Thomsonfly FTE Scheme

[farfadet]

With regards age, I reckon that its not the age that is an issue but more the life experience that you have had so far. I know my time at university and the nature of my part time jobs to date gave me lots of team work, customer service and problem scenarios to talk about that I didnt have at high school so thats probably more of the type of thing they are looking for. Im only 21 and my friend of the same age has also been accepted to a tagged scheme (I know you are reading ;)) so dont worry too much about age, Its not like you have to be late 20's. Hope to see y'all at FTE soon :ok:

I totally agree! You have absolutely to keep it up!
About the partner question. They asked me that: I have been living with my girlfirend for 2.5 years, so they have insisted on this point. I told them that we've already discussed about to be far away and this is ok. But they would like to know what would be my reaction if she couldn't manage with this situation anymore... So i told them that my main objective, the goal of my life is to be an airline pilot. So they seem to be satisfied with the answer.

You have the capacity to go to the final stage... so it's just a question of a detail or more personal experience, i don't know, but i'm sure it's just a little bit to do and to work about yourself.

:ok:

[AJMcC]

Really sorry to hear the bad news, guys and girls. GB Airways seems a really good airline to work for too, so I've applied to them as well - just in case things with Tfly don't go as planned.
At the very least it's been a really valuable experience. Most other FTOs charge in the region of £200 just for the assessment, and it's pretty reasssuring to know that you're capable of getting that far in the recruitment process.

I agree with you revilo about the age thing. Not that I really have an authority to be forming this opinion but I know from my experience that I matured a massive amount between 18 and now - and I'm sure I've still got a lot of maturing to do. You've got time on your side, so keep with it, I say.

So there's three confirmed, 3 for July, 1 for October, right? Anyone else left? What happened to ppl_student?

P.S. Interview's going to be next week, if everything goes to plan....

[AJMcC]

:} 3 + 1 = 4........... :ugh:

[AJMcC]

I dunno yet, ppl. I only had my interview up at Luton yesterday. They said they'll be making a decision whether the October course will even go ahead or not next week, so I'll find out then.... the wait begins.

[g1344304]

Personally I think this is a very poor show from Thomsonfly. People have put a lot of effort in for the assesments and interviews as well as spending hundreds of pounds to attend theses interviews and assesments as well as the medical in Gatwick and they might not even be starting the course? Thats very poor. People have applied for bank loans, paid for property to be valued by estate agents for the loan and are trying to rearrange their lives to get on the course. Thomsonfly shouldnt have advertised or offered an October course if they are going to mess hard working, enthusiastic people around like that := I wouldnt like to be breaking the bad news if the course is cancelled. I know there are no gaurentees with these tagged schemes but to make people go through all that and not even start the course is not good.

[AJMcC]

Well said :D. Unfortunately, it seems as though this is just the way the industry is at the moment. It doesn't make it any less annoying but it looks like we've got no choice in the matter. At least they didn't charge us £200 for the assessment itself is all I can say!!

Did they not already offer someone a place on the October course? Balham Bob? What have they said to you? That would be a joke if they then decided to cancel the course once someone had already been offered a place.

In any event, they seemed fairly confident that it would go ahead.
I'll let you all know the decision as soon as I find out myself.

[g1344304]

Im just glad that Im not one of the ones waiting to see if the course will be on or not! ALthough I know Flybe could always pull out of my course.

[femaleWannabe]

So there were never really 12 places at all then?! Great to know I spent almost £400 travelling to the assesment day and the interview when my odds of actually getting a place were far worse than we were all led to believe :ugh: I appreciate that requirements change and its the way of the industry, but to drag everyone along for these things when plans are so changeable is pretty unfair I think. Has anyone who was rejected asked for feedback? I asked for some but am yet to hear....

[g1344304]

the worst thing is that they actually knew there might not be an october course during the assemesnts.

[AJMcC]

Do you know everyone on the July course then, Hookerbot? Did they fill all 6 places on that?
Does that mean there isn't anybody on the October course as far as we know??? So IF I was successful, and IF the October course went ahead, I'd be going by myself??? Unless, there's people from the first round of interviews that still haven't been given a reply, and just aren't on PPRuNe......

[Hookerbot 5000]

I only know of 3 m8, the others are probably non pruners. :p Won't meet the rest until next month - induction day ;)

[g1344304]

dont worry AJMcC, my friend is on the october course and I heard someone else is on too.

[rjay259]

Sorry but,

As you are all finding out the industry is not always that nice.

