This is a remarkably interesting thread when you read right from the beginning.
I'd like to contribute some facts as a Wings cadet who got placed with a partner airline earlier this year.
Over the last year and at the
moment the market is strong. It is advertised than things like max 10 hours of remedial training, first series LSTs, no more than three ATPL fails is the standard for the hold pool.
I know people who have been placed who have violated these requirements.
I'm not saying it will be like this forever. But at the moment things are not as black and white as they perhaps used to be. If you show the passion and attitude to keep going CTC will appreciate that and help you to keep going. Believe me as I know first hand what eau de
PR/2, as mentioned early on in the original wings thread, smells like!
The training is very good, when you get to the end of training and look back you can really appreciate the vertical integration of airline SOP philosophy from day one. Bournemouth has some brilliant instructors.
JS who runs CTC NZ is a fantastic HoT. NZ have no problems with handing out extra flights, at their own cost, to trainees who perhaps haven't flown in a week with wx and are losing currency. Trainees can abort solo flights for things like wx and do the lesson again (y-flighting) free of charge, no questions asked unless you're being silly and it was CAVOK or something. They do genuinely want the best for you, they want you to get that first time CPL and they want to see you placed with an airline.
There is risk. I know several people who struggled too much and either left CTC or dropped off wings onto the modular Take-Off programme. If this happens in NZ/AZ it is if you have so much remedial training that the number of failed hours you have is 10% or more of your total hours. At that point CTC UK review you and decide to continue you on wings, offer you the performance protection and a ticket home, or offer a new contract for the modular take-off programme. I know people this has unfortunately happened to. One moved to take-off. He's now flying an A320.
The fact of the matter is every situation is different and it very much depends on the individual person. Your attitude and commitment will go a long way in their desire to help you.
It's not perfect. Admin isn't great. With it being such a large organisation it is inevitable that there are some unpleasant members of staff = Play the game and keep your head down. Everybody moans about scheduling. They do a lot of standardisation work but there are still discrepancies between instructors which can be annoying and detrimental.
If a prospective trainee asked me for advice....apply for an MPL. You will have a much, much easier life without CPL/IR/Hold Pool/Airline assessment worries. Qatar gets you the most income the quickest; go there, live sensibly and pay off the loan as soon as possible. Quids in. It is very rare for an MPL trainee to be terminated.
Keep your head down. Ask plenty of questions. Don't listen to the Chinese whisper monkey business, Clearways is like a KGB network of whispered half-truths. Play the bloody game. Having been through the process myself, the fact is that in 2016 in this economy, the vast majority of trainees got placed.
I know from friends still there that two new airlines have dipped into the hold pool recently, including an A330 operator. Most seem to go to easyJet who take a few every month but there absolutely are other airlines who come in now and then. Time and place.
It's a long, stressful, arduous process. You need to sit down and be honest with yourself and 100% believe that you really want to be an Airline Pilot because if that commitment isn't there, you will find the course very challenging and at times overwhelming. If you do, people are getting airline assessment dates hours after getting hold pool confirmation emails. There are jobs. It won't always be like this but this year and touch wood the next few years, the going is good.
Good luck.