Virgin Atlantic first started recruiting for their MPL programme in 2014, I believe they intend to continue recruiting in the immediate future. The programme costs £109k plus living expenses, though Virgin do guarantee a loan.
Maverick, I assume you watched Jet Jockeys, quite an interesting short film to be honest. The BA cadets from 1990 earned £23k after training (unless they were affected by the Gulf War I presume), that’s about £50k today adjusted for inflation.
I do believe the commercialisation of training can at times be a problem. Merchant Navy cadets and train drivers have much of their training completed directly with their employer, therefore training cannot be purchased “off the shelf” in the same way. Of course, BA used to operate Hamble, however it sadly closed in the 1980’s.
Sky-Plod, I presume you may be ex-emergency services (judging by your username). If this is the case, did you find that a safety-critical career outside of aviation was of significant help whilst applying? I do wonder if some un-tagged individuals struggle to find employment because they don’t have a great degree of life experience prior to pursuing a flying career.
Modular pilots can of course apply to Loganair, Eastern, Skybus, Flybe, various bizjet operators or instruct around their current job if they don’t go straight for a heavy jet job. I’m sure there areothers that I’ve missed too.
I do of course believe that airlines should enable people of any financial background to gain a place on one of their cadet programmes, whether it be up-front like Aer Lingus, or via a loan guarantee like BA.