True the powers that be MIGHT have known that there might not be a course but they could also have hoped there was. Dont second guess tho.

So you spent nearly 0.5% of what you will trying for an interview and assesment. Think yourselves very lucky.

Best advice is take it on the chin and learn from it. For those that did get in enjoy and try hard.

There is so much speculation as to what is going to happen with regards to the First Choice merger that even those in the company dont really know whats going to happen.

Laters

259:cool:

[ppl_student]

Any more news on whether oct is going ahead? how many places were there on the july course? who's all applied for gb airways?

[14025043]

yep oct will be going ahead! :)

[AJMcC]

I've been offered a place!!!! :}:}:} It goes without saying that I'm :mad: chuffed to bits.
But I'm not counting my chickens til I get the confirmation letter through the post and have my medical signed and sealed!
I'll be on the October course so I've got a little while to earn that £60k............:sad:
Best of luck to all the people heading out to Jerez next month - I look forward to meeting you all a few months down the line. And keep us updated on how you're getting on. I'll be keeping an eye on your blog, Hookerbot, so I know exactly what to expect.
Cheers everyone!

[revilo_rehsif]

Congradulations Alan, Thats pretty amazing that this was your first attempt at one of these schemes

Hopefully if i get onto the Gb airways scheme then i may be joining you in October! Although im not sure i will be able to talk to you, being thomsonfly and that...........:p

[AJMcC]

Thanks Ollie. I am pretty dumbfounded to be honest - it's a cliché but I suppose honesty really is the best policy. And not knowing the model answers for an airline interview seems to have worked in my favour at least! I just spoke from the heart man (NB - sarcastic tone).
Anyway, best of luck with your GB Airways application. Have you had your Phase 3? When do you get the results?
It may be of some consolation to you that I applied to GB, and they rejected me after Phase 2! So you're probably right, I won't be able to talk to you.:=

Roll on October!!!

[revilo_rehsif]

I had Phase 3 on wednesday, sorry everyone about hijacking the thread; but i seem to be the only one on the GB airways thread! Funnily enough the selection process was exactly the same as thomsonfly, same ladies and all!

Thats pretty funny about being rejected at stage 2, the essays selection process does seem to be a tad dubious:rolleyes:

[AJMcC]

I thought my answers were actually better for GB than they were for Tfly. But I have to admit I did cut and paste a couple of them (making sure to delete 'Tfly' and put 'GB' in its place :}). Maybe that's what it was.

Anyway, good luck and let us know how you get on.

Has anyone else had a similar experience getting rejected by one airline and going further with another? Off topic? Quite possibly, yes........

[aftab]

hi there. just a quick question.

Can i ask what the academic requirement were for the GB airways, flbe and thomsonfly approved courses. from what i remember they are higher than the BA cityflyer course. any reason for this?

also any info on whether there will be future schemes like the above and when.

thanks

[ppl_student]

I think some of them asked for specific A levels...

I think its just another way of narrowing down the numbers. Most will probably prefer some A levels and possibly a degree (shows you can study etc) but maybe some airlines are willing to consider less qualifications if you have something else to offer.

At the last flybe seminar they said applications would open for another scheme over the next couple of months.

[AJMcC]

I think ppl's right. I'm not sure what they required as minimum qualifications, but both Tfly and GB asked how many A Levels we had, and also had a questions whether they were science related. And again as ppl said, if you're lacking in either qualifications or experience, then I get the impression you have to be pretty strong in the other area to compensate.

Also, the Tfly, GB and BACF schemes all came in pretty quick succession, so if that's anything to go by then there should be another scheme opening fairly soon after BACF closes. Then again, it would seem that the number of partner airlines would run out pretty quickly if that pattern continued.:uhoh:
From my as yet inexperienced perspective of this industry, I would have to say that there may possibly perhaps be another scheme opening maybe sometime fairly roughly soon-ish! :}

[revilo_rehsif]

Word around the camp fire is that Flybe are to follow after Cityflyer

[g1344304]

True, Flybe will be advertising for a new MAPS course in July. This time they want four courses of 6 students.

[ppl_student]

It's slightly strange that hookerbot has removed his post :suspect: Is there now no bad news? It would be good if you could tell us what is happening so that those of us intending to apply in the future get an idea of what thomsonfly is like.

[Potential]

Mysterious...:confused:

[out_sider]

so is anyone going to tell us what the news is? I hope its not anything too bad... :confused::\


Apparently Thomsonfly have told their two groups of cadets in Jerez there will be no jobs for them when they graduate in the coming months. Yet they are still running the latest schemes in July and Oct. Something isn't right here.

