Tailscrape - as I've been saying all along - the bottom line ( whether you, or I, like it or not ) is that, as the market currently stands:
Already holding a type-rating on a jet puts one further up the ladder than the person without.
That having passed a 'line check', with a bonafide airline, then puts one even further up the ladder.
That having a hundred'ish hours on type puts one even further up the ladder.
Having several thousand hours puts one even further up the ladder.
Having command experience puts one even further up the ladder.
and on, and on, and on.......
Like I said previously - and please don't shoot the messenger - these are the facts of the 'game' as they stand right now.
Aside - who else remembers that not long ago the proposal on the table ( and gawd knows I sometimes wish it had come true ) was that people would only be allowed to do a type-rating if it was 'sponsored' ( read, payed for ) by an airline ?
Nb. Regulations aside, I'd bet we'd then have a situation where candidates cut a deal with the airlines such that they ( the candidate ) end-up 'underwriting' their own training costs with mucho provisos all over their employment contract to ensure that they'll get the boot if they either fail to achieve the the rating and / or the airline decides they don't like the cut of yer gib, and subsequently fail you at the line check stage .... and hence there'd be no job coz you didn't pass !
Indeed, if I recall correctly, wasn't it the UK CAA which, at that time - and for the all the reasons which concern us w.r.t the angst about self-funded type-ratings - was against self sponsored type-ratings, but that their view was subsequently out-gunned and shot-down by the other EU regulatory authorities, and the CAA have since had to toe the JAA party line ?
.... ( albeit that I might have that the wrong way around, as to which authority wanted what - but I've usually got a good memory for such trivia ).
Of course, had this proposed ruling come to pass, the
reputable TRTO's ( like CTC, Bond, GECAT, et al ) would still be in business but it would be the airlines which footed the bills for type-rating pilots - along with providing a level playing field for all airlines w.r.t. type-rating training costs ..... oh, purchance to dream !
Perhaps as 'scroggs' put in a post he made at 11:46 on 15th December 2002 -
.... at the end of the day you have to deal with the world as it is rather than how you would like it to be. When you're running one of these companies, then you can decide how you operate your recruiting.
and which was was followed-up by 'foghorn' at 23:41 on 15th December 2002 -
As was put very succinctly by Hamrah at the wannabes seminar on Friday, in the current economic environment, no airline wants to type-rate a new hire if it can get away with it. It is simply too risky for them to splash out £20,000+ on someone who may struggle or even fail. That is why the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet are hoovering up the supply of already-rated pilots, whereas the bottom-feeding TurboProp companies are insisting that you buy a Shed/F27 rating before you get a look in. This will change over time with market forces as the outlook improves, however currently it is the case.
So what do you do? Sit waiting watching your skills go off the boil, pursue the instructing route to hours to find that there are few vacancies in that area anyway and the hours gained don't necessarily improve your chances with an airline, or buy a type rating which might turn out to be an almighty gamble, or might just get your foot in the door of an airline.
It's a very tough call to make.