Texan, I accepted a job at Vaustralia (now VAI) on the basis that they paid for my B777 type rating. I was paid from day 1 of training, too, as were all VA pilots. The CzFOs on the B777 at VAI get their type rating for free as well.For some people this somehow meant that we were "
sell-outs who were lowering the industry terms and conditions" or part of "
Volunteers Australia", as a lot of the
VB flight crew referred to us at the time. Now the latest vacancies for positions on the B777 have swamped admin with applications-captains even applying for SFO positions! I have never paid for any of my heavy aircraft type ratings, either. Only VAA and Jetstar get their pilots to pay for their own training. If someone agrees to pay for a type rating in order to get a job, I don't think that they have the right to bleat about it later.