CTC's website has now been refreshed as part of their re-branding to become L3. In the section explaining the security bond there is now this new phrase:
Please note: This is not payment for training.
I wonder if there is a legal reason for them stating this so clearly?
As I understand it (also, the explanation
here), the security bond is:
a) paid to a subsidiary of CTC/L3, the company who conduct your training
b) 'transferred' to an airline if/when you're placed from the hold pool
c) not guaranteed to be repaid, but might be if the airline chooses to
d) if it is repaid, it is likely to be in the form of a tax advantage (essentially an increased personal allowance), your gross salary will not be increased by the security bond amount
In summary, you pay CTC/L3 the security bond. CTC/L3 never directly pay it you back and you might not get it back at all. There might be some financial wizardry which means its not
technically paying for training, but it is about as close as it could possibly get. Hence my confusion at their clear statement that it is not.