I can absolutely echo the sentiments of beardedclam, like them I qualified in 2008 from a reasonable modular school and since then I have seen CTC, OAA and FTE grads get the jobs ahead of me, would I be flying now if I had gone to an integrated school? Simple answer is I don’t know.
Unlike beardedclam I am not flying for an airline (full time or otherwise), before training I was an engineer and I have fallen back on my old career as Plan B to provide for my family while looking for that elusive first break, Plan B is rapidly becoming Plan A.
If at all possible, work longer and save more to afford CTC or OAA. If you must go modular please save up enough money to afford all flying and theory training, flying and theory exams plus a contingency of about 15% to allow for fluctuations in training costs (they only ever fluctuate in one direction), extra training time and partial or complete skills test failure. Also factor in costs for MCC and JOC plus housing and food costs etc during training.
There are companies who will finance type ratings for low hours boys and girls (Flybe and Jet2 for instance) and I believe BCFT are recognised as an approved training organisation with Flybe but the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet do require new joiners to finance their own rating, however with a job offer in the bag you may get a loan for training costs.
This can all change during your training, a couple weeks ago I revalidated my MEIR in the sim and the examiner told me that he was at a recent Royal Aeronautical Society presentation where he got talking to a senior Ryanair employee (I won’t mention his name or position) who told him that Ryanair are in big trouble for pilots and there is serious consideration up high within the company to fund cadet type ratings. Just a rumour and I’ve no proof but this is a rumour network.
If you do go ahead with training then keep lines of communication open with your current employer as you may well need to return to work after training while searching for flying employment. Ideally keep working and keep money rolling in while you're training, many of the modular schools are willing to phase training flights flexibly around your work commitments.
As mentioned before, apply for all the mentored cadet schemes that you can find, these are invariably integrated courses and you will be required to fund all or at least almost all of the training costs yourself with no guarantee that there will be a job available when you qualify.
Its a huge gamble with an eye watering amount of your money laid down as the stake, as with any gamble there are absolutely no guarantees and you should never gamble with cash that you cannot afford to lose.
Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck.
Last edited by magicmick; 16th Oct 2015 at 10:20.
Reason: additional info