Originally Posted by
pilotfromsheff13
Hi everyone, is there anybody here who has taken a bank loan to complete their studies with CTC?
If you have, I am wondering if you can answer a couple of questions for me please...
1. After finishing training, how are you finding paying off the loan on a FO wage?
2. Would you recommend taking out a loan if you do not have the funds yourself to enrol on this course?
I understand many people on here are very much against taking out a loan with BBVA, however it would be interesting to see what current FO's who ahve fulfilled this process have to say.
As for me, I'm currently and Aircraft Engineering with Pilot studies student and doing 1 hour of flying per week. With one year left at university, I'm trying to sum up my options whether to go modular or integrated (with bank loan).
Many thanks in advance!
PFS
After all pension/tax/NI deductibles, all essential monthly outgoings (rent/food/bills/fuel/insurances) and a few hundred a month into savings for the house deposit, I don't have all that much left to actually have a life. Certainly nowhere near enough to pay back £1500 a month on £130Ks of loan.
If I had to start training now... quite simply, I wouldn't.
Not with how much it costs, not with the employment/contract conditions.
Just like when flying, you have to consider "what if...?" when looking at paying for training.
What if I can't get a RHS job for 1-2 years? -
its not uncommon, even at CTC/FTE/OAA
What if one of my parents loses their job? -
Or ends up losing a big chunk of income or of their pension pot. Unless you've got significant savings to live off, you'll probably be relying on parents to support you throughout training and in the first couple of years on the line
What if I stuff up in line training (without a guaranteed job)? -
if you're a non-employed pilot and on contract or placement to the airline (as I believe are most cadets until their line check) then if you need additional training, or you screw up your line check, the airline may just tell you to pack your bags, there are always plenty more fish in the infamous hold pool
What if the house value drops significantly? -
leaving your parents in negative equity, and unable to move house until enough of the loan/mortgage is repaid or the house goes back up in value
What if I can't afford to make the repayments? -
Defaulting on the loan could be long-term disaster. It'll hammer your credit rating for a long time, and that of any guarantors (i.e. parents), plus if you can't make the repayments they can repossess the home
What if I lose my medical? -
it happens, I know 6 people in their early to mid 20s who lost their Class 1 indefinitely. Only one has got it back so far, LOTE insurance paid out for one other when the CAA said there was no chance. The other 4 are in limbo, they are recovered and the CAA will eventually assess them as fit once they satisfy all requirements, but no insurance payout as it's not permanent, and no hope of a job anytime soon as they're only part-trained, but with loan repayments looming (one of these people clocked up over £24k in regular private consultants fees and all sorts of regular cardiovascular and neurological medical tests... he is "socially healthy", so NHS said it's not necessary for him to get work and won't cover any of it, so had to go private for it all instead.
I don't mean to scare you off, but it appears far too many people do not seem to have a full appreciation of the implications.
They have access to £130k, either through their parents, or secured on their parents house, without actually calculating whether they can afford to pay it back or not.
It's irresponsible on their part, their parents part, and the banks part.
Oh and don't believe that you'll ever get ANY of your training costs back from the airline. YOU WON'T!
CTC is like any other integrated training school when it comes to money... you pay them the money (they call it a security or training bond), and you get the training.
At best, if you get placed with a CTC partner airline, you'll have a salary that is reduced by exactly the amount of "training bond" they're paying back to you, e.g. they'll give you £12k a year tax free that isn't part of your salary, and you'll just so happen to have a salary that is £12k less than a direct entry pilot.
So my advice... don't go for the loan unless you absolutely have to. And only do so if you can afford to pay it back if things don't go to plan.
A better option might be, if the circumstances allow, for your parents to remortgage their house (which is what the BBVA loan is anyway) and consolidate all the mortgage into one payment (rather than the mortgage payment PLUS the BBVA payment) and that way the payment would probably be more manageable.
But I would not want to put my parents in the position of paying off my loan because I couldn't get a job, whether through a mortgage or a loan.