I applied to the scheme as I recognised it to be the best option for me. I got to the final stage of selection but was unsuccessful. I’m not an expert on the intricacies of the scheme, but this is my perspective:
The figure quoted of £100,000 includes allowances, insurance, additional training, airfares, a type rating, etc, etc, etc. I have researched self-funded training in considerable depth – I am now part way through my own. I have no doubt that the figure is accurate. If you have researched what is in the CTC McAlpine Scheme (over 250 hours of training, more than ½ of which is multi-engine + the type rating + the ‘extras’ like cars, and allowances and……), you would not be comparing it with £30K training, which is theoretically possible, but unrealistic but for a few (goldenballs, living at home, PPL holders) to achieve. There is also this little matter of a job……
I met Rod Wren during my selection. I remember distinctly him pointing out the risks in the programme for every “stakeholder” involved: CTC McAlpine, the Cadet, the Airline and the Bank. I got the impression that he was pretty chuffed to have found a way of giving an incentive to everyone to perform their bit. He was also pretty pointed about the risks involved for the cadet. I even asked him if he was trying to put us off. His answer was yes: he’d rather run a course light than take on people who were not committed. He also talked about selection and the ‘cut-off level’. I wonder if that is where you got your ideas about a moving goalpost. If you were at the same selection as me you’ll have head him saying that flight schools who are selling courses to the public have to fill their slots come-what-may, whereas CTC McAlpine train only to the numbers that the airlines require. Therefore they have an absolute cut-off rather than a moving target. You, like me, obviously failed the absolute level.
CTC McAlpine spend more than £60,000 on the cadets’ training. If they fail to place you with an airline, they loose money. If the cadet fails, CTC McAlpine pay the first £30,000 of training costs and the cadet walks away with no debt (but most of the way to a licence). So how is it that they never loose?
If the cadet fails after £30,000 has been spent, or defaults on the contract, there is a significant financial penalty. Stay the course, and you get free training and a jet job. Yes, you are bonded for 7 years. But I remember the BA scheme; that involved similar pay scales and 5 years bonding. It was the best sponsorship scheme around, as, like the easyJet, Thomas Cook and CTC McAlpine Schemes it was 100%. Whereas British Midland, Air 2000, KLM UK, flybe, Aer Lingus but to name a few required tens of thousands of your own money. Self sponsor, and what are your chances of a jet job on graduation? Grow up!
The Airlines are required to contribute up front to the allowances and pay for the type rating whether they take the cadet on or not. So if they sponsor someone and do not employ them, they loose a lot of money, and the cadet is pretty well placed as they are still in CTC McAlpine’s ‘pot’, but now have a type rating and a few 100 hours on type.
The bank’s commitment is obvious. HSBC offer this loan to lots of ‘self-funded’ student pilots and some flight schools even advertise that they will put you in contact with HSBC. However, the major difference is that the normal limit is £30,000, and you have to convince them to get the lot. I have; I researched the loan thoroughly on this site. Unfortunately, I do not have a sponsor who is going to pay the capital and interest for me, on top of my wages.
This site is about information. I’ve left a good career to chase my dream of becoming a professional pilot. I’ve done it after exhausting my sponsorship chances. What really annoys me is people like you who have failed the sponsorship selection, just as I have, who then slag the mouth that didn’t feed them. I am going to succeed as an airline pilot, unlike the 80% who start out on this road, through determination and application rather than top flight natural ability. I was inspired by my experience through CTC McAlpine’s selection, not embittered. I met true professionals at CTC McAlpine, who convinced me that I wanted to be amongst them. I both envy and applaud those applicants who have achieved the fast track and I’ve done my sums and know that they will be miles above me in the seniority lists. But I’m blowed if I would be put off by twisted arguments like yours, and I’m sad that you might influence someone who is using this site to research the possibilities like I did.
My advice - if you want to be an airline pilot, if you fulful the requirements, apply to this first, and listen to the feedback before spending any money on your own training. And above all, do not listen to wouldhavebeens.