Where did that Hookerbot go, is he having second thoughts now?

[Flaperon75]

to confirm what out sider says, this is taken from the pilotjobsnetwork website:

Thomsonfly announced 02/07/07 they would have no jobs for their current cadets in 2008. They have dropped the two remaining courses they have at FTE, one finishing in Aug the other in Jan 08. They are not being put in the holding pool. Thomsonfly will still be running two more mentored schemes to start by the end of the year.

Presumably after the merger with First Choice they are over crewed at the moment and therefor won't be needing any more pilots until late 2008/2009

[out_sider]

I was interested in applying to this scheme the next time around, but reading some old posts last night has given me second thoughts.
Am I right in thinking that this has happened to the previous two courses? With these two more courses being dropped thats 4 in the last year, and yet Thomson still have 2 new courses starting in the next few months. What am I missing here?

[Superpilot]

Let me get this right. They have stated that there will be no jobs for the two courses currently running but plan to run more “Mentored” courses towards the end of the year???

This is a great company, one of THE best, but I am now deeply sceptical about this whole idea of mentored schemes.

The decent thing to do would've been to put the graduates into a holding pool of some sort. That way TFly would benefit from their "mentored" approach even if it wasn't immediately. But that is not on the agenda is it? Proof of that lies in the fact that the scheme is to open up again for a totally new set of students! (More money for FTE)

Let the truth be known, over half the people would not have applied if they didn’t think there was a reasonable chance of a job offer at the end.

[yoda1]

This is very poor Tfly very poor! I am glad i went for CTC and did not accept a place on the Tfly/FTE course.

If the latest 2 courses starting this year don't get jobs when they finish next year i suspect nobody will bother applying to TFly/FTE scheme anymore. :}

[ask26]

The reason I've heard that TFly aren't offering a holding pool place for the cadets is that the last course were given hold places. Then Flybe made them job offers, only for TFly to come back to them at the last minute.

Flybe as you might expect were a bit annoyed to say the least, and as one of only a few partners that FTE work with they might not have made these current guys an interview offer etc... So that this doesn't happen and the TFly graduates have somewhere to go to - this way if offered a job with Flybe they won't be thinking about maybe TFly will come back to us etc.

[yoda1]

Flybe & BA offered them jobs last time, so i hear from a m8 currently on one of the courses graduating this year.

He is very upset :{

Hopefully the current lot will find jobs and the next lot will be a tad more lucky ;)

[Flaperon75]

...but presumably it's not all bad for these guys that are being dropped..... don't Tfly pay for some of the course at FTE? - at least they got a reduced cost fATPL unlike the Self Sponsored bods....

[Hookerbot 5000]

and what part would that be? If they have a job available at the end of the course they pay for a JOC but if you are self sponsored the JOC is optional and not part of the course..

We don't get reduced cost anything..wish we did..:ooh:

[Flaperon75]

ah - I stand corrected..... sorry bout that :\ - so basically they are f***ed!

[Hookerbot 5000]

tbh m8 i think they will be 'hoovered' up by other airlines :ok:

[out_sider]

any news from the ex-Tfly guys yet? I'm very interested to see how this works out for them.

I still can't believe this is apparently the 3rd and 4th time in a row this has happened, yet a new batch of guys are pitching up at FTE this week with more to follow. I know this industry is a notoriously tough one, but still...

[Potential]

I read elsewhere that they have all got places with Flybe.

[AJMcC]

out_sider, don't you think that even with rather glum prospects of being employed by Tfly we're in an excellent position for starting our careers?
- FTE has one of the best reputations of any FTO in Europe
- we've been pre-selected by Tfly so there's a possibility we'll flow straight into employment with them
- thus we know we're the material that most major UK airlines would be looking to recruit
- and FTE has excellent connections with other airlines who have snapped up graduates from other mentored programmes in the past.

Do all these factors not put us at an advantage to those students out there who are self-funding at less reputed FTOs and/or without the mentoring of an airline?

I can understand why you think we're suckers, but I would argue that we're still in a far better position than hundreds of wannabes who would love to be accepted onto such an airline mentored scheme.
But maybe we can agree to disagree? :}

(Or maybe I'm just burying my head in the sand......... :uhoh:)

[out_sider]

I read elsewhere that they have all got places with Flybe.


If thats true, thats excellent news for those boys and girls! Are you not getting confused with the first two Thomsonfly courses that this happened too however? Some of those guys ended up with FlyBE

[out_sider]

don't you think that even with rather glum prospects of being employed by Tfly we're in an excellent position for starting our careers?


