they should have done long before it got to this. They have the power to simply make it law that you cannot be in a flight deck unless you are a proper paid employee of the company/operator. I dont know if thats even enforceable and i have no doubt idiots like MOL would find some way around it anyhow, but they could at least try and put some pressure on them as the whole thing right now is a massive farce.
I do understand your gripe and I do sypathise to a degree. I feel the same about the industry myself at the moment and unless something changes I will definately leave for good as well. I thought I was bettering myself when I switched careers and Im still amazed at how much of a joke and a circus aviation really is. Lets hope things go back to how they used to be for everyones sake.......