AJMcC

Apologies if I was making out that I thought you were suckers, this was not the intention. You're doing the right thing!

You are definately correct, from what I can see the training at FTE is top notch and the airlines that train and recruit from there speak for themselves. Like I mentioned before, I want to spend my money there and would love to do it under the Tfly name. My personal concern is that with the airlines recent carry on with the last four groups of cadets, being a Tfly tagged cadet might cease to mean anything.

What is the difference between a steady stream of ex Tfly guys and their 'self sponsored' counterparts? Maybe I'm just concerned that I won't ever get to give Tfly a go. Ah... there always BA to fall back on I guess :E

[AJMcC]

Apologies if I was making out that I thought you were suckers
No worries out_sider. I appreciate you giving your opinion coz it's important for us to weigh out the good and the bad at the same time.

In response to your question,

What is the difference between a steady stream of ex Tfly guys and their 'self sponsored' counterparts?

I didn't realise this, but I just found this post by veetwo on the FTE thread saying:


As for finding alternative work if and when this happens, most of the time (and rather unfairly if you ask me), people who were once tagged and are suddenly dropped are more attractive to other airlines than people who were never tagged in the first place. I believe it was course 48 where the guys who were dropped by Tfly were immediately scooped up by flybe. This can be quite hard for others on the course to accept, particularly if they are getting better results than the tagged guys, but are getting completely overlooked anyway.


And don't give up on Tfly just yet. I'm sure there's bigger and better things to come from them - the merger's a positive step in my opinion. It may not be so good for me in the short term, but in the long term it makes things look ever so slightly rosier!
Are you planning to apply for the Flybe scheme open now? I say go for it if you're that keen on FTE. Good luck!

[World of Tweed]

Out_sider et al,

not meaning to butt in but I know for a fact the guys of the first course were either taken on by BA or Flybe.

Some time later they were actually offered places at Tfly but all made the descision to stay with their "new" employers for their individual reasons.

It was then and continues to be a great shame that places on typre rating courses are not "tee-ed" up for the cadet courses. I'm afraid it would seem to be a function of poor timing on the airline side and also perhaps some 'optomistic' out-put dates from jerez. For example it continues to amaze me that in the past we've recruited 'white tails' (i.e. independant, sef-sponsored) from the same school only weeks before telling one of our own courses to find another job.

As you can understand the looming-merger and other factors will have an impact.

But rest assurred that if for nothing other than to help you sleep at night having the backing of any Airline whilst going through your course is a great mind-settler.

- It affirms your own 'self-selection'
- Gives you a clear indication that at least on a personal level you are clearly an good prospect for a company. All you need to concentrate on is getting the best training and start to your profession.

Even if it turns out that they don't have a job for you right away then you have lost nothing if you were going to go the integrated route anyway.

An very senior training and liason Cpt gave me this advice once with regard to any cadet-ships.... "You've got the Job - Now just get the licence"

[out_sider]

Well put AJ, and as noted: anything said was purely my opinion.


I'm sure there's bigger and better things to come from them - the merger's...


My thoughts exactly, with so many aircraft on order (that 787 is so damn sexy) and the orders that are going to come along from the First Choice side of the fence, things can only be looking up. Which I guess, is why I am so shocked at their recent revelation.

[Hookerbot 5000]

AJMCC, OS agree with your comments totally.


An very senior training and liason Cpt gave me this advice once with regard to any cadet-ships.... "You've got the Job - Now just get the licence"


Cheers m8 i shall remember that when i start on the Tfly scheme this week :cool:

Man those tfly 787's look so sexy mmmmmm

[boeingboeingbong]

Hard luck to all the guys on course 58. We were in the same boat back in September and it all worked out fine. BA/Flybe came calling and we all had jobs within a few months. In my opinion being on a mentored scheme like Tfly puts you in a slightly better position than not being on one even if the said airline doesnt take you directly. I say that because those not with an airline have to rely on the schools questionable recommendation process. Good luck.

[bigmustard]

I have heard from a reliable source that because some of the TFLY tagged students from Course 48 were 'recalled' to TFLY after having accepted a position with Flybe that Flybe would not be touching any TFLY students dumped by TFLY in future.

I have also heard that in order to assist Flybe TFLY have told their tagged students that they will not be placed in a holding poll. Unfortunately, while this is the case, Flybe have decided to remain very much at arms length.

I have also been told by the guy who runs the Flybe MAPS scheme that he and Ian Cheese recruited all 10 of 56 course and that they are to go on the ERJ 145.

Can't blame them really if they have had their fingers burnt.

[AJMcC]

I'm sure you fellas are too busy to be reading this, but in the off chance you've got a spare moment....
How are you all finding your first few days in Jerez? What will we have in store for us when we first arrive in October? When do you start your groundschool? Just generally, how's everything going???!!

You can probably tell I'm rather desperate to get out of flooded England, out of the rain, out of my tedious temping job and I can't wait for October to come.... :ugh:
Well I hope it's going well everyone - keep us up to date if you've got the time. :ok:

[boeingboeingbong]

Bigmustard, that was course 52. All of 48 Tfly that ended up with Flybe stayed with flybe. When Tlfy came calling all but one of 52 jumped at the chance, fair enough really as they had gone to Jerez to live the Tfly dream...

[bigmustard]

BBBong

Fair enough is fair enough ! I agree. The problem is that when those who spent their time in Jerez living the 'Tfly dream' got dumped by Tfly, Flybe picked them up. Whilst I accept that when the Tfly 52 calling came the pilots were like the 'prodical sons of Tfly' and rushed home - can you imagine how pissed of Flybe were? That too is fair enough. There is a lot of work and resources that go into planning courses and I believe it left them pretty well in the pooh. You can understand why flybe don't want to touch the next lot, fair enough?

[jaymak]

I can say with 100% certainty that I won't be going for one of these tag-schemes. I live in Australia and the cost of going over and back just throws it out the window.

Going the self-sponsored route; by the time I start an FTE course (optimistic, yes) I'll have around 200hrs total, including ~30hrs command single and ~80hrs command twin (BE76 Butchess) + an Australian CPL with night rating.

Does anyone know if this will help in making myself 'stand out' for employment among the other graduates, who usually only have the basic course hours?

For me, it's either this, or a QANTAS cadetship here in Australia, which costs about 1/3 the price of FTE's integrated course.

But I've heard good things about FTE.

Cheers.

[Love_joy]

Jaymak, just wondering why you are considering the FTE course if you already have a CPL with night rating? Surely you only need to convert to JAR and get yourself an IR at this stage.

The FTE integrated course is aimed squarely at individuls with little or no experience and takes them all the way up to frozen ATPL. By the time we leave here, we'll have 150hrs TT with another 50 on synthetic trainers. You already have more hours than most guys graduate with.

[jaymak]

Jaymak, just wondering why you are considering the FTE course if you already have a CPL with night rating? Surely you only need to convert to JAR and get yourself an IR at this stage.
OK. Reasons:

The cost of converting is said to be nearly as much as the licence itself.
I haven't done the seven Australian ATPL exams.
Coming from a FTO like FTE will, in my judgement, look more appealing to the airlines. They'll know you've had the correct training etc.
By having this previous twin experience, I may stand out at the end of the course, and thus get employed sooner.
And the reason I'm looking at a career in Europe, is simply because I'd prefer to live over there than Oz.

The FTE integrated course is aimed squarely at individuls with little or no experience and takes them all the way up to frozen ATPL. By the time we leave here, we'll have 150hrs TT with another 50 on synthetic trainers. You already have more hours than most guys graduate with.
The ab-initio course is a residential, integrated course taking the student with little or no previous flying experience to the beginning of a career as an airline pilot.
It's not who the course is aimed at that I care about, it's where the course will get me. And 200hrs really isn't that much.


Single Engine - 118 hours - Warrior PA28
Twin Engine - 32 hours - Seneca III PA34
You end up with ~32hrs TT, not 150, and it doesn't say if it's solo or dual.
The airline cadets at my training school, FTA, fly the twins, but it's all for the IR and it's all dual. Could be the same at FTE.

Right now, I've only got a PPL. I got it, and did all the CPL theory exams, before I decided on FTE. So, I've done the theory, may as well do the fun part and get the whole CPL. I'm hoping the twin command hours help me after the course.

The other quotes are from the FTE site.

[Melissa_Bettochi]

Hi Guys,

I have made it to phase 3 of the flybe scheme on the 22nd. I have read that the assessment is the same for most of the FTE tagged scheme. I have been told it will comprise; Numeracy, Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning as a timed test followed by Pilot Aptitude tests using a laptop and joystick. Ending with a interview.

Does this sound familiar and can someone help me by stating an outline of what I should expect.

Really excited by the way!! :)

Ciao

Melissa